Your New Year's Resolution To Get Organized Starts Now
Remember all the many years you started out with a firm goal to finally get your yard cleaned up and organized? Remember how many times your spouse has complained about how your yard equipment clutters your garage and yard? Time to start making your move! A storage shed is obviously on your radar at this point; however, you may not realize there is some ground work that needs to be laid before you purchase and set up a shed. Here area few of those things.
My City Hates Me!
You may not know this yet, but most likely you do not own the house and yard you think you own. You may be thinking, "Hey, my land, my home, my rules." That may work fine for disciplining children, but your city you live in begs to differ. Nearly all cities have zoning and property use laws and ordinances that dictate what you can and cannot do or build on your property. Unfortunately, that includes storage sheds. Before you purchase a shed, make sure you check with your city first to see if you are abiding by the rules; otherwise, that $1500 shed is going to turn into a nightmare of epic proportions. Common city regulations may include a square footage restriction, a color restriction, a height restriction, or simply a no-external-buildings restriction. Sometimes cities will allow you to build a shed, but if the shed exceeds a certain size you may have to purchase a building permit. If you are in a hurricane or tornado zone, your city may require the shed to meet certain wind requirements. The list goes on. Do not underestimate the trouble your city ordinances can cause you. You will be happy you spent the time getting your ducks in a row before you buy.
My City Loves Me! But, My Land Hates Me!
So your city approves of your shed purchase? That is great. Now you need to get your land to sign off on the project too. Different sheds have different set up requirements, but nearly all need 1 thing - flat, stable land. Pre-fab sheds provide all of the necessary engineering work for you from the floor to the roof; but, they do not prepare the ground for you. Depending on the shed manufacturer, the shed may require you to have a some sort of foundation already built, upon which you will build your shed. Do yourself a huge favor and make sure you have that foundation in place before you purchase. While you may not need a cement foundation for every shed, you can rarely go wrong with having one. If you live on a hill, lacking any flat location upon which to build your shed, consult a contractor to help you get a spot leveled and prepped now.
My City and Land Love Me! But, the Delivery Company Hates Me!
In case you were wondering, sheds are not small items, and as such, require a big truck to deliver. Forget those little FedEx or UPS trucks where the driver runs up to your doorway, puts the package neatly on your doorstep, rings the doorbell, and runs back to the truck. With a shed, we are talking about delivery on an 18-wheeler semi. We are talking appointments set before delivery, product delivered to your curbside, and you needing to move the product onto the property. Now before you go back and tell your spouse to forget about organization for this year, this is not as difficult as it may sound. Like other parts of this process, a little planning and prep goes a long way. First off, think of your road leading up to your home. Can you imagine a semi-truck easily driving down the road to your home? If you can, one of the biggest obstacles for delivering your shed is out of the way. If you cannot imagine a semi-truck driving down your road, think of a place near you where you could see a semi delivering your shed. From there, make arrangements for delivery to that address. You will then need to complete the remaining part of the delivery yourself. Most often you will be able to fit the boxes for just about any shed on a long bed pickup truck. Next, think of your schedule. When the freight company calls you to set up a delivery appointment, they will typically be able to offer you several different day options and different delivery windows on those days. If they serve up a day to you that will not work, let them know that. Most freight companies can work with you within a 7 calendar day period from when the terminal receives the shed. Remember that you are not only setting the day for the delivery with the freight company, but a time of day. Freight companies are anything but exact with their timing. They will likely offer you a 4 hour window, and don't be surprised if they end up delivering outside of that window on the delivery date. To help you with the timing a bit more, you can typically request a call from the driver or dispatcher on the day of the delivery when the driver is on the way to your address. Lastly, plan to have people ready to assist with the unloading and moving of the boxes onto your property. In all likelihood, the driver is not going to assist with moving the product onto the property. Union rules, insurance and liability issues, or lack of assistance are just a few of the reasons the driver will not assist you with this task. So, again, plan ahead. Plan to have at least 3 to 4 able-bodied people present that can help move the boxes one at a time onto the property. In some cases, the truck will come equipped with a lift gate, a device that lowers the boxes to the ground. In other cases, a lift gate might not be available at the delivery terminal. In those cases, you will need those people to be ready to get the boxes 1 at a time off the truck. With all of these things in place, your delivery will go smoothly.
Okay, Everyone Loves Me! Now What?
Time to start shopping. Competitive Edge Products has a great staff at your disposal that can help you with your product questions. We sell resin, metal, and wood sheds. We also have many helpful articles to assist you in your search. Give us a call!
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Maddie
While it is much past New Year's, this is still a very useful post! I am always losing to get organized regardless of what time of year it is, so I will most definitely be keeping this post in mind on my next "cleaning day".