5′ x 3′ Store-Plus Overlap Tool Store

Shed Type, Roof Size

Whether you look upon this as a tool or lawn mower store, or a small garden shed, we found a lot to like about it. The first thing that struck us was its attractive look, with the overlapping wooden cladding giving it a traditional and almost rustic appearance. It certainly won’t look obtrusive in your garden, as some plastic or metal stores can do.

It’s small and compact, and yet we think that this is also a positive. It means that owners of small gardens can get the storage facility they need without having to give up too much of their precious land. At the top sits a pent style roof covered in black mineral felt. It’s very effective at carrying water away, and creates a ridge height of 1.47m and an eaves height of 1.39. The overall width of the store is 1.42m and the overall depth is 0.92m.

Cladding, Frame and Floor

The overlap cladding not only looks attractive it’s also highly effective at stopping rainwater from getting into the interior. We prefer to see tongue and groove cladding when possible, but we accept that this would have been impractical at this price range. The cladding itself is 8mm thick across all surfaces, and the frame is 28 X 28mm. These are both less than we often see on compact garden sheds, but it still felt reasonably strong when assembled. We’ll point out here that the back wall is made of OSB rather than overlap cladding, so it makes sense to have that positioned in the vicinity of a wall that will give it extra weather protection.

The floor is also made of OSB, as is the roof, but we often see this on compact sheds. If anything heavy is to be stored inside you may wish to reinforce it. What we particularly liked about the floor, however, is that it features integrated floor joists that have been pressure treated. These give the floor added protection by elevating it above ground level which typically has a high moisture content.

Treatment Requirements and Warranty

For a garden building as inexpensive as this, we were surprised and pleased to see that it came with a 10 year manufacturer’s warranty. To keep this warranty valid the customer is required to treat the timber with wood preserver on an annual basis, as it has only been given a standard dip treatment prior to being shipped. As the store is compact, carrying out this treatment should be neither costly nor expensive, so we highly recommend that the schedule is adhered to.

Doors and Windows

One of the other stand out features for us was the large double doors at the front of the store. They occupy the full frontage, and so open to a width of 1.32m and have a height of 1.26m. This means that it’s easy to move things in and out, and as an alternative to a lawn mower we feel this could be used as an all weather store to keep a bicycle in. It was also good to see that the doors were well braced, and so stronger than you might imagine. There are no windows, but with the doors open it’s easy to see what’s inside.

Security Features

We welcome the lack of windows, as this means that passers by will have no way of knowing whether anything of value is kept inside. This means that opportune thieves are far more likely to simply pass it by, if they notice the store at all given its compact size. Whilst it features a hasp and staple, there is no padlock supplied, so if anything valuable is to be kept within then this has to be an essential extra purchase.

Optional Extras

As well as the padlock mentioned above, which shouldn’t in itself be an expensive purchase, we would also recommend the purchase of an outdoor grade paint or stain. Whilst this isn’t available to be purchased with the tool store itself, it can easily be sourced via the internet or at any DIY store. By painting or staining the wood, the owner is protecting the timber from fading to a silvery grey colour over time, and can also help to stop the wood cracking.