# Are Lifetime Outdoor Sheds A Good Buy or Junk?



## Guest (Apr 5, 2008)

I was in Lowes today looking at fencing and garden/storage sheds to make a train house. I'd been seriously considering a Tuff Shed, but I came across an all "plastic-steel reinforced" shed by a company called Lifetime 










(http://www.lifetime.com/OutdoorStorage/8footstoragesheds.aspx) that was much cheaper and much easier to install. I'm a little cautious about the plastic floor directly on the ground (Tuff Sheds have a steel frame), but it does has shelving, windows, skylights, etc. and might make a great train storage shed/work area. Has anyone had any experience with these? What do you think? Is it worth the savings or should I just go with the wooden Tuff Shed? Please help! 
Ed


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

THATS YOU YARD????? 
woow. 
Make sure it is tied down..


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## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed, 
I don't have any experience with the shed. I do however use a similar all plastic cabinet to house my rollingstock in outdoors. Never had any issues. I use the cabinet ment to house garbage barrels in. It has been out side for 4 years, still going strong..


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## jlyans (Jan 2, 2008)

I built my own shed using the Tuff Shed as a guide. I was able to make it to my own, custom dimensions and I saved about 60% over the cost of the Tuff Shed. I built it on 14 g. galvanized steel floor joists and then just used traditional 2 X 4 framing and commercial siding painted to match my house. It was a fun project. 

John


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## Jim Francis (Dec 29, 2007)

For those not as talented as John, the Tuff Shed is hard to beat if you can afford it. 

Jim


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2008)

Marty - no that's not my yard. Not enough mud and dog poop to be my yard. 

todd55wit - do you have a photo of your storage set-up you could post? 

John - I'd love to build my own shed and save money, but I have not carpentry experience and no wood working tools. So, I'll have to buy a prefab kit or something already assembled. I really like the Tuff Shed a lot, but wanted to see if I could cut cost before I shell out the almost $2K for the model I want. 
Ed


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## barnmichael (Jan 2, 2008)

You get experience by doing. A shed is a great way to learn. There are plenty of plans out there. A shed is quite simple and fairly basic. As long as you're healthy enough to swing a hammer, you can do it. Tools aren't that big of deal. You need a decent hammer, a tape measure, a level (4' recommended), a speed square, and a saw. For recreational home use you can get a good circular saw for around $50. You can probably get all you need for a little over $100. And you'll always find more uses for the tools as time goes by.



When building your own, increments of 4' (8x8, 8x12, 12x12, etc) gives you the least waste. Get your wife involved. It's a great togetherness project. My wife and I built a 12x12 shed of my own design. We worked about four hours each morning on it and finished it in a couple weeks. Much superior in quality than the prefabs you get at the home stores. Walls, joists, rafters all at 16" centers, eight foot walls, quality shingles, etc. All for about 2/3 the price of the prefab/prebuilt jobs. And it was a lot of fun working together. 



Check around your train club or church, there's bound to be someone would be happy to help you with design and construction tips. A great way to broaden your experience base. 



-- 

Michael


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## jlyans (Jan 2, 2008)

I second what Michael said. My shed was the most ambitious construction project that I had ever attempted. I learned a lot and gained confidence as I went along. Now I feel like I could tackle a room addition. But the pre-fab kits are great too. Whatever you do you'll feel like you have gained a new room. 

John


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## Duncan (Jan 2, 2008)

I purchased a "Thinking Outside" shed from Sam's club, and it has worked very well. 

www.thinking-outside.com/SmartShedSuperDeluxe.php 

Don't know if they still carry it, but I sure do like mine. 
I/we set it up on a platform of pavers to give an even distribution of load for the floor...


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## Tom Lapointe (Jan 2, 2008)

Saw what I think might be the same or a similar shed at a local BJ's Wholsale Club recently; giving some thought to one myself. Looks like it's made of the the same type of plastic used for "Porta-Potties"/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sick.gif (which considering the abuse THOSE things have to withstand, probably means it's pretty sturdy!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif ), with addtional steel re-enforcement. IF I get one, plan to cut a hole in one wall for track to run through to 1 or 2 storage sidings inside on a shelf inside; lugging EVERY single car & locomotive in & out for operating sessions is getting old VERY fast!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/plain.gif 

/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gifTom


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## Dan Moore (Jan 3, 2008)

For 2K i will build you one that looks like a railroad depot proffesor !!!!!


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2008)

Dan, 

Do you have some plans I can look at? I like the Union Station in DC or the station in KC is very nice. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif 

Ed 

P.S. How's you new stuff from Mike's working out? Bring something down to run at my place for the club meeting.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Tuffshed built our new garage, and did a nice job. So I think they are worth the money. 

Trouble I have with the plastic sheds is that they are often not very waterproof of resistant to high wind loads, both can be big issues here during the winter. Also how are you planning to anchor it down? This is an issue with all sheds as is what kind of subfloor may be required.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

I built most of my storage shed out of left over scrap from when I built the house...though I did have to buy three or four sheets of OSB. What I found annoying there was that since then, the price of OSB has dropped by almost half around here (so I went out and bought a bunch more).


