A Useful Guide to the Differences Between Sheds, Workshops and Wooden Garages

Garden workshop purists will tell you that the following criteria must be met to turn a wood shed into a workshop…

Firstly, the shed needs to be at least 10ft x 6ft in size, and the width will be the wider side of the structure due to the orientation of the roof.

This is because, strictly speaking, a wooden workshop has a reverse apex design. The apex element means that the roof is formed of 2 slopes, which meet at a high point (apex) in the middle. The reverse aspect of the name simply indicates that the door is located on the wider side of the structure, rather than at the gable end. Reverse apex designs generally make it easier to access all parts of the garden building, as well as providing more headroom than other models – ideal for a garden workshop.

The next criterion used to classify a shed as a workshop is toughness of build, particularly in relation to the floor. Workshop connoisseurs insist the floor should be a minimum of 12mm thick, so that it is able to withstand heavy machinery and cope with regular footfall.

Next up are the windows. After all, if you’re going to be using said workshop as your business premises, or even just for DIY projects, you’ll need to see what you’re doing. And, when push comes to shove, artificial light can never adequately replace the natural variety.

We believe that toughness of build and good natural light are absolutely essential criteria for any garden workshop. Adequate size is important too, and 10x6 is a sensible cutoff point.

However, while a reverse apex design undoubtedly has its benefits, we don’t believe it should be a rigid qualification to becoming a garden workshop. Apex sheds have exactly the same amount of headroom, while most pent roofs offer ample height in which to carry out practical tasks.

Also, don’t underestimate the role that the marketing guys play in turning wooden sheds into workshops. We’ve seen many garden buildings, classified as ‘sheds’, which make superb garden workshops, while the name ‘workshop shed’ is becoming increasingly popular to attract customers from both the shed and workshop markets.

In short, the difference between a shed and workshop is a little bit of a grey area. Our advice to you is not to pay too much attention to the name of the garden building in question. If you’re after a workshop, simply ask yourself whether the building will fulfil your requirements. If it does, then it’s a workshop.

With this last point in mind, some of our finest garden workshops are made by Forest, the UK’s leading manufacturer of wooden garden buildings.

Although marketed as sheds, larger models within the company’s Beckwood, 4Life and Timberdale ranges make absolutely superb wooden garden workshops.

One of our favourites is the 12 x 8 Forest Timberdale 25yr Guarantee Tongue & Groove Pressure Treated Double Door Combination Apex Shed (3.65m x 2.52m).

Backed by a market-leading 25-year guarantee, this workshop shed is handcrafted in the heart of Worcestershire from pressure-treated tongue and groove, which will never need retreating against rot.

The interior is designed into 2 distinct compartments, consisting of a garden workshop and storage shed. Wide double doors offer easy access to the former, while a single side door is fitted on the latter. Two opening windows provide an abundance of natural light, plus ventilation, whenever it’s required.

This wooden workshop’s smart modular design actually gives you a choice of where to position the side door and windows, so you can customise the layout to your exact requirements.

With generous dimensions, a strapping 66 x 33mm frame, and robust 12mm tongue and groove floor too, this wooden shed makes the perfect  garden workshop.

The obvious qualification for a garden building to become a wooden garage is that it needs to be big enough to accommodate a car. Secondly, you need to be able to drive said car in and out of it, so the size of the doors is of paramount importance.

Prefab garages can have either traditional hinged doors, very much like a shed or workshop, or up and over doors, as found on a conventional garage attached to a house. Although hinged doors generally require more clearance room, each type of garage door performs its task satisfactorily, and preference is purely a matter of personal taste.

Another key feature of a garage building is that it won’t have a floor. Think about it, an average car weighs about 1900kg, so a wooden floor would be unable to cope with the load. As the prefab garage will be installed on a concrete or paved base, it’s far more sensible to let that base support the weight of the car too.

Although the above are the only key characteristics required of a wooden garage, because we believe in only offering you the best wooden garages for sale, we’d argue that you’ll want a couple of other features covered too…

Firstly, a side door makes an invaluable addition to any prefab garage. If you need to retrieve something from your car, or access a stored item at the back of the garage, it’s so much easier to enter the garden building through a small, shed-style door than via the garage’s main entrance.

Secondly, unless security is a particular concern, it’s great to have some windows. Not only does this make parking and accessing your car easier, it also allows you to use your wood garage for other purposes.

And, as we said at the end of the workshop section, the name of the garden building is not important; the key thing is whether it can meet your specific requirements.

With this in mind, can you use a prefab garage as an extra-large storage shed or garden workshop? Of course, you can!

Our great range of wooden garages includes models by 2 of the world’s leading prefab-garage manufacturers - Traditional and Palmako.

For its versatile design and premium build, we love the 20 x 10 Traditional Deluxe Shiplap Wooden Garage / Workshop Shed (6.10m x 3.05m).

This garden building is made from superior tongue and groove cladding on a whopping 50mm2 frame, so offers a robust, durable and attractive home for either your vehicle or practical tasks.

Both the wide garage doors and smaller personal-access door are ledged, braced and fitted with key-operated locks, so rest assured that your valuable car or machinery will remain safe from unwanted attention.

A bank of 3 windows floods the interior with natural light. One of these windows is an opener, so you can ventilate the garage building, whenever it’s required.

What’s more, with installation included in the price, there’s no need to worry about assembling this garage building yourself. And, if you upgrade to pressure-treated wood, not only will you receive a 15-year anti-rot guarantee, with no retreatment required, we’ll match your upgrade by fitting this wooden garage with superior 15mm cladding for FREE! Wow!

As you can see, although these 3 types of wooden garden building have their own unique characteristics, there is a certain degree of overlap between them. This is why we’ve sought to organise our website in as helpful a way as possible for you.

So, browse our full range of garden workshops (and sheds that can be used as workshops) here.

For wooden garage buildings (whatever you wish to use them for), it’s here.

And for the nation’s most iconic garden buildings (including wooden sheds that make great garden workshops), it’s here.

Remember, whether you need a shed, workshop or prefab garage, your first port of call should always be Buy Sheds Direct – Britain’s leading online retailer of ALL wooden garden buildings.