Armoire or Hutch or Wooden Cabinet as small outdoor tool shed?

[Daffodils At The Sea]

i need a small tool shed for a protected spot in the shade. Seems like there's a lot of these around, and they have interesting designs, better than I could do with plywood, but has anyone been able to paint/seal one of these to be really water tight? Or would it be a maintenance nightmare?

 

[Hinotori]

Maybe get a plastic one? That's what I'm going to do for my garden tools.

 

[Joel_BC]

My initial thought was a metal one that either was weatherproofed against rust, or that you'd paint yourself with a couple coats of rust-proofing paint.

Maybe get a plastic one? That's what I'm going to do for my garden tools.

Can you get a plastic standing cabinet that is UV resistant? That'd be my concern, because every plastic thing I've ever had that gets sun a hundred or couple hundred days of the year has begun to crack and flake.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have so many ugly, practical sheds, I was looking for something with a little pizzazz!

If anyone is considering a plastic shed, I fell prey to one of those. It warped in the sun, parts of the melted seams separated in the sun, mice and rats chew right through it, yellowjackets and wasps get into it, it's a real pain. But I'm trying not to gladly fling it into a landfill, so I've had to make so many fixes on it with angle brackets and acrylic sealant, it's even uglier now!

 

[Britesea]

HeHe DATS, my hubby said you should get a bunch of the Great Stuff, spray it all over the shed, then when it's dry you could carve it into something cool looking, lol

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Hahahaha. Yeah, foam insulation. I wish I were more artistic! Does your husband want to start a side business?

 

[Britesea]

He's more like Captain Picard... he has an idea, then says "Make it so..." Right now I've got him finally installing the gate on the the duck's yard (I've been making do with a strange conclomeration of wood, cables, and carabiners). I just pointed at it and said....


..."Make it so..."

 

[moolie]

My initial thought was a metal one that either was weatherproofed against rust, or that you'd paint yourself with a couple coats of rust-proofing paint.

Maybe get a plastic one? That's what I'm going to do for my garden tools.

Can you get a plastic standing cabinet that is UV resistant? That'd be my concern, because every plastic thing I've ever had that gets sun a hundred or couple hundred days of the year has begun to crack and flake.

I can recommend the Rubbermaid brand for outdoor storage, we have a large bench/box that we've had out in direct sun (and winter temps down to -30s Celsius) for 7 years now and it's still just fine. Our area is known for year-round sun. Maybe it's faded, can't really tell--dark green lid and grey/beige sides and bottom. Holds a lot of stuff!

We also have a steel shed that came with our property, but I bet they don't build them like that anymore--it's probably over 20 years old. Bit of rust here and there that we've touched up with some paint, but pretty tough although dented here and there from the previous owners.

I've always liked DIY lean-to tool cupboards, if you are handy and have a place to attach it to your house:

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Britesea, you're lucky you can point and have it done. I have to make my husband think it was his idea. he's a really capable guy, but I'm the project person, which can overwhelm others at times!

Thanks for the plans, Moolie. That is what got me started on this hunt, a cute little cedar shingle shed just like that for $550!! At the discount place!! Yikes! I have made storage sheds before, but I want to crank up the cute-ness factor on this one. It will be by the back door, something I will be glad to see on daily trips past it.

I am starting to realize that the armoires don't have a slanted roof to run off the rain and extend a bit to protect the siding. So I am probably back to just this style and size of shed, try to find some molding that doesn't add up to as much as the shed costs!! And go at it. I do love finding the "oopsie" paints at the hardware stores, where people didn't like the color or didn't come back for it, and I've gotten some great fun colors for $2-$3.

 

[moolie]

If you have access to free wooden pallets you would be set, might just need a few longer 2x4s plus you'd definitely want something skookum for the roof.