Buyer’s Guide

What Size Shed Do I Need?

Sizing by what you actually own, not by square footage. Plus how to measure your yard and plan for the truck that has to get in.

The Five Sizes That Cover Most People

We list what each size holds and what it does not, because the second is more useful and nobody prints it.

8x12 96 sq ft

Fits: Push mower, hand tools, fuel cans, a wheelbarrow and a season of firewood. The smallest size that still walks like a room rather than a cupboard.

Does not fit: A riding mower. It fits on paper and is miserable in practice.

10x12 120 sq ft

Fits: A riding mower or ATV plus a workbench along one wall, with room to walk around the machine.

Does not fit: A mower and a proper workshop at the same time.

10x16 160 sq ft

Our best seller

Fits: Riding mower, ATV, workbench and wall shelving together, and you can still work in it with everything inside.

Does not fit: A car, comfortably.

10x20 200 sq ft

Fits: A small vehicle with the doors opening, or a genuine workshop with equipment stored along one wall.

Does not fit: Two vehicles.

12x24 288 sq ft

Fits: Two-vehicle storage, or one vehicle plus a workspace you can heat and actually use through winter.

Does not fit: Much you would want to complain about.

The single most common regret is going one size too small. Almost nobody tells us their shed is too big. Plenty tell us they wish they had gone up one. If you are between two sizes, the larger one costs a fraction more and solves the problem for considerably longer.

Work It Out From What You Own

Square footage is an abstraction. The reliable method is to list the largest things going in, measure those, and add working space around them.

1. Measure the biggest item first

Usually a riding mower, ATV or workbench. Measure it with anything attached — a mower with a bagger is considerably longer than the same mower without one, and that difference is what pushes people from a 10x12 to a 10x16.

2. Add walking room, not just clearance

Leave at least two feet on the sides you need to reach and three feet in front of anything you drive in and out. A shed you can only access by moving something else first stops getting used within a season.

3. Count what is coming in later

Most people fill a new shed within a month, then keep going. Snow blowers, patio furniture, bikes, holiday storage. Size for two years from now, not for today.

4. Go up if you are storing vertically

A lofted barn adds overhead storage without taking any more ground. If your list is bulky but light — seasonal decorations, camping gear, storage bins — a loft can be the difference between needing a 10x16 and getting away with a 10x12.

Then Measure the Space It Is Going In

Choosing the size is half of it. The other half is confirming the site will take it — and that the truck can get to the site.

Leave room to walk around it

Add at least three feet on every side beyond the building footprint. You need it for maintenance, painting, and airflow that keeps the base dry. A shed pressed against a fence rots on that side first.

Check setbacks before you commit

Most jurisdictions require a minimum distance from property lines, and an HOA may add its own rules about placement and appearance. Confirm this before ordering — moving a building after delivery is expensive and entirely avoidable.

Plan the delivery route, not just the spot

This is the step people skip and the most common cause of a failed delivery. The truck needs a clear path to the site: typically around twelve feet of width and adequate overhead clearance. Low branches, gate posts, tight corners, soft ground and septic fields all matter. Walk the route before you order and tell us about anything tight.

Mark the spot before delivery day

Stakes at the four corners, and tell the crew which side the doors should face. Two minutes of marking prevents a building being set backwards, which is the kind of mistake that is obvious only once the truck has gone.

Level ground matters more than flat ground

A modest slope is workable — blocks and shims handle a few inches. A significant grade needs a levelled pad or piers. Get this wrong and doors bind, floors flex and water runs under the building instead of away from it. If you are unsure, send us a photo.

Quick reference

  • 3 ft clearance around the building
  • 12 ft approximate delivery path width
  • 2 ft beside anything you reach past
  • 3 ft in front of anything you drive in
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Shed Sizing Questions, Answered

A 10x12 is the practical minimum, and 10x16 is the size most people are happier with. The deciding factor is usually attachments: a mower with a bagger or a mulching kit is longer than the deck suggests, and you still need room to walk past it to reach anything stored behind.

A small car, yes, with room to open a door. It is tight for anything larger, and a wood shed is rarely the right structure for vehicle storage anyway — door width and floor loading are the limits. If the plan is to park in it regularly, look at a metal garage instead.

10x16 is where a shed starts working as a workshop rather than storage you can stand in. That gives you a bench along one wall, tool storage on another, and floor space to actually work. If the workshop is the main purpose rather than a secondary use, 12x24 is worth the step up.

If what you are storing is bulky but light, yes. A loft adds usable storage without adding footprint or cost per square foot, and it is ideal for seasonal items you only reach a few times a year. If everything you own is heavy or needs floor access, the loft is less useful.

Roughly twelve feet of width along the whole route, plus overhead clearance for low branches and wires. Gate posts, tight corners, soft ground and septic fields all matter. Walk the route before ordering and tell us about anything tight — we can usually work around it if we know in advance.

A few inches of slope is normal and handled with blocks and shims at delivery. A significant grade needs a levelled gravel pad or concrete piers before the building arrives. Send us a photo of the site and we will tell you which category you are in rather than guessing on the day.

It depends on your county and the footprint. Many jurisdictions have a size threshold below which no permit is needed, and setback rules that apply regardless. Confirm with your county building department before ordering — it is one phone call and it prevents an expensive surprise.

Still Between Two Sizes?

Tell us what is going in it and we will tell you which one fits — including when the smaller one is genuinely enough.

Ask a Specialist