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This 10-foot-by-12-foot ranch-style shed features window boxes for flowers.
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Horizon lot in Teulon.
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This 12-foot-by-14-foot shed features a six-foot covered porch, and is painted an earth green colour with brownwood roof shingles.
You see them everywhere, those classy looking sheds which have popped up for sale on lots all around the province.
Today’s star is Horizon Storage Sheds — a family owned and operated Manitoba business that started with two sheds 10 years ago, and is now hustling to keep up with the demand.
One of their sale lots is on the site of the old soccer/rugby dome beside the Husky on Highway 1 in Headingley. I pass by that row of sheds just about every day, and earlier this week, decided I should stop in for a closer look. Shed browsing can be very enjoyable, especially when they’re built to Horizon standards.
What I didn’t know is that on every lot, one of the sheds contains all the info you need to know about the different styles and sizes Horizon offers, including a free colour brochure for you to peruse during your morning coffee.
Classy sheds. Classy company.
By the way, there are only a couple of sheds at the Headingley location presently, as the others are on display, and being used, at the Red River Exhibition for the run of the show — so you can check them out there too.
Ten years ago, company founder Stephen Waldner saw a need for this kind of shed, built two, displayed them on his first site by the Red River Co-op on McPhillips, and it’s been crazy ever since.
"I put them there on a weekend," Waldner says, "Monday morning the phones started ringing, and they haven’t stopped ringing since."
Part of the reason for that success may reflect back on a goal he set prior to launching the company. "I wanted to provide a high-quality product for a good, honest price." He certainly seems to have hit that mark. Paired with innovative style options, and sizes ranging from 8 feet by 8 feet up to 14 feet by 40 feet, with delivery available to your door, convenience is a huge part of the popularity of Horizon Sheds.
Along with their three standard building style offerings, Ranch, Barn and Cottage, it was the custom options page that really sparked my imagination. Those options include a patio shed, sun room, covered porch, screened shed, dog/pet house, lofts, insulated workshop, man-cave/she-shed, greenhouse, kids play house... endless possibilities, really.
And they’re open to suggestions, so if you’ve got an idea you can’t find pre-built somewhere, or even find a plan for, give them a call. I’m wondering when the tiny homes will start coming off that production line.
Along with buying your building outright, Horizon also offers business leasing (which is 100 per cent tax deductible), and if your cash flow is a little slow at the moment, they also offer personal financing that is quick, easy and affordable.
This prefab family business is located just a bit northwest of Petersfield, so when it comes to after-sales service, you don’t have far to go.
Twenty-some years ago, when I was in the market for a shed or two, I spoke to a farmer about his unused old wooden 12-foot-by-16-foot granaries.
He said, "If you want them, take them. I was just going to burn them, and this way I won’t have nails everywhere."
Let me tell you, they are heavy. My crew was myself (a friend or two helped a couple of times), two Jackall jacks, four 45-gallon drums to perch them on and a borrowed trailer to haul them home with.
I ended up bringing home two for me and two more for neighbours. Horizon didn’t exist then, because if it had, I certainly would have considered going retail. Still, the illusion of "free"... you know?
Questions? Check them out at horizonstorage.com, or even on Facebook! Happy shedding!
Comments or feedback, love to hear from you!
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