Free DIY Shed Plans

How to choose the right shed size

The most common mistake DIY builders make is buying a shed that is too small. By the time the lawnmower, strimmer, two bikes, a workbench and the kids' bike trailer go in, an 8x6 starts to feel cramped. As a rough guide, work out everything you want to store, lay it out on the lawn or driveway, then measure the footprint and add at least 30% for moving around.

These are the typical uses for each garden shed size in our plans:

• 6x4 shed plans - mower, hand tools, a bag or two of compost. The smallest practical garden shed.
• 8x6 shed plans - the most popular size in the UK. Fits a workbench plus tools, or a mower plus two bikes.
• 10x6 shed plans - long and narrow, perfect against a side fence or run of garden wall.
• 10x8 shed plans - workshop territory. Room for a workbench, wall storage and a mower with comfortable circulation space.
• 12x8 shed plans - large shed plans for serious storage, a hobby workshop or bike storage for a family.
• 12x10 shed plans - the largest size we offer as standard, and close to the limit for permitted development in many gardens.

If none of those fit, you can design your own shed using the configurator and pick any width and depth in 50mm increments. The cutting list, materials cost and 3D model all update in real time as you change the size.

Shed roof styles compared - pent, apex and reverse apex

Roof style is probably the biggest decision in any wooden shed design. It affects the look, the headroom inside, the rainwater run-off and how fiddly the build feels.

A pent shed has a single sloping roof, usually with the high side at the front above the door. It sheds water away from the entrance, suits modern gardens and is the easiest of the common roof styles to build because every rafter is the same length and angle. Pent shed designs work especially well against a fence or wall where you do not need or want a tall ridge.

An apex shed has a symmetrical pitched roof with a central ridge running front-to-back. The peak gives more headroom along the centre line, which makes apex sheds the better pick if you want to stand up comfortably or store anything tall. The build is slightly more involved because of the ridge board and the matching rafter angles, but our shed building plans give you every cut to the millimetre.

A reverse apex shed is an apex shed turned 90 degrees, so the gable end (the triangular wall) faces the garden and the door sits under it. This gives a taller-feeling entrance and works well in long, narrow gardens where the shed sits lengthways. The build is no harder than a standard apex - it is the same set of cuts in a different layout.

How much does it cost to build your own shed?

Material costs vary with size, cladding choice and current timber prices, but as a working guide for 2026 a self-built UK garden shed in pressure-treated softwood usually costs between £400 and £1,800 in materials. A 6x4 pent shed sits at the lower end. A 10x8 apex shed with a felt-shingle roof and tongue-and-groove cladding sits in the middle. A fully insulated 12x10 with a solid base is at the upper end.

Building it yourself with our free shed plans saves roughly 40-60% against the equivalent off-the-shelf shed from a national retailer, and you end up with a stronger, better-fixed building because the framing in most flat-pack sheds is a lot lighter than what you would put in a custom shed.

The configurator shows you a live materials cost as you make changes, with prices pulled from UK timber merchants. You can switch between metric and imperial units, change the cladding type, change the roof covering and see the effect on the total before you commit to anything.

Tools and materials for a DIY shed

You don't need a workshop full of tools to build a shed. Most of our shed building plans can be built with a fairly small kit:

• A circular saw or a sharp handsaw (a mitre saw makes things faster but is not essential).
• A cordless drill and impact driver, plus a decent set of bits.
• A spirit level (1.2m is ideal), a tape measure and a combination square.
• A claw hammer and a rubber mallet.
• Safety kit - goggles, ear defenders, gloves and a dust mask for cutting treated timber.

On the materials side, every plan ships with a full cutting list. The list groups timber by section size (typically 47x47, 47x75 and 47x100 for framing), then sheet materials (OSB or ply for floor and roof decking), then cladding (shiplap, featheredge or tongue-and-groove), then fixings, ironmongery and roof covering. The cutting list is also a checklist for the timber merchant - hand it over and they will quote the lot in one go.

Do you need planning permission for a shed in the UK?

In most cases a garden shed is covered by permitted development and does not need planning permission. The main rules to be aware of are:

• The shed must be single-storey, with a maximum eaves height of 2.5m and an overall maximum height of 4m for a dual-pitched roof or 3m for any other roof.
• If the shed is within 2m of a boundary, the maximum overall height drops to 2.5m.
• Outbuildings together must not cover more than 50% of the land around the original house.
• The shed must not be in front of the principal elevation that fronts a highway.
• In conservation areas, AONBs, National Parks and on listed properties, the rules are tighter and you should check with your local planning authority before you start.

All of our standard shed designs sit comfortably inside permitted development for a typical UK garden, but it is your responsibility to check the latest rules and any local restrictions before building. The Planning Portal has the current national guidance and most councils publish a one-page summary of the same rules.

Pressure-treated vs untreated timber

For any timber that touches the ground or sits exposed to the weather, use pressure-treated softwood. The treatment forces preservative deep into the wood under pressure and gives a service life of 15+ years, even where the timber stays damp. Bearers, floor joists, the bottom plate of the wall frames and any external cladding should all be pressure-treated.

Internal framing - the studs, noggins and roof rafters that sit inside the building envelope and stay dry - can be untreated C16 or C24 softwood. Untreated timber is cheaper, lighter and easier to work with than treated, and there is no benefit to using treated timber where it never gets wet.

After the shed is built, give all external timber a coat of a quality shed treatment - either a coloured preservative for a traditional look or a clear UV-stable oil if you want the wood to weather to silver-grey. Re-coat every two to three years and the building will outlast most of the contents.

Custom shed plans and bespoke sizes

The standard sizes on this page cover what most people ask for, but they are only a starting point. Every plan is fully customisable - if you need a 9x7 shed because that is the gap between your fence and the path, change the width and depth in the configurator and the cutting list, 3D model and PDF instructions regenerate to match.

You can also customise the door position, the number and size of windows, the cladding type, the roof covering, the floor type and whether the shed is insulated or not. Save unlimited variations against your account, share a link with a partner or builder, and download the final pack when you are ready to start.

For trade users who want to offer this to their own customers under their own branding, the same engine is available as a configurable widget through VisualConfig.