For single-family homes on the market, backyard appearance is often just as important a consideration as a front yard’s curb appeal. The backyard is where potential buyers visualize children playing baseball, pets roaming and gardens growing. Because these first impressions resonate with house hunters, it may be worth spending some time fixing up both the front and back sections of your property before putting your home for sale.

When planning the home repairs that will get your house sale-ready, you may want to include your shed on your fix-up to-do list, or you may decide to remove it altogether. Although sheds are great for storage, some backyard structures, especially older ones, fail to make a positive aesthetic statement.

Original Construction Affects Future Repairs

One factor in your decision is cost. What is the replacement cost of materials required to rehabilitate the structure? Material costs might be higher for sheds with vinyl siding, doors, windows and shingled roofs, but those same sheds may also cost more to dismantle. Alternatively, wood sheds may be fixable by simply replacing rotted boards and applying a fresh coat of paint. Also, look at the original placement of your shed to determine whether you should invest in repairs. If the shed is currently sitting in a less-than-optimal location, such as an area with poor drainage or on sloped ground, you may want to remove the shed to avoid pervasive issues which cannot be easily corrected.

What Is Under Your Shed?

Many backyard sheds rest on cinderblocks or paving blocks laid over gravel. You can dig out these types of foundations after the shed is taken apart, then reseed the area with grass. Sheds built atop concrete slabs are the most secure, yet also difficult to remove. To get a feel for the amount of work involved, Home Depot’s Do It Yourself website outlines a suggested process for shed removal, followed by recommendations for breaking up the concrete slab. However, due to the heavy machinery required to break apart concrete, you may want to bring in a professional for concrete excavation.

Consider the Amount of Storage Inside of your Home

In the Philadelphia area, seasonal temperature shifts make sheds popular because they house four different seasons’ worth of outdoor gear. If your home lacks a basement or garage to offer storage space for snow shovels, lawn mowers, bicycles, garden hoses and tools, buyers might see a shed as an absolute necessity, instead of just a nice selling point.

Cost Comparison

In the end, both the repair and the removal choices may be costly. Because sheds are not generally recognized as an item that adds significant value to a home price, your final decision may be based on simple economics. If you choose to remove the shed, get estimates from companies skilled in junk removal and hauling away debris, such as Phillyjunk.com. Compare these estimates to your estimated repairs costs, including tool rentals, materials and paint for repairs. If you want to try to remove the shed yourself, and have the tools for the job, don’t forget to factor in the cost of a dumpster. According to Waste Management, Inc’s website, renting a relatively small (8 x 16 foot) dumpster in the Philadelphia area costs around $385.

Photo Source: Morgue File user emlyn

[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[/cf]