There are many cheap garden sheds that can be found online and on the face of it buying cheap sheds may seem like the ideal solution. There are however a few factors that need to be taken in to account when choosing a cheap garden shed for storing your bicycles. Bikes can be very expensive to buy and do require a certain amount of protection from the elements so buying the best bicycle storage you can afford should be a priority. This post takes a look at some of the ‘things’ that you should consider when buying sheds:
Materials
Many of the materials used on cheap garden shed are not of very good quality and this means that the timber will inevitable be some form of soft wood with plenty of knots in it. Unfortunately as the wood weathers and expands and contracts many of these knots simply drop out… and some of them can be rather large.
You will also find that to reduce cost that the timber used is cut down very thinly, this unfortunately means that the wood will warp over time and this can leave the contents of your shed to be exposed to the elements.
Construction
Almost exclusively, cheap garden sheds will be constructed from overlapped wood. This overlapped construction is nowhere near as good as tongue and groove construction and this means that the problem of thin timber warping is amplified. Worse still the wood does not only warp – it shrinks as well and large gaps between the cladding can open up.
Maintenance
Unlike plastic sheds, sheds that are made from soft wood will need treating annually with some form of preservative. Over the life time of wooden garden sheds the cost of doing this can add up to be significant and you may have been better off by looking at some of the plastic bike storage solutions offered by Rubbermaid sheds, which would last for 10-15 years without needing any form of maintenance at all. Suncast Sheds also do a range of cheaper plastic sheds which may be ideal.
Security
All of the above points really come down to the integrity of the structure of the sheds and this is directly related to the security of the contents of that shed. Cycle shelters should not only protect your bike from the weather they should also protect them from theft and I’m not sure that a cheap garden shed can provide the security that is needed for expensive bicycles.
The cheap timber used warps, nails pop out and gaining access to bicycles stored in the shed is not a difficult task for even the most inexperienced of thieves. So if you have an expensive bicycle to store I would urge you to consider your options carefully. Take a look at your existing sheds and garages are you using the space effectively? There are many garage storage solutions that will allow you to use the space effectively and you could keep your garden shed for gardening equipment.