Tearing Down a Shed: What Fits and What to Watch For

Sheds come down easily and fill a trailer faster than people expect, mostly because of the roof and the floor.

Wood sheds

A typical backyard wood shed — roughly 8 by 10 or 10 by 12 — broken down will use most of a 10-yard trailer. The components:

• **Roof sheathing and shingles.** Shingles are the weight. A shed roof carries more of them than you would guess.
• **Wall framing and siding**, which stack reasonably flat once separated.
• **The floor**, usually plywood on skids or joists. Often the heaviest single component, especially if it has absorbed moisture from the ground.
• **Trim, doors and windows.**
• **Anything still in the shed**, which is usually the real reason people underestimate the job.

Break it into flat components rather than pulling sections over intact. A collapsed shed piled into a trailer wastes more than half the space.

Metal sheds

Much lighter and much bulkier in awkward ways. Metal panels are thin, sharp and tend to spring back rather than stack flat.

• Wear gloves. Cut sheet metal edges are genuinely dangerous.
• Flatten panels as you go, and stack them in the same orientation.
• A metal shed is scrap, and separating it for a scrap yard may be worth more than the disposal cost.
• The frame is usually thin-wall tube and it packs easily once disassembled.

Resin and plastic sheds

The easiest to dismantle and the bulkiest per pound. Panels are large and hollow, and they do not compress much.

Cut large panels down with a reciprocating saw or a circular saw so they stack. A whole resin shed thrown in intact will fill a trailer with mostly air.

The slab or foundation

This is the decision that determines the scope of the job.

• **Wood skids or a gravel pad** — straightforward. Skids go in the trailer; gravel usually stays.
• **Concrete pavers** — heavy. Flat on the trailer floor, shallow layer, evenly spread.
• **A poured slab** — a serious weight problem. Concrete is dense enough that a full trailer of it far exceeds what can be safely towed. Keep it to a shallow layer, and plan on it being its own load or a separate arrangement.
• **Leave it in place** if the area is going to be paved or used again. Plenty of shed slabs make perfectly good patio bases.

Our guide on concrete, brick and dirt weight limits covers the numbers on that.

What cannot go in

• Paint, stain, solvents and any liquid
• Fuel cans, even empty ones
• Propane tanks and any compressed gas cylinder
• Pesticides, fertilizer and pool chemicals
• Batteries of any kind
• Tires
• Anything with refrigerant

Our guide to household hazardous waste drop-off in Pinellas County covers where these go instead.

Sequence

1. 1Empty the shed and sort the contents
2. 2Remove the door and windows
3. 3Strip the roofing, then the sheathing
4. 4Take the walls down as flat sections, then break them further
5. 5Lift the floor
6. 6Deal with the foundation, or leave it

Sizing the job

Tell us the shed dimensions, the material and whether the slab is coming out. Call (727) 779-8919 and we will tell you whether it is one trailer or two.