Custom sheds and shed repair in Southeast Michigan

Wright’s Renovations designs and builds custom sheds, finishes backyard studios and offices, and repairs or restores the sheds you already own. As a design-build remodeler in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, it plans the foundation, framing, siding and doors as one job, then builds across Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties.

At a glance

What gets built Storage sheds, garden sheds, studios and backyard offices

What gets fixed Floors, framing, doors, siding and trim on existing sheds

Scheduling Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Service area Six counties across Southeast Michigan

Why sheds fail early in Michigan

Most sheds don’t wear out from the top down. They fail at the ground. Floor framing set on bare soil or a few patio blocks sits in wet ground for months, and Michigan’s freeze and thaw cycles heave those blocks unevenly every winter. Once the floor racks out of square, the doors stop latching, the siding opens at the corners and water finds the bottom plate. The clay soils common around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti hold that water against the wood even longer.

Store-bought kits make the problem worse because they’re designed for shipping, not for a Michigan backyard. Thin panel siding, light floor decking and stapled trim save weight on the truck and cost you years on the lot. A shed built on a proper base with treated framing, real siding and flashed openings behaves like a small house. That’s how Wright’s builds one, to the same exterior construction standards it uses on homes.

Repair follows the same logic. Patching a soft floor without fixing what’s under it buys a season or two. Wright’s looks at the base first, then the framing, then the skin, and quotes the repair in that order so you’re not paying twice. It’s the same method behind the Wright’s Repairs small-job service.

Custom sheds designed to match your house

A custom shed starts with what you’ll keep in it and where it sits. Mowers and snowblowers need a wide door and a ramp. Garden tools want windows, a potting bench and shelving, often built by the custom carpentry crew. Bikes and kayaks want wall racks and headroom. Wright’s sketches the layout around that use, then sizes the shed to fit your lot, your setbacks and the view from the kitchen window.

The exterior is drawn to match the house. Lap siding, board and batten or shingle siding can echo what’s already on your home, and roof pitch, trim width and paint color can follow the main roofline. On an older Ann Arbor home, that often means wood trim and a steeper roof. On a newer build in Saline, it may mean fiber cement and a simple gable.

Foundations built for frost

The base is where a custom shed earns its life span. Depending on size, soil and what the shed will carry, Wright’s builds on a compacted gravel pad with treated skids, on concrete piers set below frost depth or on a poured slab. Larger sheds and anything heavy, like a workshop with a table saw, usually get piers or a slab. The choice is made on site and put in writing before framing starts, along with the downspout drainage around it.

Materials that hold up outside

Every piece that touches the ground or the weather is chosen for it. Skids and floor framing are pressure treated for ground contact, floors are decked with material rated for moisture, and wall and roof openings are flashed the way a house window would be. Doors are built or chosen to stay square through a Michigan winter, with hardware sized for the weight. Siding goes over a weather barrier rather than straight onto studs, which is the detail most kits skip and most rot repairs trace back to.

Permits and zoning for a new shed

Under Michigan’s residential code, a one-story detached accessory structure with no more than 200 square feet of floor area doesn’t need a building permit. That doesn’t make it exempt from zoning. In Ann Arbor, a shed under 200 square feet still needs a zoning compliance permit, has to sit more than 3 feet from any lot line and can’t stand in the required front yard. Historic districts add a review on top. Townships set their own rules, so Wright’s checks setbacks and permits for your address during design.

Studios and backyard offices

A finished shed can give you a quiet place to work, paint, record or train without adding onto the house. The shell is built like a custom shed, then insulated, drywalled and trimmed like a room. Windows are placed for daylight and cross breeze, and the door is chosen for weather sealing rather than wide access. If the real problem is a cramped workspace inside the house, compare the cost with a home office renovation first.

Power, heat and internet are planned in design. Electrical work for a studio is done by a licensed electrician under its own permit, and the trench, panel capacity and lighting layout are part of the plan you approve. Insulation and air sealing are what make the space usable in January and July, so they’re drawn into the wall and roof sections rather than added later.

There’s a line a backyard studio can’t cross. Ann Arbor doesn’t allow an accessory building to be used as a sleeping room or dwelling unit, or to carry utilities for both a bathroom and a kitchen. If you need a guest suite or a place for a parent to live, that’s a home addition or a garage addition with living space, and Wright’s will tell you so before you design the wrong building.

Signs your shed needs repair

A floor that gives underfoot

Soft spots near the door or in the corners mean the decking, joists or skids have been taking on water. Push a screwdriver into the floor framing from outside. If it sinks easily, the rot is past the surface and new decking alone won’t hold. The fix mirrors a subfloor repair in a house.

Doors that drag or won’t latch

When a shed door scrapes the floor or the latch misses the strike, the building is usually out of square, not just the hinges. A settled corner or a failing skid racks the whole frame. Adjusting hardware helps for a week. Leveling the base and handling the door repair together fixes it.

Siding gaps, rot and daylight

Open corners, swollen panel bottoms, peeling paint along the lowest course and daylight showing through the walls all point to water getting behind the skin. Left alone, it reaches the studs and bottom plate, and a siding repair grows into a framing job.

