How do you figure out what size of building you need?
One simple way is to take a sheet of graph paper (where each square represents a square foot) and draw a “map” of where you want to place each item and how many square feet each item will take. Then, draw a rectangle around everything on your map. The length multiplied by the width is how many square feet you need in your building.
A more comprehensive way to figure out what size of building you need is to list out everything you plan to put inside your building, where you plan to put it, and specify how many square feet each item will take. Here is an example:
Note: Relative to floor space, make sure you allow for “walk-ways” to move around inside your building and to be able to conveniently and safely get to everything. The additional square footage needed for “moving around” will depend upon how you plan to position things within your building.
Now, consider this: a common mistake people make is buying a portable building that ends up being too small for their needs. This happens for two primary reasons. One, when a building is empty, it looks “big” in most people’s eyes. Two, many people underestimate the sheer amount of stuff they will end up having in their building.
So in the long run, you will likely be a lot happier if you take the square footage you came up with in the preceding steps and multiply that by 1.5. This way, you end up having the space you will actually need. At the very least, you should add an extra 4’ of length to your building so you have the room to expand when needed.