Yes, all our steel garden sheds have instructions included for self assembly. If you are not familiar working with flat-packed builds, you may find these difficult to understand initially, but they should not pose a problem for more experienced builders. The instructions are mostly illustrations, with little text – there are no explainers or side-notes. Someone once described them like ‘lego-castle’ instructions, which isn’t far off the mark.

We’d strongly recommend that you throw your eye over the shed instructions before you buy so that you know what you’re getting yourself into. If you don’t understand what you’re looking at, or feel that it’s a bit involved, do not opt for self-assembly.

This is a real ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. Our team build ten or so of these sheds a day, so to them, they’re a doddle. If you struggle to put together an Ikea Billy-Bookcase though, you might find that these sheds are an insurmountable task. As an example of this, look at our 1-star Google Reviews, the vast majority are from people who opted for self-assembly, but who clearly were not able for it; you’ll see people who state it took them 2 days to complete, others that were overwhelmed by the amount of part – and my favourite, the maniac who started drilling random holes into the shed (you don’t need to drill your shed) only to complain that the shed was leaking from these holes.

If you can plan ahead, follow instructions without making assumptions and are prepared for affixing hundreds of screws, you’re probably well able. We can’t stress enough how important it is to read the instructions before you start pulling apart boxes though. Make sure you have every piece, follow the instructions to the letter and don’t jump ahead to another section before the last part is finished.

You will need:

• At least two people (the sheets can be large and unwieldy and dangerous to move alone)
• Basic tools, like a cordless screwdriver, spirit level, workman’s gloves, etc.
• A calm day (for safety reason do not attempt to assemble these sheds on windy days)
• Patience. This isn’t a lego house. It’s going to take at least 4 hours.
• To be able-bodied. These sheds will require manual labour, like stretching, reaching and moving large metal panels.

1. First things first, make sure your base is solid and level. I mean, I’m blue in the face typing it on the website, but it’s there for a reason. If your base isn’t solid and level, you’re not going to have a fun time laying the base frame and lining up the sheet panels. Your wall panels won’t line up and doors will not close properly.
2. The next common problem is that people forget to leave an overhang on the roof, The overhang makes up the gutters. Don’t line the walls of the shed up with the edge of the roof. The image below is of an older shed that we no longer stock, but the overhang remains the same on our newer ones. 
   
   
3. Another common one is that people put the internal brackets facing in the wrong direction. The brackets should be ‘facing inwards’ to the centre of the shed. Fixing this should sort out most roof issues that people are experiencing. See the example and diagram below:
4. Part 6 and Part 7. These are commonly asked about together. Part 6 is an aluminium door runner bar. Some people think that we haven’t included this in the shed’s box, but it’s packed in with the gutters to keep it safe.Part 7 confuses some people. ‘It doesn’t have enough screw-holes’ is a common belief, but it does. Once it’s in place, you can screw directly through the shed walls on the outside to get through it. It’s only aluminium, which is a soft metal, so it’ll take the screw easily. This will keep in place. (Just remember to put the runners for the door into it before you put it in place, as you won’t have a chance afterwards!)

1. You will need a ladder to finish off the roof. For the smaller sheds, this isn’t an issue, however the likes of The Colossus Shed it’s a different kettle of fish. These can be particularly challenging for people with little-to-no construction experience and can be dangerous if you are ill-prepared, have the incorrect tools or are doing it alone. We had one customer leave a one-star review claiming that they’d need to hire a crane to assemble it; which is untrue, but also slightly hilarious. Here are photos of our assembly team finishing the roof on the 10ft x 10ft and 9ft x 10ft sheds, for example.

   

It depends on the size of the shed, but on average, experienced builders will put together our 10ft x 10ft steel shed in about 3-4 hours. The average Joe Soap should really put aside 8 hours and it’s not uncommon to hear that some people required a full weekend to get a large shed built.

While the instructions are laid-lout like a simplified lego-build, these are not simple items to self assemble.

Yes (to an extent).

When you opt for self assembly, you’re basically saying “I know what I’m doing”. You save money because you do the work yourself. As such, it should come as no major surprise that we can’t spend all day, talking you through each part, piece-by-piece, you scabby divil, you. 

That said, of course we can help with particularly annoying instances. First off, check out our FAQs. Chances are your issue is there. If not, you can call us during business hours at 01 864 4247 or message us on Facebook if you need a hand.

We strongly recommend sending us in some photos to our whatsapp at 085 7145 148, to speed things along. One of our assembly team will have a look at your issue when they’re available and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a solution.

Just remember: The office is closed after 5pm Monday – Thursday and after 4pm on Fridays and Saturdays. We don’t open on Sundays, so we can’t offer any assistance outside of these hours. During business hours, our sales team will be able to help with common, minor issues, but more technical issues will need to be addressed by the fitters – and these guys are not available at a moment’s notice (i.e. they’re usually fitting sheds), so you may need to wait for assistance.

We do not offer a 24-7 help-line and our phone team are not fully trained in the assembly of all our sheds, so they may require you to wait while they seek assistance from a fitter.