Plan a new shed before the ground freezes

Late summer and fall are the best months to build. The ground is dry enough to dig piers and set gravel, and a shed finished by November is ready for the snowblower and the patio furniture. Once the ground freezes, foundation work slows and concrete gets harder to place. Many homeowners book it alongside winterizing the house.

Winter is a good time to design. Drawings, siding choices and any permit or zoning review can move while the ground is frozen, so the build lands first in line when spring opens up. Repairs to doors, siding and trim run most of the year, and spring is when snow load and thaw damage show up, which makes a spring home maintenance visit a good time to look.

How a shed project runs

The order is the same whether you’re building new or fixing what’s there, and anything found outside the agreed scope is quoted separately rather than added on the spot.

  • A site visit to measure the lot and check setbacks, drainage, access and any existing shed
  • Design and a written scope covering size, foundation, siding, doors, windows and finishes
  • Permit or zoning paperwork for your city or township, where the address requires it
  • Foundation and framing, then roof, siding, trim, doors and paint
  • A final walkthrough with you and a punch list closed before the job is called done

You get the scope, schedule and price in writing before work starts. That’s the same transparency Wright’s brings to every home renovation.

Shed repair and restoration

Repair is the right call when the shed’s bones are sound. Replacing rotted skids and floor framing, leveling the base, rebuilding a door, swapping damaged siding boards and adding a new ramp can buy a solid shed many more years of use. It’s handled like any other exterior repair, with the cause fixed before the cosmetic work.

Restoration is for the outbuildings worth keeping. Older neighborhoods in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Dexter still have original garden sheds, potting houses and small carriage outbuildings with wood siding, divided-light windows and hand-cut trim. Wright’s treats those the way it handles older-house restoration: repair what can be saved, mill or match what can’t and keep the original profile.

Old sash and trim get the same care they’d get on the house, through wood window repair and trim carpentry matched to the existing profiles. Paint closes the job. Bare wood gets primed on all sides before it goes up, and doors and trim get a finish coat built for Michigan weather through trim and door painting.

When repair costs start to approach a new building, Wright’s says so. Sometimes the better answer is to take the old shed down and build a custom one on a proper foundation, and the estimate shows both options side by side so the decision stays yours.

Where the work stops

Wright’s is a design-build remodeler, and a shed is a building. The boundary matters here because backyard structures sit close to zoning, licensing and insurance lines.

Work Wright’s takes on

  • Custom storage sheds, garden sheds, workshops, studios and backyard offices
  • Shed repair, including floors, skids, framing, doors, ramps, siding and trim
  • Restoration of older wood outbuildings, including windows and trim

Work Wright’s doesn’t take on

  • Sleeping rooms or full living units in a backyard structure
  • Insurance claims and water, fire or mold restoration
  • Standalone roofing, gutter or fencing jobs

If your project lands on the wrong side of that line, the team will say so at the first visit and point you toward the right path. The full list sits on the page covering work Wright’s Repairs doesn’t take on.

Questions homeowners ask about sheds

Not always for the building itself. Michigan’s residential code exempts a one-story detached accessory structure up to 200 square feet from a building permit, but zoning still applies. Ann Arbor requires a zoning compliance permit for smaller sheds and a building permit at 200 square feet and up. Wright’s checks your city or township during design so the shed isn’t built in the wrong spot.

Yes. Siding, trim, roof pitch, windows and paint are chosen in design to match or complement the house. Matching existing materials on an older home sometimes takes custom milling, and that’s priced up front rather than discovered halfway through the build.

Usually, if the framing is sound and the trouble is at the base, the doors or the siding. If rot has reached most of the floor framing and the bottom plates, a new shed on a proper foundation often makes more sense over time. You’ll see both options before you decide.

Yes, if it’s built for it. Insulation, air sealing, a well-sealed door, heat and power have to be designed in from the start. A storage shed converted after the fact rarely stays comfortable in January, and the fixes cost more once the walls are closed.

Often, yes. If the floor framing is still sound, the shed can be lifted, the failed blocks or skids replaced and the base rebuilt on compacted gravel or piers. Doors and siding usually need adjusting once it’s level again. If the floor framing has rotted through, leveling becomes part of a larger repair, and the estimate says so.

Design and any permit or zoning review come first, and that timing depends on your municipality. Site time depends on the size and the foundation type. Your written schedule spells out both before you sign, and concrete work is planned around Michigan weather windows.

Related outdoor and repair work

A shed project rarely comes up alone. These are the jobs homeowners often book alongside it.

If the backyard is getting a refresh, look at custom deck building or a new porch, and read pergola vs gazebo for Michigan backyards before you add shade. Owners keeping an older deck going can start with deck repair for boards, rails and stairs.

Inside the shed, shelving installation and exterior hardware installation finish the job, and siding replacement on the house can be planned with the shed so the two match. Not sure who should do the work? Handyman vs contractor for small jobs walks through it, and design-build vs general contractor explains how larger builds run.

Wright’s builds in Chelsea and across the region from its shop at 7101 Platt Road in Ypsilanti. You can check out our portfolio, book a design consultation or contact us today.