Building a potting shed?

[MarkHackwell]

I have got a greenhouse and polytunnel on my allotment at present and the greenhouse is 6 x 6 but I currently have a potting table inside it so have hardly any space to grow anything I was thinking of getting either a potting shed or normal shed to be able to do my potting up in. Any ideas on the cheapest way to build a potting shed? or on how to build or get hold of a cheap shed? and also on what sort of base to build it on?

Thanks in Advance

[Bill HH]

Have you tried your local free cycle? as for bases you have several choices but make sure the shed is off the ground, they need air circulating underneath to avoid rot and to stop vermin. You can makes a level slab base then place concrete blocks under the sheds crossmembers or build brick piers and lay cross timbers across them. if you build piers you need a concrete footing for each or perhaps a slab then build a pier at the lowest point, from that pier using a straight timber and a level you can build all the other piers. I would put a pier in the centre too, to stop the floor bouncing. The main thing is not to have wood in contact with the soil or it will rot.

When you erect the shed have a couple of posts either hammered into the ground or concreted in at the opposite corners of the shed and bolted through the shed corners to stop the wind blowing it away.

[Kristen]

I have a lot in my potting shed - I started from what I wanted in there, and that governed size etc.

Bench for potting. Space either side to hold a tray of planting being potted on, and the resulting potted on plants. Storage for Compost, Perlite ... Trays, Pots ... bits & bobs storage for Labels, Pens, Pricking out dibber, rooting hormone. Tool racks on the walls, music/radio ...

Might be more OCD than anyone else?! but I came at it from the same sort of direction as my wife designing how she wanted her kitchen to be.

[Chomerly]

Freecycle is a great idea.
I got my greenhouse from connecting with others there.

Have you considered building one?
If you are a competent DIY'er then a good few lengths of treated 3x2, some window beading, a few packs of polycarbonate sheets, some nails and screws and a couple of tubes of silicon sealant and you could build a cracking one that's customised to your needs.

My greenhouse is going to be replaced with one i'm planning to build as currently, it is just an eyesore due to its location in the garden.
And the location its at is the only viable place i could put it.

[Stan79]

Bought mine for about £75 on ebay. A company that sells and erects sheds also removes the old sheds. Any that are good enough to sell on, they put on ebay.

If no luck on Freecycle you could contact any companies local to you and see if they would sell you any of their customers old sheds. If you're ok with your DIY i would think adapting an old shed would be cheaper than building from scratch...