A storage building, including a self-build storage building from Kroftman, isn't erected overnight. There's often a longer preparation period involved. At Kroftman, we've been selling various storage solutions, including self-build storage buildings, for 15 years. Of all our storage solutions, a storage building requires the most preparation time. But what exactly is involved in purchasing a self-build storage building, and what steps do you need to take, and in what order? In this blog, you'll learn more about this, as well as the time each step will take. Once you know this, you can better estimate how many weeks it will take for your storage building to be ready for use. Read more about the following 6 steps:

Step 1: The use of the storage building

To make the right choices in step 2, it's important that you have already thought about some things. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What do I want to store in my storage building? And is it essential for my items to be stored dry, without significant temperature fluctuations? This determines whether you need an uninsulated or insulated storage building.
2. How much space do I need for my items? And do I have this space available on my property? And how do I arrange my property? Another thing to consider is the requirements for free space around the storage building. For example, you must maintain a distance of between 2.5 and 3.5 meters from the property line due to fire resistance requirements from the Building Decree 2012. And for construction at height, a scaffold is mandatory. To be able to place it, a minimum of 150 cm of free space around the entire storage building is required. Otherwise, you won't be able to build your storage building. This will determine how large your storage building needs to be.
3. How often will I enter the storage building per day, and will it be on foot or in a vehicle? And where do I want access to my storage building? The answers to these questions are essential for determining the type of doors, the number of doors, their location, the clearance height, and the operation of the doors. At Kroftman, you can choose manual operation of the roller or overhead doors or an electric motor with two remote controls. If you opt for an electric motor, you will need to provide electricity to your storage building. The same applies if you want lights in your storage building.
4. How long do I intend to use the storage building? And on what type of ground will I place my storage building? You can permanently place Kroftman storage buildingwith concrete anchors on a concrete foundation or on Stelcon slabs (concrete floor slabs). With ground pins, you can temporarily or semi-permanently place Kroftman storage buildings on paving, asphalt, compacted sand, gravel, or rubble fraction. A concrete foundation is the best ground for a storage building. A well-laid concrete foundation is perfectly flat for the best possible connection of the walls. The smaller the gaps, the less space there is for water to seep into the storage building. A concrete foundation costs more, but if you plan to use the storage building for many years, it's worth the investment.

Step 2: Assembling the storage building

You can assemble your storage building via our quotation tool. This is entirely without obligation. So feel free to compare all possible options by requesting different quotations from us. Ordering at this point in the process is also not practical. You need to know first whether you need to apply for a planning permit and, if so, whether you will receive it. To be able to apply for a permit, you must already know exactly what the storage building will look like. That's why you need to assemble the storage building first. In our quotation tool, you make the following choices:

1. First, choose the desired dimensions of your storage building and whether you want an insulated or uninsulated version. We want to remind you of our two types of storage buildings. Our narrowest storage building is the E-series with a width of 5.7 meters. The E-series storage buildings are only available uninsulated, have fewer options than the H-series storage buildings, and are much more affordable. You can read more about this here. Our H-series storage buildings start from a width of six meters. The options described below apply to the H-series storage buildings.
2. Indicate whether you want a storage building with or without skylights.
3. Make the choice for (the location of) the doors here.
4. You can choose to add an electric motor with two remote controls to your overhead or roller door.
5. Choose how you want to anchor the storage building to the ground (concrete anchors or ground pins, depending on the type of ground).
6. You can choose to add gutters and downpipes to your storage building.
7. You will now see an overview of all the options you have chosen. Below is an additional choice option: 'Choose your colors'. You have 2 options: 'I will choose my colors later' and 'I will choose my colors now'. If you want to get an idea of what your storage building will look like in different color schemes, click on 'I choose my colors now'.
8. Enter your country and postcode to see which delivery options are available at your location. If you click on 'continue', you will see the delivery options. For the delivery of our storage buildings, we charge an additional fee depending on the type of storage building (size, insulated or uninsulated) and the distance. You won't see the prices for this on this page. You will see them on your quotation. Therefore, click on the option 'Continue to your quotation'.
9. Enter your details here. We ask this so that we can send you your quotation. If you want to know more about what Kroftman does with your data, watch this video from our colleague Sylvia Wildeboer.

If you click on 'Send quotation request', you will automatically receive the login details from us within a few minutes, which you can use to view your quotation(s). Once you have made your choice and know what the storage building you want looks like, proceed to step 3 in the process.

Step 3: Planning permission for your storage building

Never order a storage building before you are sure you are allowed to place it. Since the end of 2014, the rules for building without a permit in the Netherlands have been relaxed. In this blog, you can read more about the planning permission. Note, however, that laws and regulations can change. Always check the current rules. You can quickly check whether a planning permit is required on the planning permit portal. If you are indeed allowed to build the storage building you want without a planning permit, you do not need a planning permit. The rules from the zoning plan do not apply in that case. Building without a permit does not mean you can build without regulations. The same requirements from the building decree also apply here. Also, pay attention to other laws and regulations that do apply. You are responsible for ensuring that you comply with these rules.

If you need planning permission, you can apply for it with an application form from your municipality. This can be done digitally or in writing. You can also apply for planning permission directly via www.planningpermitportal.nl. The processing time for simple applications is a maximum of eight weeks, with a possible extension of six weeks. You can download the construction drawings of your Kroftman storage building for free on our website for applying for planning permission. Upon request, we also provide the structural calculations for free and entirely without obligation.

