Backyard storage shed for bikes

[creadinger]

My wife and I are looking for a townhouse to buy in the Alexandria, Del Ray, Arlandria area and have seen several nice ones. Unfortunately though, many do not have an obvious solution for storing 4 bikes, and lots of bike equipment. We agree that lugging bikes up and down narrow basement steps isn’t a viable solution as we’ll likely just muck up the walls as we do it. Another option may be to buy a waterproof, lockable storage shed for the back “yard” where we can put 2 of our bikes, plus equipment.

Does anyone have any recommendations for long-term outdoor bike storage, keeping in mind that back “yard” is fairly generous when you’re talking about townhouses?

Topic

[baiskeli]

@creadinger 44350 wrote:

My wife and I are looking for a townhouse to buy in the Alexandria, Del Ray, Arlandria area and have seen several nice ones. Unfortunately though, many do not have an obvious solution for storing 4 bikes, and lots of bike equipment. We agree that lugging bikes up and down narrow basement steps isn’t a viable solution as we’ll likely just muck up the walls as we do it. Another option may be to buy a waterproof, lockable storage shed for the back “yard” where we can put 2 of our bikes, plus equipment.

Does anyone have any recommendations for long-term outdoor bike storage, keeping in mind that back “yard” is fairly generous when you’re talking about townhouses?

Hmm. There’s all kinds of options. You can build a full wooden shed (I would stay away from steel) of any size. Or you could get a vinyl one that pops together. You could even get a small vinyl one like this that is designed to hold garbage cans, if it’s big enough to hold your bikes and stuff:

You can get this kind at Home Depot. It will have it’s own floor. A wooden shed would need a wooden deck or concrete pad.

To make the vinyl one completely waterproof you’d need to caulk the joints, by the way.

The biggest concern is security. You need something you can lock well. I would lock the bikes inside the shed with U-locks too just in case somebody manages to get inside.

Del Ray rocks btw – used to live there.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Depending on the townhouse, you could do some type of built-in bike storage below the rear balcony/patio (if you have one). Our previous house in Capitol Hill (a rental) was a three story rowhouse and the middle story had a patio, with steps descending into the back “yard”. The lowest floor was about halfway below ground level, and had steps going up into the “yard”, if you can envision that. Below the porch, the owners had built storage areas on either side of the door into the lowest floor of the house. It really wasn’t much more than a plywood enclosure, but it was lockable and kept bikes from out of view if someone peeked over the fence.

One of our neighbors did it slightly different. Instead of building a storage area, he had a sunken concrete patio coming off his lowest floor, and he installed bolts in the concrete to lock his bikes to. The patio above kept everything dry, and since it was open, he didn’t have to worry about maneuvering his bike into a storage shed like I did. When I bought a second bike (for a total of three, counting my wife’s), I ended up having to store my commuter under the patio stairs. Not ideal, but it stayed mostly dry and out of view, so it wasn’t a huge deal.

[consularrider]

I think a lot will depend on the property you end up buying and what types of restrictions you may face from a homeowners association or condo board. As you noted the “yard” size for a townhouse is pretty small. While a resin/plastic shed might be relatively easy to set up, if you are looking at something that is not very deep, you may not be able to efficiently use the full volume. I think a wooden shed might give you better options if you want to hang the bikes veritcally, maybe something like this?

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/2c/2c1b205e-6cad-4727-9e92-18f9865baf40_300.jpg

[Rootchopper]

I have used a wooden shed for 20 years. No problem with rust on the bikes. You can fit a lot of bike by simply hanging them off the rafters. Just install a board across the frame near the bottom of the shed for the rear wheels to rest on.

[DaveK]

I would never store anything I wanted to keep for more than a day outside my house, no matter the locking solution. Then again, I’m in DC. In Arlington you can just leave a pile of expensive bikes all day in your backyard facing a road and a park.

Sigh….

[dasgeh]

We had a small structure built onto our large shed for garden tools. Something similar would have worked (with the right dimensions) built onto a house for bikes – 2 bikes would fit well vertically. It might be the best use of $ to find someone to build it custom.

[baiskeli]

I used to build sheds and stuff as a handyman. I don’t any more, but I’m happy to help you get started for the requisite amount of beer.

[acc]

Ten years ago I almost tore down the shed because it was in bad shape and rebuilding it seemed expensive. I decided to rebuild it and live without a deck. It worked out to be a good decision. Inexplicably, I have a bike in my kitchen. But that’s a long story.

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[creadinger]

Wow, thanks all for your suggestions and even offers of help to build something custom!

We’ll see what we end up buying in the next few months (hopefully) and then we’ll figure out which solution will work best.

[whiteharw]

@DaveK 44375 wrote:

I would never store anything I wanted to keep for more than a day outside my house, no matter the locking solution. Then again, I’m in DC. In Arlington you can just leave a pile of expensive bikes all day in your backyard facing a road and a park.

Sigh….

I wish this were true then i would not have had $3,000 worth of bicyxles atolen from my locked bicycle cage ( then locked again inside the cage wirh a sign saying 24hr. Survailence). This happened in the courthouse area of arlington

[Tim Kelley]

@whiteharw 46667 wrote:

I wish this were true then i would not have had $3,000 worth of bicyxles atolen from my locked bicycle cage ( then locked again inside the cage wirh a sign saying 24hr. Survailence). This happened in the courthouse area of arlington

I’ve heard about several of these types of thefts in Arlington in the past couple years. It sounds like stolen bikes in condo buildings are not a result of a random opportunity presenting itself to a thief, but rather one that requires careful planning and coordination. Multiple people working together and coming in to a building’s bike room and loading up a dozen bikes at once.

Was your bike u-locked?

[Author]

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