The actual install of the Tuff Shed was surprisingly fast — just a few days — and done by only two guys. What stood out right away is that nothing shows up as one big structure. Instead, everything comes in prebuilt pieces: full wall sections, windows, doors, and even the shingles. It’s almost like watching a kit come together in real time. I had originally pictured a massive delivery truck dropping off something close to a full shed, but it was basically just a pickup truck with everything neatly packed.
There were a couple hiccups along the way. The biggest one was the shingles. They initially installed the wrong color — brown — which I didn’t even catch for a few days because I couldn’t remember if they were supposed to match our house. It turned out this came from an error when the order was refreshed to include permit fees. They came back and installed a second layer with the correct color, which honestly I now just think of as extra protection. The door was also a bit finicky at first, not opening and closing cleanly, but they came back and adjusted it.
Looking back, one decision we would change was that we removed the gable vents. At the time we thought since we planned to put in a minisplit AC unit, we wouldn’t want gable vents. However, after a couple of warm days, I noticed the shed not only getting warm but kinda moist. Humid. After discussing with a contractor neighbor, he said that unless we plan to insulate and sheet rock both the walls and the ceiling, the shed would get moist with temperature swings. And thus we inadvertently discovered why gable vents exist. Unfinished buildings need airflow. Plain and simple. Thus we had a handyman put a couple on. It was easy and not expensive. We still ended up putting a portable AC unit and wall heater, as it takes the edge off extreme colds and hots. It’s our “good enough” approach that works in California climate.
Next up was some water intrusion through our French doors. This one was purely an install issue. After a couple “door warranty” visits, TuffShed decided to rehang the doors. On rainy days, water would splash back up at the doors or blow towards the door. We were getting a little bit of water under the bottom of the door. After the warranty crew removed the door, they discovered zero sealing underneath. They recaulked everything and rehung the door. We also got gutters installed to reduce the splashing. I’m surprised TuffShed doesn’t offer gutters because it seems kinda an obvious need for larger sheds with traditional roofs.
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