My darling mother had recently invested in a new shed... you know the ones with all the bells and whistles. So my brother and i had the task of dismantling the old one for her. Since my brothers shed was on the way out (Damaged roof, rotting floor and damp throughout) we thought it would be great to take a stab at upcycling my mums old shed for my brothers garden.

We started by smashing down the old one with a few hammer blows it was down. taking the roof off first all we had to do was push down the sides and it was gone, ready for breaking up with the hammers and saws to be taken to the tip and the good wood kept for fire wood. It is really important to note that you should be wearing protective equipment and gloves from somewhere like unigloves when handling old and dirty materials. You should ensure you invest in what you need before you get started - as well as unigloves, I recommend sites like Homebase for all your protective needs.

After clearing the old shed away be started clearing the shed base as the new/old shed was wider and longer so we needed to expand the foundation. We decided to use concrete blocks we had lying around the place as they were free and it they would enable us to lay the foundation quickly.

We sourced 12 blocks and used a rake to level the ground. The spirit level did the trick by making sure the blocks we levelish, for the ones that weren't we dug them in using the spade, filling them in with gravel and soil to hold them firm.

After we had them leveled off we put down the sheds base using the boards from of the old shed to reinforce the newish shed base and repair any snapped/broken corners with ones from the other shed.

After the base was down we began to install the side one by one, starting with the corners. It was surprising;y easy to fit in the old pins into the gaps. We drilled an extra hole and bolted it to add extra support to the structure.

Whilst moving the sides we accidentally broke one of the windows, it was the only thing that went wrong during the upcycling so all in all it wasn't that bad.

One we had all the sides up we moved the roof into place. Once the roof was inplace we set up the ladder and hopped on top of the shed. We were able to install the roof with ease with the original fittings, we then moved onto to adding new sheets on the top to ensure the felt was better protected that before.

After the sheets were hammered down we got into the shed to spot all the spaces and filled them up with sealant to ensure the shed was water tight. At the front side of the shed there was some serve damage which we had to patch up with extra wood both on the inside and out, we did this by adding to pieces of wood to both sides and bolting them into place, this blocked the gaps and ensured no light,water or creepy crawlies would come through.

We were also wise to board up the broken window with some of the remaining strong wood we had from the old shed we had taken to the tip earlier. I would say it only took us around 2:30 minutes to get the old shed down, the base set and the new shed up and ready for use. A good mornings work in the glorious sunshine.

My brother plans on treating and paint the shed soon to keep the wooden strong and happy. If we had time we would have loved to have made a stronger and more secure base, but for a shed that is only going to need to last a few years we think its good enough.

If you haven't yet read how i created a shed base and how i supplied my shed with electricity i wold suggest going to have a quick read.