Lifetime 6446 Outdoor Storage Shed, 8 x 15 Foot, Desert Sand

As with every household, we needed more storage space. Our 3 bedroom bi-level is busting at the seems and our wooden shed (delivered on a flatbed truck) was full too. So it was time for another shed. I looked at a lot of different options but the biggest stumbling block I had was how I was going to get the shed where I wanted it. I needed the shed to be in the back yard. The yard is accessible by small truck but my septic system is in the way for a flatbed to come in. I thought about building one from scratch but with the time for labor and money for materials, it just didn't make sense. I looked at the wooden shed kits from Lowe's and Home Depot but they are really not made all that well (for a wood shed). I reluctantly decided to look at the "plastic" Lifetime sheds. I first thought how good could they be, after all they're made of plastic! My local Lowe's had one and I was surprised how well it was made. The kit is designed so that when it's all together, it's actually pretty solid. Amazon had the 15'x8' foot shed for about the same price the big stores were selling it for. I could have ordered one from Lowe's and had it delivered or picked it up with my truck, but it's pretty heavy. I noticed this shed was Amazon Prime eligible (which I have) and thought how could they possibly ship this thing in 2 days to my house for free. Guess what, they did! I couldn't believe it. A trucking company contacted me to set up a delivery time and a day later they were backing down my driveway. The free, speedy shipping was great, I was however a little annoyed that the trucking company came with only the driver and a dolly. I had to help him offload the shed from his truck at the end of my driveway. So do you think I would get workman's comp if I blew my back unloading it from their truck? ;) I unpacked the boxes one at a time, loaded the parts in my pickup truck and drove around back to the construction site. Easy, easy! Assembly was fairly easy. Some of the directions were a little confusing but if you take your time you can figure it out. This is DEFINITELY a two man(woman to be pc ;) job. You need someone to hold and someone to fasten. My dad and I had the entire shed together in a long 8-9 hour day. I did have to go back the next day to do some finishing touches like slip in the plexi windows and attach the shutters but that took all of 30 minutes. One very important note! The base for the shed needs to be perfectly flat and level. Almost flat or slightly off isn't going to cut it. The included plastic floor of the shed is the base for the entire structure. The wall panels interlock with each other and snap into tabs in the floor. You need quite a bit of pressure and persuasion to get the tabs locked in. Once in though it's a pretty solid structure. In a perfect world you would want to have a concrete base poured that was perfectly level, but for a shed this size at a minimum of 4" thick, that's a lot of concrete. I would not suggest mixing it by hand, the way to go is bring in a truck to pour it. For me concrete wasn't an option because of where it was located. Instead I got a load of QP (Quarry Process) which is basically 3/4" stone with stone dust mixed in that compacts really nicely. They use this stuff for driveways and for retaining wall bases. The secret is you need to spread it in thin layers compacting each layer as you go until you reach a 4" thick base (spraying each layer with water first and then compacting is better). This is a nice solid base that if done properly will never move or frost heave. The QP cost about $160 delivered and you can rent a gas powered compactor for about $50 - $75 per day (which I would recommend. Doing it with a hand compactor is hard work). You could put the shed directly on the QP base but I went one step further and built a wooden base. Back to Lowe's for some pressure treated 2"x4"s and pressure treated plywood. I bought 2 - 16' 2x4s for the front and back and then 8' 2x4s for the sides and in-between. I built the base as if I were building a wall. I cut 3" off the 8' 2x4s and spaced them 16" on center. I actually used 4 saw horses (one on each corner) to make building the base a little easier on the knees. Once built we placed it on the QP base, squared everything up and then dropped 4'x8' full sheets of plywood and screwed down with gray coated deck screws. I actually built my base to be just slightly larger than the base of the shed so I had to cut the last piece of plywood. To make your job easier you could just leave it as a full piece making your overall base dimension 16'w x 8'd. If I had to do the base over again I would probably place the 2x4s 12" on center rather than 16" to give it a little more strength. The floor flexes a little when you walk on it and especially once you start loading it down with heavy stuff. I might also consider using 2x6s for the base structure for added strength. The 2x4s, plywood and screws cost about $200 My biggest complaint about the shed itself is the roof panels. The front peak was a real P.I.A. to put together and the panels didn't line up perfectly. I don't think I'm going to have leaking problems but there are a few small gaps. The alignment of the doors is another issue and why it's so important to have a level base. If the base is off even a little bit from left edge to right edge, the doors won't meet properly in the middle. You'll need to shim and tweak to get everything to ling up. Speaking of the doors, the inside door latch barely works (again because of alignment issues) so invest in a good waterproof combination lock ($14 from Lowe's :), to prevent the doors from coming open and of course to help protect your stuff. Even with these few little quirks, I'll give the shed a 5 star as the most bang for the buck.

UPDATE: 12 years later and still working great!!! Ok, so let me start out by saying that we searched all over the internet and local hardware stores (Lowes & Homedepot) and this was the best price on Amazon, due to the free shipping and no tax. We ordered it and waited for delivery, which was a pretty reasonable time, since it is direct from the manufacturer. Took about 7 days to get here from the order date. When it arrived it was on a rollback truck and one guy unloaded it. It comes in 4 boxes (instructions are in box 1 of 4). The boxes took up about 1/4 of my one car garage. So make room somewhere. 1) Decide which type of sub-floor you are going to do: concrete, wood, gravel. We did wood (4 x 6 joists every 12 " ), on cinder blocks, with a plywood base. REALLY STRONG!!! 2) Lay out all the peices in all the boxes, organize them in to piles of like peices together. Then just follow the instruction book, it is VERY well explained. We varied a little (didn't assemble the roof frames till we actually needed them)but pretty much stuck to the plain. It is broken down into sections, so you can go little by little if needed. I loved how it told you all the parts, screws, and tools you would need to do the next section. Assembly took two people (my husband & I) about 3 hours. But we work really well together, so don't get upset if it takes you longer LOL :) 3) Two weeks after assembly and it is holding up very well. We have it all organized inside, using the shelves that come with it (plus a workbench my husband made)and wired (he's an electrician) with outlets and ceiling lights. We had a strong storm the other day, and not a drop got inside. Well, that's about all I can say, except it really is the BEST SHED I EVER OWNED !!!! *******UPDATE********* It has been a year since we bought and put together this shed. It has held up remarkably well. I am surprised at how dry it has remained inside.My husband keeps all his power tools in it and never have any of them been damaged. We are located in Southern Louisiana, so it's hot & moist. The exterior has not faded (which is amazing, considering the sun) or molded (which is even more amazing, considering the humidity down here). We have had several storms with high winds (enough to knock over our magnolia tree), but the shed had not moved an inch off the foundation. I think that has to do with how well we screwed it down to the solid wood platform we opted for. To sum up, a year later, and it is still THE BEST SHED I HAVE EVER OWNED !!! :)

I needed a shed in my back yard and wanted it to be low-maintenance, and to block a street sighting (a specific request to my household), so I wanted it to be at least 15 ft wide and 8 feet tall. This shed is a perfect match, on paper. After doing all research, I was sure this is what I wanted, and started looking for deals. Amazon at the time was offering it @ $1650, which was a bit too much, so I waited. Finally one day it dropped to $1470, then I bought it. The delivery was excellent. I live in MA, the delivery company send a truck and laid down all four packages exactly where I wanted them to, saving me a tons of time/energy. I agreed with other reviewers, it is not a one day job for sure. I hired 2 handymen, plus myself, and it was like 1st day, foundation, (the place I want to place it was not leveled), 2nd day, assembly, 3rd day (actually a half day), also assembly. So if your base is flat, I would guess it's going to cost you somewhere between one day and two. The shed looks very good, however I did have a water leaking near the joints of front door roof frame, but not too bad. After the rain stopped, I caulked them, now it's completely dry inside since then. Talking about the leaks, I am not sure if we missed anything, but again now the problem was solved by caulking. The door lock is useless, but I wouldn't trust the door lock anyways. Those two things are the reason why I gave it 4 stars. A lot of reviewers had complained the instruction is awful. Amazon is doing a great job. Just to be prepared, I downloaded the instructions myself, and printed it out. Here is the link [...] but amazingly Amazon had a copy of the detailed instruction included in the box, very nice! It is very sturdy, holding up my yard tractor without any problems. We also had a couple of strong winds, stays still. It's spacious, that the tractor is only taking a little less then 1/3 of total space. My garage is now free from gardening stocks, which is the biggest plus. I only have it setup about one month, so let's see how far it goes from here, I will update. Update 04/2014. after a brutal winter, the shed survived the New England weather. We had wind gusts up to 30mph, more than a foot of snow/ice, freezing rain, cold temp minus 10F, the shed showed no problem of handling them. No leaking any where at all, staying still. Also I didn't see any insects inside the shed. Thus I am changing my rating to 5 stars. Update 04/2015. The past winter in New England was a monstah. Record snow falls, 2 blizzards, coldest temperature, etc. The worst winter in history has been put in the book. The shed however, demonstrates its well built nature, by having not developed any problems throughout two years. By far I am very happy about it. Will try to come back next year and give it another update. :) Update 04/2016. Well this past winter in New England was milder, so it was just another piece of cake to the shed. No problem at all, and no complaints from me. Now we have entered the fourth year together and I am confident that we can easily go for a decade. We will see how it performs this year. :) See how it looks now (Apr 2016) in the third picture. vs when it was set up in 2013 in first two pics.

