Tuff Shed or not

While I was trying to figure out the easiest way to build a custom home, a friend suggested that I should check out Tuff Shed. If you haven't heard the name, Tuff Shed specializes in building custom sheds. And if you think about it, what is a house? Isn't it just a shed with plumbing, electricity, and possibly higher square footage? So can the good people of  Tuff Shed build me a custom home?

The answer is, yes, they can can. And there are several things going for them. Like: (a) it's a big corporation that has been in business for quite a while, (b) they give a pretty decent warranty, (c) they have an established process, and (d) they are not outrageously expensive. I don't remember exactly now, but I think for a small house-sized shed, they are asking something like $25-$30K or so. And in addition to construction work, they would do plans and permits.

Photo by K.G. Schneider (Flickr)/CC BY 2.0

So I stopped by a local Tuff Shed office to chat and found out why I should not go with them.

REASON #1: MANAGEMENT

While Tuff Shed handles a lot, they would not act as a general contractor, so the overall project manager still falls on the shoulders of the customer, i.e. me, who does not know not anything about construction and things like getting foundation done, plumbing, solar, and so on. And a general contractor would probably not be excited to have Tuff Shed as a subcontractor.

REASON #2: SHAPE

Tuff Shed can only do rectangular floorplans. You want to push part of a wall a bit inside (or outside)? Can't do. Can't deviate from a perfect square (or rectangle) in any direction. For some projects it may be fine, but pure boxed houses seem a bit less interesting to me.

REASON #3: ROOF

Tuff Shed only does roof shingles. Again, could be okay for some, but my primary house has tile, so I could not use shingles.

REASON #4: SIDING

There is only one option: wood siding. Some may like it, but I am not a fan. Besides, needed to go with stucco to match the primary house.

REASON #5: PRICE

I could not get the final numbers, but had a gut feeling that after adding the costs of all the other jobs (foundation, plumbing, concrete, general contractor), I would not be saving much, if anything.

REASON #6: IT'S A SHED

At the end of the day, the house would still look like a shed. A shed with plumbing, electricity, and higher square footage, but a shed nonetheless. And I wanted a house.

NEXT: HOW IKEA KITCHEN WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY (PART I)

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