How to Plan a Maintenance Building

Keep the entrance to a maintenance building clutter free.

A simply constructed building to house maintenance items for a home or business can help keep everything on track. Lawn mowers, ladders, paint, push brooms and cleaning supplies can be organized for taking care of a property. Creating this space with storage shelves, boxes and bins can help. Design it to have enough interior room for moving about to find things. Don't use up all of the floor space, since this makes it difficult to move supplies in and out of the building. Create a maintenance building that looks harmonious with its locale by painting it neatly and keeping it in good repair.

Things You'll Need

• Sketch pad
• Measuring tools
• Graph paper

Instructions

1. Draw the general size of the building, along with any doors and windows. Measure large items, such as work tables or a riding lawn mower that is to be stored there. Lay out a floor plan using graph paper, so the building space can be maximized to hold everything needed for maintenance.

2. Envision how to use the largest spaces first, such as a back wall facing the building's entrance. Sketch how to store heavy items, such as buckets of paint or a lawn mower, in the bottom section below waist-high level. Install shelving to store lighter items, such as small tools or cleaning supplies, in upper areas of the wall space.

3. Leave a generous walkway in the front door area. Allow this space for moving out ladders, a lawn mower or equipment such as a leaf blower. Never crowd the entrance area, since this can make it tempting to simply toss items into a maintenance building randomly. Draw out the floor plan to allow for shelving around the perimeter of the building, so stored items can be located from the entrance area.

4. Use large labels on the wall areas. Establish the areas for storing cleaning items, paint, water hoses, tools and yard equipment by fixing labels clearly on the wall areas, especially if the building serves as a commercial enterprise. Make it easy for anyone with keys to the building to find what's needed without wasting too much time looking for it.

5. Secure certain areas of the building, especially if expensive equipment is involved. Install cables to literally lock expensive saws or drills to the wall, if the building is left open a lot. Use cabinets that lock for costly tools or supplies that only certain family members or employees should access. Keep in mind that certain chemicals and sharp tools should be stored away from the reach of children.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid storing items too high to be reached easily. Placing shelves 10 or 12 feet off the floor level, for example, practically guarantees items stored there get little or no use. Try to make everything in the building reachable from no higher than 6 feet, if possible.

• Toss out worthless items to make the maintenance building more user-friendly. Avoid using a maintenance building as a storage building, since the clutter interferes with the purpose for which the building is intended.

• Make sure the maintenance building is well vented. Chemical and paint need air space to outgas, so avoid making the building air tight.

References

• Fine Homebuilding: How to Build a Shed
• Shed King: Storage Shed Shelves
• Property Management Blog: Building Maintenance

Resources

• Ask the Builder: How to Build a Shed
• Outdoor Storage Sheds: How to Organize Your Shed