Let me first say that the finished product is very nice. The shed is very sturdy, aesthetically pleasing, and spacious inside. I read at least one review complaining that this shed was not water tight, it is designed with vents at either end and would require a great deal of sealant in order to make it truly water tight. Having said that as a garden shed to keep 99% of the weather out it is perfect. I could not give the shed 5 stars due to it’s atrocious construction directions. First, the instructions suggest 3 people for construction, this is not a suggestion it is a requirement. I have remodeled houses from the studs out, rebuilt engines, carburetors, and transmissions, built full sized trusses, and an endless list of other projects but, these directions were mind numbing to try to follow. The directions were horrible, they required multiple reads, repeated steps, and hours of extreme frustration. We had 4 people working on it and still were short on hands. In order to snap the corners in a 6’ 5” tall man had to literally hang on the piece. There are several steps with no written directions that require staring at a black and white, undetailed images for what feels like an eternity. Having said that, if you have the patience and are in need of a nice looking sturdy shed this is for you.

To make a long story short, DO NOT BUY. If you do, please watch the video, the instruction booklet is pretty much useless. Again, with the 2 days of trying to put this thing together, we finally tapped out. We had one of the trusses fall and it put a gauge in the floor. We had the shed on all bricks and level, and we could not get the center truss to sit correctly. After several hours of frustration, we had enough. I contacted Amazon and there was no problem with return, because we only had it for 5 days. We packed it all up in the boxes it came with and had it returned. Yes, there are those that had a no problem and love it. But for the price it is pretty flimsy, and the hardware also was crappy, zinc screws that will rust in time. I don't know if this qualifies as an answer as to the construction of the material, but it took me less than 2 hours to take it all apart (which was 90% complete). So, in short if I knew then what I know now I would never have purchased this shed. Just my 2 cents all.

This shed is fantastic. I poured 6 pillars using sono tubes one day and then framed it out using 2x6 PT lumber with a 3/4" PT plywood deck to finish off the base the second day. The floor was level and true which made the installation a snap and also makes the floor and walls go in smoothly. The hardest part was installing the corners. Take your time and squirt a little dish soap on the tabs and it should slide right in. I only used a power drill to tap the door post and for the shedders the rest we did by hand. The directions are written ok but there are a few tricky sections you will be left scratching your head. Just think it out and you will get it. The shudder install section I did not get. The screws supply were too short. I went to the local hardware store and bought 2" SS screws to complete that install. I created a template from the back of the shudder, drilled the holes and than had someone hold the shudder up while I drilled from the inside. The install of the shed took me and a helper roughly 7 hrs on a Saturday to complete. The base took a few hours because the concrete had to cure for the pillars. Hey the shed looks fantastic just take your time and read and then reread the directions. I consider myself an average handy man and if I ever needed another shed I would purchase this shed again. Reading the reviews I find it hard to believe one man could put this up in a day or even two. You need second person to push on the panels in certain steps to secure the panels. To top it off on Sunday I ran electricity to the shed, put in two electric sockets, a switch, LED shop light and motion detector flood lights in the front and rear. Love the shed and honestly I hate having to fill it up! If I can revise the review I will post a picture when I get home..

Easy to put together, if you follow the instructions. Don't assume you have something figured out or you'll be taking something apart and redoing it. That said it was pretty simple to do if you followed the instructions. It looks as nice as the photos do assembled and should last for years to come. I had watched a couple videos of people who claimed to put it together all by themselves, i don't believe it. When it comes to assembling the walls it would be VERY difficult, if not impossible, by yourself and this isn't like the first storage shed I've put together.

Very nice shed very confusing direction. Some part didn't fit. Took all day to get together with two people. Used YouTube videos helped àlot. Very weak walls wonder if it will uphold in weather in GA. Will have hubby reinforce walls. Doors don't line up. Be aware that the floor has special position for doors they must match up. See my photos. My husband got frustrated in the end and told me I had to figure out window and shutters. By the way he am contractor so he knows his stuff. One more thing not enough screws. I would not recommend this shed for a beginner. Get it professionally done. My foundation is raised with wood deck.