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How To Look After Your Shed

by Adrienne Wild
Adrienne Wild

Adrienne started her professional life as a gardener at her local parks department and went on to train at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh where she was the first female student on the prestigious and world-renowned horticultural course run by the Botanic garden. An experienced and award-winning garden writer and past editor of some of Britain’s favourite gardening magazines, Adrienne has for over 30 years, inspired gardeners with a breadth of gardening know-how plus creative and decorative ideas. One of her main aims is to make gardening accessible, even to the smallest green fingers, with her clear advice and straightforward step-by-step instructions. Adrienne loves to travel and has visited, given talks and met ordinary home gardeners in far flung places like China, South Africa, Philippines and Caribbean as well as the UK.

Last Updated: March 31, 2021

How To Look After Your Shed

So, you’ve got yourself a new shed / workshop to store your tools and tool box and it looks and smells great. Here are some tips on how to keep it that way for years to come.

Timber!

You wash your hair many times a month, and your shed deserves to be ‘treated’ once a year, at least. Preservative treatments vary; from anti-rot coating, to wood varnish, to range of pastel colored paints, if that’s your thing. All these things preserve the wood way beyond its natural lifespan.

Brushing a wooden shed

Felt

While the wood should last for a decade or more, felt lasts for half that time, and so needs to be checked and replaced in order to prevent water and damp from harming that precious, lovely smelling wood.

Inside – Out

It is not only the outside but the inside that matters, for even tiny leaks or holes can wreak havoc with the wood. Fix any such holes immediately, and even consider ‘treating’ your interior, even with varnish, to preserve the integrity of the whole structure.

A Solid Base

Most shed-fitters will install a base which is flat and raised enough to allow rainfall to pass under it. However, it can still become clogged with leaves, and will need checking from time to time, to ensure that it’s not rotting or allowing moisture to harm the flooring of your shed.

Garden shed

Window Sealant

An inexpensive window putty or sealant can be applied to the outside of your shed window, to prevent any unwanted moisture from creeping in.  It doesn’t matter if it is liberally applied; your shed is supposed to be rugged and durable, not a work of art.

Hinges

A suitable, multi-purpose lubricant spray can be applied to the hinges and even padlock fastening your shed door. This should prevent the need to replace rusty hinges, which is actually a surprisingly difficult, two-man job.

Contact Free

Ensure that your shed is not pushed up against a garden fence or tree. This can lead to friction, damp, and even nesting and infestation. Keep the shed free from contact and it should minimize unnecessary wear and tear.

Shed in the garden

Contents Beware

You shouldn’t be storing highly valuable contents in a flimsy wooden structure, but you might want to store the kids’ bikes in there. Just be careful that any excess mud or rainwater doesn’t damage the wood; install some plastic sheeting, and avoid wet objects from resting anywhere except for on the floor.

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