How to dismantle a shed

Wondering about the best way to dismantle your old shed? The safest method is start at the top and work your way down, beginning with fascias and trims.

To help get you started, here's our guide to dismantling your shed. By following our instructions, you'll find removing your old shed is an easy job for two people using basic hand tools.

Remove the fascia boards, finials and corner trims
Take the doors and windows off
Untack roofing felt, then remove the roof boards
Take roof framing and braces off
Unscrew the shed from the floor
Unscrew the corners of the shed walls and remove
Stack everything neatly!

You’ll need:

Flat headed screwdriver or other prising tool for the roof felt
Electric screwdriver (this’ll speed things up)
Gloves
Two people

Remove fascias and trims

removing trims from shed — Unscrew and remove all trims, finials and fascia boards

Unscrew the screws holding the finials, fascias and corner trims to your shed. This won't affect the structural integrity of the shed at all - these are just details that help to protect the timbers from the elements, and improve the appearance of your shed.

Take off doors and windows

taking shed doors off — Carefully unscrew hinges and remove the doors

Remove the doors by unscrewing the hinge mounts from the shed body. When they’re off the body of the shed, take off all the metalwork - hinges, locks, catches and so on.

Unscrew the frames from the windows (if you have them) and carefully remove the panes. Styrene’s pretty safe to work with, but if your windows are glass, this is the time to take particular care.

Remove the roof

unscrewing shed roof — Once your felt is off, unscrew the roof boards and carefully remove them

Using your flat headed screwdriver, prise out the tacks from your roofing felt, and dispose of this (you won’t be able to re-use this). When the roof boards are exposed, unscrew the screws and slide them off the frame.

This is where it’s really handy to have a second person - the roof boards can easily move and slip around once you start taking off the screws that hold it down.

Take out the roof brace

removing shed roof brace — Take out the roof brace before dismantling the rest of the frame

Unscrew the L-brackets that hold the roof brace to the sides of the shed. It’s at this point that things might start to get a bit wobbly, so do take care as you move around. Don’t lean on any wall or surface; it may well not hold your weight now.

Detach the frame from the floor

detach the walls from the floor — Unscrew the walls from the floor so they can be moved

Carefully work your way around the floor, removing all the screws that hold your shed to the base. Remember to keep your weight away from the walls!

Unscrew the frame corners

unscrew the shed frame corners — Unscrew and take the walls off one by one

Working one corner at a time, remove the screws from the corners where the panels meet. Start with the front gable and work your way around. Once each panel becomes free, make sure you place it safely out of the way so you’ve got enough room to carry on working.

Tidy up

nice neat stack of dismantled shed — Keep everything tidy - it makes it easier when recycling or disposing of your old shed

Lastly, make sure you’ve left everything tidy with no debris that can hurt children or pets. Stack panels securely, and safely dispose of old felt, window panes and metalwork (including any screws or nails).

Check out how the Waltons crew take down a shed in this video: