A lot can happen in the shed industry on any given day.
In 2025, that day came in April when President Trump made moves to enact higher tariffs for trading partners to counter the United States’ trade deficit.
The February Supreme Court ruling against tariffs that invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) didn’t end the duties that were imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Act, and the administration is looking at other ways to impose tariffs, so they and the legal wranglings over them will continue.
So, as we approached the one-year mark of “Liberation Day,” Shed Business Journal checked in with shed industry pros from various locations who shared how the tariffs have affected their business.
Some also had some words of wisdom for others who might find themselves in the same boat.
GREAT ADAPTATIONS
For Erica Goodnight, CEO of Union Grove Lumber, Inc. in Harmony, North Carolina, a stocking wholesale lumber supplier that warehouses its material directly from the mill, the tariffs raised the cost of many materials they use daily.
“Lumber prices became less steady, and planning ahead got harder,” she says. “We also saw longer wait times on some products, which added pressure to keep things moving on schedule.”
Rather than go into panic mode, they worked hard to make adjustments.
“We have strong relationships with suppliers and have worked with them to plan inventory further ahead,” adds Goodnight. “We also tightened up operations, so waste stays low and every dollar counts.”
Their customers felt the shift mostly through higher prices and longer lead times.
“We tried to stay open and honest, so customers understood what was happening and could make good choices,” she explains.
As for what advice she has to offer for others in a similar situation, “Don’t wait and hope it passes. Look closely at your costs, communicate clearly with customers, and stay flexible. Strong relationships—with suppliers, employees, and customers—matter more now than ever.”
In fact, times like these separate strong partners from the rest, says Goodnight.
“Challenges don’t just test a business—they reveal who you can count on. We’ve stayed steady, done the right thing and kept our eyes on the long view, and that’s helped us guide our customers through every shift,” she says.
“The shed and lumber industries have faced pricing and supply hurdles before, and they will again. That’s why manufacturers need partners they can trust—people who will give clear, honest information and help them plan with confidence. We’re here to be that kind of partner.”
ACROSS THE BORDER
As shed builder, Loren Burkholder, who owns Burkholder Buildings in Hines Creek, Alberta, Canada, and operates in Alberta and British Columbia, explains, the effects can be felt north of the border as well.
“The tariffs have really slowed down lumber exports to the U.S. This results in surplus lumber and lower prices here in Canada,” he says. “However, our hardware, windows, and doors are coming from the United States. Reciprocal tariffs on imports from the USA have increased our costs on these materials.”
Still, Burkholder says they have maintained their prices in recent years despite these increases.
“We are also spending significantly more on our marketing,” he adds. “We’re still growing, but we have to work harder for our sales.”
The tariffs can also have a ripple effect.
“The trade wars have created uncertainty in our customers,” adds Burkholder. “That is a challenge.”
The advice he shares for others in the industry: “Sharpen your pencil and take good care of your customers.”
As always, Burkholder says it’s very important to be on top of your game.
“Be sure you are the one who gets the sale when there are fewer buildings being made,” he says.
In the end, he adds, “There is no silver bullet. You have to find a way to roll with the punches. You can’t change the market conditions, so you have to work with them.”
EBBS AND FLOWS
Tim Karels, owner of 605 Sheds in Huron, South Dakota, where they offer sheds for sale for cash or rent-to-own, also weighs in on the current situation.
“When COVID happened and it pushed prices up, we could have been affected by the tariffs and not even know it because prices never had a chance to fully recover,” he says. “It’s hard to tell. I don’t think we know if tariffs are really affecting pricing.”
The same can be said about their supply chain.
“With the tariffs we are seeing, they aren’t really affecting our supplies, but I’m not sure if that’s because demand went down,” adds Karels.
“It’s hard to gauge the shed industry. We never really recovered from COVID from a pricing standpoint. Yes, we saw a drop in the years after that, but we still have a lot of suppliers that didn’t have to increase their pricing now, so it’s hard to tell.”
He believes many dealers and suppliers stocked up before the tariffs hit.
“At the end of ’24/early ’25, prices started to drop a little bit. Then the tariff announcement came, and they went up to ’22 pricing. It’s hard to tell if they would have kept dropping,” he says.
“Consumer confidence probably is going down, so that could have a negative impact on the industry. I look at real estate and the rise of interest rates. If people are buying and building and selling more houses, they buy more sheds.”
As a whole, the shed industry can be hard to navigate.
“It’s a commodity business in a way,” says Karels. “We try to go through all the ebbs and flows, which can be tough in the Midwest because we’re seasonal. Every macro event that happens in the world, like COVID and the tariffs and interest rates, puts a wrench in it.”
COSTLY LESSONS
At Better Built Sheds (formerly Better Built Barns) in Salem, Oregon, sales manager Tyler Allen says they received early warnings from specific vendors like their metal roofing company about the potential for price increases. For lumber, gearing up for the busy season, they do the same with customers and tell them to get their deposit in early because prices can increase at any time.
Still, Allen adds, “We really haven’t seen a need for a price increase, and they are not necessarily related to the tariffs. As inflation goes up, our vendors have been really good. We’re not as affected as we thought we would be.”
However, that was not the case for the door handles and hinges they source from China.
“We purchased a very nifty door handle that had our names engraved in it. They have a six-month lead time,” he explains. “When we got the order in, a major tariff had been implemented. We have 10,000 door handles now sitting in tariff jail, and it will cost $9,000 to $12,000 in tariffs to get those out.”
In the meantime, they have scrambled to find temporary replacements for the finer details.
“We just have to pay that fee to get them released,” says Allen. “The handles go on a door that is wrapped into the base price, but it’s the piece to that door that’s a necessity that is causing the biggest headache.”
He has also noticed a price increase in nails and a slower production than normal for trim.
“During COVID, lumber was scarce, so we expected a shortage, but it is nowhere near that,” adds Allen.
They may consider domestic hardware in the foreseeable future. With the tariffs, he says, “If anything, this is keeping people from buying a shed on Temu,” a Chinese e-commerce marketplace.
GO WITH THE FLOW
MIDCO Building Products in Mayfield, Kentucky, which supplies hardware products like windows and doors for outdoor storage buildings, has been affected pretty heavily, according to sales manager Justin Burnett. For a wide variety of products, the tariffs are based on certain materials.
“It’s all over the map,” he says. “Some have been affected really heavily, and some are not really noticeable. It’s forced us to really stay on our toes. Some of the tariffs have forced us to relocate some areas we buy from because there have been some holdups with shipping from different countries.”
As Burnett explains, “It’s made that difficult for the customer when we’re depending on new sources, but it’s better now.”
Still, he continues, “At 6 in the morning, it might be one thing, and at 6 in the afternoon, it might be different. We try to stay ahead of it and be transparent to our customers. We tell them what it is up front and we’re honest, but day to day, it’s unavoidable to have surprises.”
For instance, Burnett mentions doors that contain a fiberglass material that has been very volatile due to the tariffs.
“The customer is going to buy what’s the cheapest, but they have to stay as well-informed as possible,” he says. “It’s much better now, but there are customers who bring containers with loads of product from another country and if a company isn’t up front about the type of material in the product, they can escape some tariff. But you can get a really big fine on top of the tariff when you import a container of stuff that may look cheap.”
Lastly, Burnett adds, “They should do their research to make sure everything is legal and the product is labeled correctly, so you don’t get in trouble at the border, and stay up on your pricing. That’s about all you can do.”
CONSUMER INDEX
According to Caleb Braker, marketing manager for Countryside Barns in Eureka, Illinois, a shed manufacturer and dealer, the tariffs have not affected their customer pricing.
“They probably will eventually, but not yet,” he says. “Building parts have gone up, but we haven’t made increases. Because of it, customers did a lot of bulk orders before pricing went up. We try to stay competitive and not raise prices.”
On the supply end, only windows have been a little harder for them to find. In the meantime, Braker says very few customers have mentioned the tariffs.
Still, he adds, “In a more competitive market, you have to try harder with marketing instead of waiting for sales to come to you, especially when 95 percent of your business is online.”
THEN AND NOW
Compared to the pandemic, Neil Bryan, who co-owns Backyard Living Co. with Frank Trucano in Richmond and Metamora, Michigan, says the tariffs have been much easier and less scary for the company that builds and sources most materials domestically.
“Back then, if you didn’t purchase enough wood, the prices spiked. We got hammered and had to deliver some units and make no profits,” he recalls. “Last year was not that volatile. Prices would go up and then come back down.”
Bryan says steel prices went up a little, but they did not have to raise the pricing.
“We’re having no issues with supply, but in 2021 and ’22, everything was taking forever to get,” he adds.
“We had been through the most traumatic situation back then. Now, total sales remain steady. Last year, I think sales were down, but we spent more on marketing and branding because we wanted to grow. Maybe they would have been down more if we didn’t increase in those areas.”
As Bryan explains, it has been far more difficult to grow with cost-of-living increases that in turn force people to spend what they have on necessities.
“There is a pent-up demand for sheds they haven’t purchased because of that,” he believes.
There are many other potential factors at play.
“We’re a statistic of the economy all the time,” says Bryan. “People who own homes do buy sheds, but people who are moving buy the ones that are more tailored to their taste. With low rates or reasonable ones, people can justify moving and we would be in lift-off mode for our industry. I think people are in a holding pattern.”
Even though the economy may not be great due to inflation, he says, “What we don’t look at is how much worse can it be.”
In retrospect, Bryan compares the COVID times to the current situation.
“If you were in business during the pandemic, it’s not a scary year at all. In 2025, it was fairly pleasant,” he says. “We didn’t worry. Being in the shed business, we had already been through something bigger. It’s okay to be cautious, but if you can get through what we’ve been through, when things get better, we’re gonna flourish.”
