How to Move a Storage Shed in My Backyard

Call the city or town to see if you are required to obtain any permits. Check with your local utilities and have the property flagged. Also check the property for septic lines, sprinkler system or low volt lighting that may be located where you plan on putting the shed.

Check to see if there are any site conditions that will affect the shed's location. These may be tree roots or limbs, low spots that stay soggy or have a tendency to flood, and fences or trees that make it hard to access the shed.

Decide on the new location for the shed's pad with the items listed above taken into account. Remove the sod around the perimeter of the shed. Use a shovel, sod cutter or rototiller for this; include a additional 12 inches around the shed. Level the pad with a four foot carpenter's level and 2 by 4 lumber. Use a shovel to add or remove dirt. Check to make sure it is level diagonally as well as side to side.

Put a layer of landscape fabric over the dirt and cover with four inches of gravel. Rake the gravel to make sure it is level.

Unload the shed of everything inside. Cross brace the interior. The bracing should run from the top plate on one wall across the shed and down to the bottom of the studs on the opposite wall. This should be done on each side of the shed creating a "X." This will help to keep the shed from shifting while it is moved.

Dig out all of the corners of the shed. The hole deep enough to fit a floor jack, available at any auto parts store, and a piece of 3/4-inch plywood, large enough to support the jack, under the edge of the shed.

Raise the shed about nine inches on one side of the shed at a right angle to the direction of travel. Use two floor jacks for this. Check to see if the shed has 4 by 4 pressure treated skids and if the are running in the direction of travel. If not add a 4 by 4 pressure treated timbers and attach with timber screws to the shed deck. Repeat for the opposite side if the skid is needed.

Jack up the shed starting on the side that the shed will be moving. Place two sections of schedule 40 PVC beneath the skids, evenly spaced, running in the opposite direction of the skids.

Lower jacks slowly and jack up the opposite side to install one more piece of PVC pipe.

Lower the shed slowly again. Roll the shed on the PVC pipe slowly. As one piece of PVC pipe comes out the back, move it to the front of the shed and keep repeating until you get to the new pad.

Lower shed at the new location. Anchor the shed in place.