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

In the shed buying process myself, I will say after being to about ten places, Lowes/Home Depot sheds are the "cheapest made" but highest cost. But many buy them due to the financing apparently, so it is of little concequence for those of us with cash in hand. 

The plastic ones I would be leary of, watching what my kid's playstuff has done here in the Tennessee sun. My aluminum one is about dead, more holes and dents than shed. 

The best so far I have found for quality and price is Derksen out of Kentucky. They sell buldings throughout the mid and deep south. I am sure there is a similar company in NE? 

The only catch I have is getting the shed to the location, so I am having their rep see what he can do, otherwise I will have to have one built onsite. A lot of folks will do those too, and they are nice quality.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2008)

Garrett, 

I have a similar problem. I can't get a truck or loader into my back yard so the shed will have to be built onsite. That's why I'll only looking at "kits" or "installed". There are some really nice inexpensive ones at some "shed" stores in Lincoln, but they are all assembled and would need to be trucked in and some how lifted into place. So, I passed on them. Thanks for the warning about plastic. That was my worry so I thought I'd see if anyone had one in their yard to report on before I spent my money.


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## van buren sl (Jan 4, 2008)

Ed 

About 20 years ago I bought two ten by eight wooden shed kits and assembled them as one shed. My reason for going that route was that I wanted a shed with a door at each end. All of my neighbors with sheds seemed to have to empty them to reach stuff at the back. Even though my shed has gotten cluttered over the years I can dig stuff out from either end. 

Bob


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## imrnjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed-- 
My brother in law bought a very similar one for $700 (10x10?? about $150 off list around here) from Lowe's. He just walked up and offered and they took the deal. He uses his as a pump house, and insulated it with 1/2" foam board screwed to the interior walls. 

It's realatively easy to put together, but the critical measurement is the door way! The instructions are some what vague about that thru the first steps then it just pops up!!! We liked to have killed ourselves trying to get the bottom rail/track for the vinyl panels squared up before we saw that..... when all else fails re-read the destructions!!!!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif 

After that it went together pretty fast, about 6-7 hours total with 2 trying to get it squared up on the concrete slab my brouther-in-law poured that's not quite square either..../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif But it really is a two man job. 

We've had some 50-60 mph winds in some of the recent storms, and it didn't move a bit or leak with over 3.5" of rain in a 6 hour reiod. 

Good luck 

Mark


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Any way to build one and add a low profile addition on for a enclosed yard for a couple trains. Would be nice to run a train right out of the shed and not have to bring out the cars one at a time. Just a thought! It's not that hard to build a shed.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Ed Harvey on 04/06/2008 1:24 PM
Garrett, 
I have a similar problem. I can't get a truck or loader into my back yard so the shed will have to be built onsite. That's why I'll only looking at "kits" or "installed". There are some really nice inexpensive ones at some "shed" stores in Lincoln, but they are all assembled and would need to be trucked in and some how lifted into place. So, I passed on them. Thanks for the warning about plastic. That was my worry so I thought I'd see if anyone had one in their yard to report on before I spent my money.







I have wrangled a few trucks in the back yard with trailers (interesting as they were loaner trucks and I have always owned small cars), but this deal will involve taking down a fence, and I am loosing interest fast. Check in the local paper, and there are a lot of hungry builders (and cheap lumber) right now. According to the Mrs., we may be looking at two sheds as I loose my ex-garage now workshop in the house for an "internal addition", but it keeps her from house shopping, so for $2K vs a few more zeros, sure! 

The kiddie plastic stuff does bleach over time, ditto to the bins, hose holders, etc. But maybe TN sun is more intense than NE, dunno? 

Cracking idea for the poster above with the dual door shed!!!!


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## Dan Moore (Jan 3, 2008)

Ed before you buy one let me know what your looking for size wise and i'll give you a bid for it. I am serious about making it look like an old style depot


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## Pop Alexandra (Mar 8, 2018)

I wouldn't say they're junk, but I wouldn't buy one. I prefer something more reliable.


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## uzenmajek (Jun 15, 2021)

I actually had no experience using a plastic shed. All the sheds I've been using are wooden sheds. Urban sheds Urban Sheds | Premium Outdoor Structures Built by Local Craftsmen always help me in building my sheds and they are quite affordable.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

We got one from Sam's club, I built a treated wood "deck" as a foundation using deck planking instead of plywood as the directions showed. I screwed the plastic floor down to the wood with lag bolts with large washers on them after it was totally built. Between those and the very heavy antique Cub Cadet garden tractor parked in there, I dont think its going anywhere. The floor has held up fine to the just over 800lbs tractor and other stuff thats in there. I still need to run power out there for the lights I put in. If it holds up as good as our mailbox, which is made from the same type of material, it should outlast any wood shed.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Mine is standing up real well. I did use cement stands in the ground to keep the pressure treated frame I built off the ground. For some it can be how you secure the shed for high winds.


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