How to Build a Trash Shed

By: Jennifer Stimpson

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

2x4 to frame the shed and build the doors. Get eleven 8-foot boards.

1x6 tongue-and-groove siding. Pick up prestained boards or stain them yourself before installation. Get enough to cover about 75 square feet.

1 ¼x6 pressure-treated decking to frame the doors and lid. Get seven 8-foot boards.

Construction adhesive to glue the sheathing.

4-inch door hinges to attach each lid and the bifold doors to the framing. Get 10.

Continuous (piano) hinges to create the bifold doors. Get two stainless steel 30-inch hinges.

3½-inch stainless-steel deck screws

2½-inch stainless-steel deck screws

1 5/8-inch stainless-steel deck screws

1 5⁄8-inch stainless-steel siding nails

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Framing square
- Speed Square
- Jigsaw
- Drill/driver
- Hammer with nailset
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completed trash shed with door open showing 32-gallon recycling bin

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Photo: Kolin Smith

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15

12 hours
About $500

Difficulty: Hard Angling cuts and lining up doors takes precision.

Nothing mucks up the curb appeal of your house more than a bunch of beat-up trash cans and overflowing recycling bins scattered next to the side door. What you need is a sturdy storage house that hides your waste while keeping it organized. This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers recently spent a weekend building one big enough for two 32-gallon trash cans and several stacked recycling bins. Flip-open lids give it easy access so that you can quickly toss something away in the right place. Bifold front doors make it easy to move heavy cans in and out. And handsome siding that matches the house camouflages the whole structure. That means you can put it right up against the house and the focus will still be on the beauty of your home instead of the trash around it.