Timber garden sheds- seem bloody expensive to me.

Hi All,

I'm in the market for a new garden shed and ideally I'd like a timber one. All I can say is timber ones are bloody expensive in 'straya. The cheapest ones I can find are over $1000.

I'm used to them being quite cheap (I'm a pommie) for example:

Am I doing it wrong? Is there somewhere I'm supposed to search to get something more affordable? I can't bring myself to buy those metal or plastic ones.

Any help would be great!


  • +1

    I built my own wooden shed from scratch to get exactly what I wanted, and I probably spent $1000 all up. Not large (about 8 foot by 4 foot), but damn solid!

    Have you tried cubby house manufacturers?

  • +1

    Considered using pallets?

  • +1

    Most of those ones in the link you've supplied are absolutely tiny; they look like little outdoor dunnies; not sommat you could use to actually "store" anything substantial in. You do realise those dimensions they're quoting on that site are feet, not metres right? And the pound = about $2 'Stralyan, so (for example) at that site you can buy THE WOOD/SCREWS required to build a 6 x 3 foot "shed" (box) yourself, for about $400. You can do that here.

    The only decent looking ones on that site are the ones that cost well over 500 squid; i.e. over $1000 Australian. And again, that's just for the wood/screws; "Assembly Required"…

    Why don't you just get a metal one, and paint it/ clad it/ do WHATEVER to the exposed outside surfaces of it, to suit your aesthetic tastes? Or, if you really hate metal so much (what are yer, some kinda rustist?), then I'd urge you to consider the above advice from another poster… "happen upon" some pallets (they're everywhere/abandoned all the time), or DIY using recycled hardwood. There's plenty of recyclable hardwood on the side of the road for free every day of the week here in Melbourne. Decent lengths too… way better than that "European Soft" (coc#) Wood on offer at the site you linked to… geez… talk about "failure to perform over time"…

    Anyways, I'm sorry that this response has been SO BRIEF. I'll endeavor to provide a much more detailed and informative response, in the fullness of time.

    • +1
      • vote
  • +2

    Timber sheds can't be flat packed and are therefore expensive to ship. As a result they're less popular and attract a higher price tag.

    Build one if you're keep :)

  • +2

    Thanks everyone. It looks like my solution is to not be a useless prick and build one myself.

  • At almost 2 dollars to the pound, the prices down here are not that far off the UK. (If you compare like for like)
    Wood is expensive down under and needs heaps of maintenance. I went for metal sheet-much more practical.

  • You should be able to build it yourself for 1/3 the price of a readymade product. Labour cost in Oz is generally 60-80 of the cost of anything!
    Once built a solid brick garage with large aluminium window, side door and an automatic roller door For $4500. A builder would have charged me $20-25K !! Plans for almost anything can be found for free on the internet and if you want to save on the materials as well you can often buy construction leftovers for pennies………

  • Don't you have termites where you live?
    I'm a POM too but I know enough that a wooden garden shed is just a gigantic termite trap.
    You ozzies ought to be warning mooney about this. And recycled hardware and pallets on the side of the road are probably riddled with white ants anyway.
    Get a tin shed mooney. You'll regret it if you don't.
    And don't buy too cheap. You need galvanised steel so it doesn't rust.

    • +1

      You must have missed my insightful post above KimWa (which has been inexplicably negged; scroll up and poz-me-back to neutral will ya'?! LOL). Among numerous other pearls of wisdom, it contains this sage advice:

      "Why don't you just get a metal one…"