Shed Cost in Ireland : The Definitive Guide

In Ireland, Shed Cost is one of the most important factors for customers when deciding on a garden shed. One of the most common questions we get asked over the phone or through our Social Media channels is “How much does that shed cost?”. 

And while we (and our competitors) have the prices for 95% of our products online, it’s not a bad question. There are a tonne of options that can adjust the price of garden sheds drastically. Wood Types or Shipping Rates are factors that can adjust a ‘standard’ shed price. Similarly, some costs appear high now, but over the life of a shed could end up saving you money. 

So it’s worth asking again:

How much does a Shed cost in Ireland?

So, off we went with a calculator. We visited all the major shed seller’s websites (and our own). Wooden, Steel and PVC Clad Sheds were what we considered only (Ain’t nobody got time for them plastic sheds). We totted up the total and worked out an average.

The average shed cost in Ireland is €1126.58.

Which, I mean… Great. It’s like finding out that your fingernails grow quicker on your dominant hand. It’s cool to think about for a second or two, but it’s a pretty pointless piece of information. (We really should’ve considered this before we did all those shed calculations. Don’t tell our boss.) All you want to know is how much your shed is going to cost, right? So let us look at the main factors that affect a shed’s price:

• Shed Material & Size
• Assembly
• Delivery
• Pressure Treatment
• Add Ons
• The Base

Let’s start with the obvious one – materials.

The Material a Shed is made of can affect the final figure

The material you choose can have a large impact on any shed cost in Ireland. Even the variations within a  material can be drastically different. Let’s start with Wood.

Wooden Sheds vary wildly in price. The basic Rustic Wood is cheap as chips, but it’s not without its faults (see the difference between wood types here). The Pressure Treated Deluxe Wood is considerably more expensive, but a far better wood. If we take the smallest 6×4 Wooden Shed in Rustic, it’s €390. This same sized shed is €625 in a Pressure Treated Deluxe Style. That’s a 46% difference. How does all this compare to Steel?

Steel Sheds are cheaper.

We’ve compared the cheapest option for each shed in the graph below (i.e. no add ons, etc). We compared two Wooden Sheds (Basic Rustic and Pressure Treated Deluxe) and two Steel Options (Fitted and Flatpacked). You can see how the price increases in shed types as the square footage increases in the graph below – but there are other changes too.

(please note the price for steel shed fitting is based on Dublin rates only in this instance – more on this later)

The Blue & Green lines are Steel Sheds. The Red and Yellow are Wooden Sheds. 

So, that yellow line would make it out like Steel Sheds are a clear winner. But remember you have to take into account that this is the flat-packed price – so you’d need to build this shed yourself. If you’re willing to do so, you can save. That’s because:

Assembly can make up to 30% of a Steel Shed’s price

Assembly is included in the price of all our Wooden Sheds. Steel Sheds that are fitted are more expensive incur a fitting cost. Even so, Steel Sheds are cheaper than their Wooden Alternatives (except for basic rustic sheds). For example, if we average out the price of a Wooden Shed (Rustic, Deluxe, Pressure Treated etc), a 6×5 Wooden Shed costs €552.50 – a Steel one costs €489 including assembly.
A 10×12 is €1541.25 in Wood or €1,029 in Steel, assembly included.

Remember: Building a flat-packed Steel Shed yourself is the most economically sound option when buying a shed in Ireland. 

However, this is not something that everyone wants to /can do. Sure, you can save large by building it yourself, but you can also save yourself some potential grief by having a team assemble if for you. While Steel Sheds are still the cheapest when assembled, this is based on Dublin prices. This can rise sharply if it was being built in Offaly, for example. That’s because of delivery charges. 

Delivery Costs Extra (sometimes)

To begin with, our Wooden Sheds are only available in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny, Meath and Louth. We do not deliver to any other county. However, in the counties listed below, the delivery and assembly is included in the price. Happy Days says you!

What about the Steel Sheds? Well, we can ship our Steel Sheds all over Ireland, but obviously, there are delivery charges involved in this. Large metal sheds are more cumbersome and expensive to deliver than say, a t-shirt you bought online for example. You can expect to pay anywhere between €20-€100 for delivery of a flat-packed shed.

So check out all delivery charges before you decide on your shed. Our delivery prices are included at the final stage of the checkout (don’t worry, you don’t have to pay anything at this stage, you can just have a look!).

The Base – An expense that many forget about

Meghan Trainor was right. It’s all about the base.

You need to have a solid level base for your steel shed. If you don’t want to pay for someone to lay a base or go down the route of laying your concrete base, you should consider slabs for your Steel Shed. We don’t sell these ourselves, but our friends at Murdock will be able to see you sorted. They can provide you with Slabs suitable for under Steel Sheds for a reasonable price. Remember to build it bigger than the base of the shed, e.g.f if you buy a 6×8 steel shed, consider laying a 7×9 base.

Wooden Sheds don’t require slabs, but they will require blocks. You’ll need at least 4″ thick concrete blocks for under your Wooden Shed. How many you need will depend on the size of your shed, but they should only cost about ~€1 per block.

Are add Ons for Wooden Sheds worth the extra expense?

[Steel Sheds don’t come with any add ons, so you can skip this bit if you’re not interested in a Wooden Shed.]

Add ons are things that you might want to add to a shed, but ones which don’t come as standard. Flower Boxes, shelving units, Steel roofs, for example. Most of these type of add ons are entirely dependent on who’s buying them. We have them listed on our Wooden Shed pages – check them out for yourself to see what’s available.

However, if you’re buying a Wooden Shed, you should consider the Pressure Treatment option.

Should I Pressure Treat my Wooden Shed?

Pressure Treatment could be a full page in and of itself, but in a nutshell, it’s a process where chemicals are added through the wood which means it doesn’t need to be treated annually. It also keeps all sorts of creatures from gnawing at it. Upfront, it can look like a massive expense – but there’s more to it than that.

Let’s take a small, 6×4 Standard Deluxe Shed – there’s a €125 charge to have it Pressure Treated. That’s an extra 25% of the cost. However, it’s not as expensive as it initially appears.

If we use the cheapest wood treatment available in Ireland currently and one that only needs to be used once every 2 years, we can treat this shed for €100 over 12 years.

 

 

But this doesn’t take into account the upfront cost of brushes or masking tape, etc. More importantly, it doesn’t take into account your own time. So, if you’re buying a Wooden Shed ask yourself if you think it’s worth that bit extra now – or am I happy to pay with my time later?

 

Why are PVC Coated Sheds so Expensive by comparison to everything else? 

PVC Coated Sheds are the bees knees. Sure just lookit them there:

Aesthetics aside, they’ve got thicker walls, doors, anti-con roofs. Look, this isn’t a sell on them. You can check them out here if you need to, but suffice to say that PVC Clad sheds are in a different bracket to other sheds. Comparing them to Steel Sheds is like comparing apples to oranges. They’re great, but their greatness is reflected in their price tag.

Final Point: Price isn’t everything

Look, at the end of the day, the shed that you want is the best one for you. All we’re doing here is trying to educate you on potential costs that most people forget about when they think about buying a shed. We’re trying to break the misconception that steel sheds are more expensive than wooden sheds too. We’re here to help and we’ll be happy to talk you through your options if you need a new shed. Pop into us in our Finglas Showroom and talk to the team here about the best option for you!

If you’ve any questions about Shed cost in Ireland or anything else, leave a comment, message us over on Facebook or call us on 01 8644247.