Final note here: If you base isn’t solid and level, there is nothing that we can do to help.
People can get annoyed at this, but if you shed base isn’t solid and level (despite it being sign-posted EVERYWHERE on our website), we can’t fix the majority of issues that will arise from this.

• Sheds won’t line up for assembly if your base isn’t solid and level.
• Hinge doors won’t close if your base isn’t solid and level
• Panels can warp and crack if your base isn’t solid and level

The list goes on. If your base isn’t solid and level, we cannot offer any assistance that will help you.

Our Assembly team will assemble the shed, cut the ply flooring to size and fix it down, but you will need to have the base prepared ahead of time. 

See our guide on suitable bases for steel sheds, if you haven’t already. 

Our assembly team will come and assemble the shed for you and provide and internal ply floor. They will cut the ply to size, screw it to the frame and make sure that it sits evenly.

However, the assembly team will not:

• Remove the plastic film from the shed walls
• Put all the plastic caps on the internal screws (they will leave a bag of these for you to apply, should you want to, but it’s entirely optional)
• They will not assemble shelving units, carts etc. They’ve only been paid to assemble a shed.
• They will not supply/build/manoeuvre a base for the shed.
• Our team will not bolt the shed to the base. As we cannot be sure what’s under the foundation, our team for legal and health & safety reasons, cannot bolt these sheds into customer’s grounds. Some sheds will require bolting (e.g. the woodgrain sheds), however, our team cannot provide this service.
• Electric Work – our team are not registered electricians and as such, they cannot safely or legally do any electrical work.

Some people feel that our assembly service is rather expensive. However, it’s worth noting that the prices include:

• The internal ply flooring (this isn’t available with flat-packed sheds)
• Delivery (Fuel, tolls, general travel expenses)
• The experienced two-man team assembling your shed
• As well as all the various other expenses like VAT.

We can offer assembly of your shed without the internal ply flooring, but we strongly recommend against this. Your shed would have the floor frame exposed, which present a trip-hazard. Not only that but weight in the shed is not dispersed. So if you put something heavy on one floor bar, it can be warped or damaged. 

We’ll do our best to accommodate customers where possible, and we’ll never arrive to assemble the shed without considerably prior notice, but we can’t guarantee that we can work to your specific dates.

Our assembly team travel along set routes. For example, we may be assembling sheds from Finglas, to Tyrrellstown all the way up to Drogheda on a Monday. It wouldn’t be possible then to facilitate a shed assembly in Wicklow Town on that day.

If you give us as much notice as possible, we may be able to make it work for you, but we can’t alter set routes at short notice, as I’m sure you’ll understand. 

Yes, providing that you have a solid, level base in place (there’s that phrase again) and that you haven’t modified or done anything to the shed which would impede its assembly (e.g. drilling through it, bending it). Your assembly date will depend on availability and in most cases it won’t happen straight away. During the winter months, you should expect the team within 10 days, however, this may be considerably longer during Spring/Summer months, where you can expect a longer waits. We will always try to accommodate as soon as possible if you have a part assembled shed, but the full fitting fee will still apply and we cannot guarantee a quick turnaround.

You can call our sales team at 01 864 4247 to arrange assembly after you’ve purchased a steel shed.

This is something that can be done, but it only comes with one benefit – and numerous problems. 

We’ll start with the positive. During peak times, you may find a tradesman who can assemble your shed quicker than our assembly team will be available. So, you may get your shed assembled consdierably quicker during the Summer this way.

HOWEVER (there are the potential issues)

• If your shed is missing a part, or a part is damaged in transit or by the assembly team themselves, we will not be able to instantly dispatch another part. As such you may be paying for an additional days labour.
• If (and it’s not uncommon) the tradesman cannot build the shed, our fitting team are not at their beck and call; The team will have to wait until they are available to answer their questions. This may not be on the same day – especially during busy periods. 
• If a tradesman has altered your shed in any way that is not in the instructions, we cannot honour any of our warranties, including our rust perforation warranty. 
  • This has been a common issue. Third party assemblers often don’t read the instructions and drill holes to ‘make it fit’. This causes structural weaknesses and opens the shed to rust and various other problems. 

In a nutshell, we don’t advise that you use a third party assembly team. If you do, you are undertaking a lot of potential issues that could have been avoided, by just waiting for our team.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, delay, expense, etc that arises from using a third party assembly team. 

Some people feel that our assembly service is rather expensive. However, it’s worth noting that the prices include:

• The internal ply flooring (this isn’t available with flat-packed sheds)
• Delivery (Fuel, tolls, general travel expenses)
• The experienced two-man team assembling your shed
• As well as all the various other expenses like VAT.

We can offer assembly of your shed without the internal ply flooring, but we strongly recommend against this. Your shed would have the floor frame exposed, which present a trip-hazard. Not only that but weight in the shed is not dispersed. So if you put something heavy on one floor bar, it can be warped or damaged. 

No, we only assemble our own sheds