The Man Cave – described as a room or space for men (with no female influence) that is used for sanctuary from housework and daily distractions.

Here’s a question to ask yourself – why not take the garden shed out back and use THAT for your sanctuary? Sure it might be easier to just convert the guest bedroom that you only use occasionally, but I think you’ll find its well worth the sacrifice. The only downside is, you may have to add another (smaller) shed for all the odds and ends that won’t fit anymore in your main shed. But two sheds isn’t such a bad thing.

Everyone has their own reasons for making their own cave but for our purposes here, this will be for solitude and relaxation since garden sheds are usually pretty small. You’ll have to have electricity – this is a MUST. I would recommend hiring this out to a licensed electrician (if it isn’t already wired).

Plan your space well by putting it down on paper. Draw everything to scale. Place your flat screen TV (yes, this is a must) somewhere where there isn’t going to be sunlight bouncing directly off of it. From there, it will be easy to place your viewing chair. Personally, I like recliners but they do require more space.

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There are a lot of different types of material you can use if you are considering building a garden shed for your backyard. Some popular choices include plastic (or vinyl), metal (usually aluminum), and wood. You could consider using pine and T1-11 siding for your shed, but arguably the best wood for the job is cedar. Here are a few reasons why:

Sturdiness

Cedar’s fibers are very straight which makes it a hard wood. Because of its durability, it holds up very well in extreme weather and lasts for years. Another benefit is its light weight. Outdoor furniture makers also prefer cedar and its a popular choice for shingles, siding and decks. You could actually build your entire shed out of just cedar (of course with the exception of the hardware and nails).

Pest and Rot Resistance

Cedar has a natural oil that insects absolutely hate. That’s why so many clothes chests have been made from cedar for hundreds of years. These natural oils also resist decay that is caused by fungus which rot other woods. Because of this, cedar is commonly used on the inside of saunas.

Aroma

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Just what kind of skills do you need to be able to build your own backyard wooden shed? If you don’t consider yourself handy with tools, this can be the perfect project to learn some basic carpentry skills. The easiest way is to order a precut shed kit. These kits come with all the pieces and instructions needed to simplify the process. Since all the pieces are already cut, construction is as easy as laying the parts out flat on the ground and nailing them together.

Because of the shed’s small size, building the foundation, setting up the walls, and putting on the roof can all be done by yourself (if necessary). For instance, when setting the walls, you simply nail temporary braces to hold the walls in place until you can attach them to each other.

You will mostly need a few basic tools to do the job such as, a drill, a hammer, a level, a measuring tape and a saw (it will still be necessary to make a few cuts even though you purchased a precut kit). The tape measure is used to measure the walls for square. To do this, measure the distance of opposite corners (for example, top right and bottom left). Now measure the other two. The measurements will be the same if it is square.

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