How much floor space do I need?

​Hi folks,
 
I want to discuss with you the idea of required floor space, and things you should consider when designing your very own shed.
Time and time again I meet with people who need or want a shed. Funnily enough though so many of those people don't actually know what they're after. 
The whole point of this blog is to help you on that journey, and to help clear your thoughts and the process.
 
Ok, so you want a shed, you've run out of space and just need more, right?
We've all been there. Some of us are still there😉. 
Have you really sat down and nutted out exactly what it is you need? Or have you just looked at some standardised sizes and thought that will do me fine?
I mean, I know that  some people just need a double garage for car storage and that's all, and that's obviously an easy one, but, if you're considering a shed for multiple purposes it pays to sit down and really nut it out, inch for inch, to get you the best bang for buck so to speak.
Once you start that exercise you will see a whole other story start to unfold. 
You need to ask yourself what you will be using the space for quite matter of factly, it really helps to draw it out with some graph paper too.
Get your tape measure out and start to measure all the things you already have that will be destined to live in your shed.
Cars, boats, vans, motorbikes, yard equipment, anything hobby related, do you need work space?
Then consider the things you may plan to have in the near future, and maybe even a growing family?
All of these things seem very run of the mill and easy to figure out in your head, but many times I have seen this method backfire.
Once you've got a rough idea of the size you're going to need, assuming it actually fits in your yard 😉, It can be really beneficial to mark it out in your yard. 
One of the best investments you can make pre - shed is a long tape measure and a tin or two of line marking paint, which can be had from your local hardware store and is quite inexpensive when considering the investment you're about to make, you need to get this right.
If marking it out isn't your scene get your local Shed Gurus - Spartan Sheds out to do it for you.
Having expert eyes on this for you can be invaluable. 
Sitting down and talking to an expert after you think you've got it all sorted can also prove to be very valuable, there's usually something you haven't thought about, we all do it, it's very easy to get tunnel vision. 
When designing my own shed I even had some ideas thrown at me from others that I just never considered during my own process, and I've been at this for a very long time, so fresh eyes, fresh ideas, is certainly helpful.
 
Getting it right is critical to make best use of space and save you $$$.
 
Quick story - I once had a guy that needed a new shed for a new caravan he had custom ordered and was getting built.
He had all the dimensions from the supplier for the van, all we had to do was build a shed for it to fit, easy right?
Well on the surface of it all it should have been very easy. Now I should mention that the yard space we had was very limited and was already going to be very tight, no problem, we can do this.
We sat down and designed a building  to suit the given dimensions, allowing a tight but manageable 200mm front and back (it was always going to be tight),
Between inner most points of the back wall and the front roller door.
The owner was happy and we built this guy an awesome shed, just big enough to squeeze his big new van and just short enough for council to allow it to happen, winning.
Then a few weeks later the van arrived, we got a phone call, the van didn't fit......
As it turns out the dimensions given by the manufacturer weren't quite right. 
The length given was from rear of van (back wall) to end of draw bar, but did not include rear van bar or tow hitch for some unknown reason...?
So now to fit the van the owner has to remove the tow hitch and rear spare tyre everytime the put the van in the shed, not really the desired outcome, and totally avoidable.
 
Just food for thought.
 
So for now, I hope this helps. There's still a lot to cover on shed sizes and design, which I will be writing about in the near future. 
 
If you need any guidance at all please don't hesitate to contact us, it costs nothing for a quick chat but could save you plenty of time and $$$
Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
 
Spartan Sheds - The Shed Gurus
 
Big Trev
Your Shed Guru