Step 5: Preparing the foundation & installation of the storage building

During the delivery time of the storage building, you can prepare the foundation for the storage building. What exactly you need to do depends on the type of foundation you choose. Our storage buildings can be placed on a concrete foundation, Stelcon plates (prefabricated concrete plates), or another type of hard surface such as asphalt, paving, compacted sand, gravel, or crushed stone.

Concrete foundation
A concrete foundation is the best option if you want to keep your storage building as moisture-free as possible. If properly laid, a concrete foundation provides the best connection with the storage building. We do not lay concrete foundations ourselves. You can hire a construction company of your choice for this. In our construction drawings, you will find two standard foundation plans that you can provide to your construction company. Kroftman provides a strength calculation, including snow and wind loads, for every storage building free of charge. Based on the bearing capacity of the ground and the strength calculations of the storage building, an engineer will know what foundation is needed for your new storage building.

A well-laid concrete foundation is flat, without bumps, and level. The foundation reaches the frost line and is a few centimeters above ground level. Furthermore, the foundation is a few centimeters larger than the base rail. This is necessary to securely anchor the base rail to the ground. At the same time, the foundation should not protrude too far. The concrete foundation must exactly match the surface dimensions as stated in our construction drawing. A Kroftman storage building is equipped with a water stop. Only if you adhere to our measurements will it fall exactly over the edge of the foundation. This water stop ensures that rainwater is drained away. Without a water stop, water would remain on the protruding edge of the foundation, with the risk of seeping under the base rail into the storage building.

Stelcon plates (prefabricated concrete plates)
For our storage building, we advise you to create a spacious floor field of prefabricated concrete plates measuring 200 x 200 x 16 cm in a sand bed of at least 45 cm, or deeper. The depth of the sand bed must at least reach the frost line. This frost line varies by location. If groundwater under the foundation freezes and thaws again, it causes movement, resulting in the foundation becoming loose. The concrete surface must be larger than the surface dimensions of the storage building according to the Kroftman construction drawing. We advise placing the concrete plates in the middle under the walls to prevent the plates from tipping up. In any case, there must be enough space to secure the anchor bolts in the base rail without risking the concrete from cracking. The mounting surface for the storage building must be level. Any irregularities may be a maximum of 5 mm high or deep, and the slope in one direction and a maximum of 1 cm per meter. You cannot place a storage building on a concave, convex, or skew surface. You are responsible for a correct construction (such as subfloor and plate thickness) of the prefabricated concrete floor. You will receive a 'simple' water stop from us to drain rainwater that runs down along the walls away from the storage building.

Another type of hard surface with ground pins
The surface where you place the storage building must be level with a slope of maximum 1 cm per meter in maximum one direction. A curved surface is not possible. You must fill in the slope in the mounting surface before placing the storage building. It is difficult to level these hard surfaces over a large area. As a result, the storage building will fit less well. If you opt for quality, we advise you to place larger storage buildings on a concrete foundation. This will cost a bit more, but there are also costs associated with a large number of ground pins. However, a concrete foundation will provide you with a better quality surface for your storage building.

Building site
You can assemble your storage building yourself or hire a company to do it for you. If you outsource the assembly, make sure to arrange this well in advance to avoid delays. Due to the shortage of technical personnel, there are often waiting times. Whether you choose self-assembly or outsourcing, make sure your construction site has the following provisions:

• Work provisions: To work with scaffolding (this is mandatory for safety reasons), you need 1.5 meters of free workspace around the storage building.
• Labor provisions: there must be electricity (220 volts, 16 amps) available at the work location.
• Location provisions: Think, for example, of storage and loading and unloading facilities.

Installing an overhead door requires specialist knowledge. We have instructional videos showing you how to install an overhead door. By law, you must have an electrically operated industrial door installed by a specialist and the door must be inspected annually. That is also the reason why you receive a sticker with the date of the next inspection (1 year after installation) which you stick on the door after installation. After each inspection, a new sticker is placed on the door. If you fail to do this, it is unlikely that anyone will check. However, if an accident occurs with this door because it is not properly maintained, you will be liable. The same applies to our warranty conditions for the door and motor. These remain valid only with correct installation and annual maintenance of the door and motor.

Duration of the 6 steps

It is clear that a storage building does not appear overnight. The steps you have to go through take time. To give you an idea of how much time, we have compiled an overview of the (estimated) duration. We do not include Step 1 and 2 (use of the storage building & assembling the storage building) in this. You can then estimate when to take Step 3 to have your storage building available at the right time. In the example below, we assume 8 weeks for the building permit and 12 weeks for the delivery time of the storage building.

You can see that the whole process takes about half a year. If you want to build your storage building in April, you will need to apply for the building permit around mid-October. At least, if everything goes as planned. Perhaps you will receive the building permit within four weeks and the delivery time of your storage building turns out to be only eight weeks. You will need to build in some flexibility. If you don't have an exact deadline yourself, you don't need to worry about the month in which you build your storage building. This is possible in any season.

If you want to know more about the cost of a storage building or the installation costs, please feel free to fill out our quotation tool.

We hope the above information helps you make an informed decision. If you want to know exactly what the storage building of your choice will cost, please fill out our quotation tool without any obligation. In the last question, please enter your postal code so that we can calculate the transport costs. This will result in a quotation that we will send to you by email, showing you at a glance what your storage building will cost, including the transport costs. You can create multiple quotations and check different options. This way, you can compare them effectively.

If you still have questions, we are happy to assist you further.