How To Move a Shed in 4 Ways Based on Your Tools

Thinking about moving a shed and actually doing it are two completely different tasks. But both take a good deal of willpower. If you’re faced with the dilemma of moving a shed, a good plan and an efficient method are your top priorities. Here we lay out all the details you need to consider when asking how to move a shed.

Steps to Moving a Shed

Let’s discuss the general step-by-step process of relocating your outdoor shed. Later, we'll talk about the specific methods you can use based on your resources and how much effort you want to put into it, and then all the reasons why you may be forced to relocate your shed.

Inspect the Structure of Your Shed

If you weren’t the one who installed the shed on your property, you might not know how old the shed is or even what type of shed it may be. In that case, you need to check to see if your shed is in good enough structural condition to move. It may have suffered weather damage that has made it too delicate to move. Some repairs might be in order, first.

Another consideration is checking the foundation of your shed. If your shed has its own floor and sits atop cinder blocks or bricks, you can likely move it without any severe issues. However, if your shed has a concrete foundation, you cannot move it.

Make a Plan

It's crucial to determine where you want to move the shed. You can then decide on the method you wish to use to get your shed from point A to point B.

Are there any obstacles like stumps, trees, a garden, a horseshoe pit, or anything else in the moving path that you need to be aware of? Are there things like garbage cans that are easily moveable before you begin to relocate your shed? Remember you may need to store your lawn mower outside and anything else in there until you get it moved, so be prepared with a tarp.

Does the ground between point A and point B have a slope? What about the terrain—are there small holes, graveled areas, or muddy spots that you need to avoid? These are questions that can help you plan a safe shed-moving route.

Secondly, you must decide upon the method you wish to use when moving your shed. There are many possible approaches, including using some friends and a hand truck, using pipes for rollers, or using a forklift. We will cover those methods below.

Acquire Proper Equipment

For any of the methods we will be covering, you will likely need at least two other people to help you. And depending on your method of choice, you will need certain pieces of equipment, but universally, you and your helpers will need work gloves and sturdy shoes.

Choose Your Shed Moving Method

Here are the four different shed moving methods you have available to you when you wonder how to move a shed. Consider which is most appropriate for you before you get started. Will friends be available? Do you have the tools needed? Do you have the funds?

Moving the Shed by Hand

If the shed is small, you and a friend may be able to lift it together from the floor, but lift with your legs and not your back.

However, to make lifting easier, you can screw 2x4 boards along the sides of the shed so that you and your helpers can each have a handle to hang onto while moving the shed, and the whole moving process can take less time. This approach is the way to go if your shed is 18x24 feet or smaller.

Another option is to disconnect the shed floor to make it easier to lift. First, you need to disconnect the shed from its foundation, whether that be cinder blocks or any wooden supports.

If the shed is a small plastic or metal shed, these typically come with floor kits, and you can move the shed without disconnecting them. If your shed is connected to any sort of foundation with screws or bolts, you will need to disengage those before moving the shed.

Using DIY Rollers

To move your shed with rollers (which is a suitable option if you can’t rent heavy equipment or do not know how to drive a forklift), you will need a floor jack, PVC pipes, round timbers, or metal pipes, and two runners, which can be 2x6 planks or longer. You can also employ the help of a few cinder blocks if you need to.

The first step is to jack up one side of the shed. If you need to dig a small hole to get a flat surface for the jack to rest on, that’s okay—you can always fill it in later. Prop up the corners of the shed with cinder blocks if you need to get the two runner planks underneath the shed. These planks will come in contact with the rollers (pipes or timbers) you’ve chosen.

Once the two runners are in place, you can then use the pipes or timbers to roll the shed to the desired location. This method can take three or four people; it helps to have one or two people keep the shed steady while two more move rollers from the back to the front. You can then push the shed to its new resting place.

You can also use actual moving rollers, which are similar to huge floor jacks that rotate. If you can afford to rent them and are comfortable moving them, this option involves fewer pieces of equipment.

Using a Forklift

If you have a license to operate heavy machinery, you can easily move your shed with a forklift. If you have a fork attachment for your tractor, this option is a no-brainer. You always need to make sure windows and doors, if you cannot remove them before moving the shed, are secured so that they are not damaged during the moving process.

Once all the openings in the shed are secured, you can slide the forks on the forklift or tractor underneath the shed and gently tilt the whole thing back before moving it. Moving straps are extremely helpful in this case to keep larger sheds from wobbling and potentially falling off the forks. That's pretty critical for how to move a large shed, as is the tip below.

You can also further support your shed walls if you have a large shed by nailing or screwing cross braces onto a few of the walls so that the structural integrity of your shed is preserved while you forklift it across the yard.

Dismantling

Some sheds are built for dismantling so that they are easily moveable. Many of these are within the small-to-medium size range and are built so that once you take them home, you can easily assemble them yourself. If you have a shed you can dismantle, this may be the more time-consuming but the best option for moving the shed.

First, take out the door and the windows to protect them from scrapes or scratches. Then you can remove the roof and separate the walls, and move the shed piece by piece across the yard.

When it comes to how to move a shed, this is the simplest and fool proof method. Depending on the size of the shed, this could be a solo job. However, you may need another person if the walls are large and awkward to lift alone.

Reasons to Move a Shed

Moving to a new home is the most common reason for someone to relocate their shed. However, several other reasons may lead you to move your shed. These include the following.

Neighbor Complaints

You may have to move your shed if you or the previous property owner installed the shed on property lines. This issue can be serious if your neighbors decide to be vocal about it because you could have to pay a fine if you choose not to move it.

Some neighbors may even complain because your shed is an eyesore, it’s too tall, or it blocks sunlight from parts of their yard.

Homeowners’ Association Regulations

Just because you know how to move a storage shed doesn't mean you're allowed to put it in the new spot. It’s always best to be familiar with the zoning laws in your city/county before placing new structures like sheds in your yard. However, if you didn’t install the shed and it does violate your homeowners’ association regulations, you may have to move it to comply with the city building codes.

For example, in certain areas, sheds must not be able to be seen from the road (which means they must be far enough into the backyard that they do not appear over a privacy fence). There may also be size regulations and building codes for unattached structures in your yard like sheds.

Yard Rearranging

At one point, the shed was possibly the only thing in your yard, you decided where to place it, and that was that. But perhaps now you wish to add a swing set, a volleyball net, a grilling area, an outdoor seating area, or a trampoline to your yard, and the best location is right where the shed sits. Moving a shed across the yard is possible using the methods above.

Poor Location

Perhaps the shed sits in a depression, and the threat of soggy ground and rot lurks after heavy rains. In this case, especially if you would like to use your shed as a room to hang out in rather than simply a storage space, shifting it over to a drier spot in your yard is necessary.

That's How to Move a Shed in Several Ways

Now you have the best options for moving your shed. For whichever method you choose, there are plenty of instructional videos on the Internet showing exactly how each it’s done and what it looks like. Whatever reason you have for moving your shed, know that you can do it as long as the shed floor isn’t attached to a concrete foundation and you have some helpers with you. And that, my friends, is how to move a shed.

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