Like many shed builders, Dannie and Andy Troyer didn’t plan to start a portable structure business in Lebanon, Oregon.
However, about six years after a spontaneous comment, the brothers are finding success with South River Structures, providing custom sheds for homeowners in Southern Willamette Valley and along the Oregon Coast.
South River Structures’ shed selections range from the modern Inspiration series and the highly customizable Santiam sheds with large windows to the classic square sheds of the Cascade series and the traditional Loft Barn styles.
Homeowners can choose the shed style, size (from 8 by 10 to 12 by 16), windows, paint colors, roofing (metal or shingle), and doors. As an upgrade option, they also offer lap siding since this feature ensures the shed looks great and adds more value due to its curb appeal.
Beyond offering quality, customizable structures to local homeowners, the brothers source as much of the materials they use as possible from the area.
Shed Builder Magazine was able to get more insights into the business and the brothers from Dannie Troyer.
How did you get started in the shed business?
One rainy Saturday back in 2016 Andy and I were working for our dad that weekend building a room in his new shop, and Andy just popped off, “We could build sheds!”
That was literally the conception of the idea. After a few months of talking and thinking about it, we decided to give it a go. So, we gave our employers approximately a month’s notice that we were quitting and starting our own thing.
But at 19 and 22, we really didn’t have a lot of money. We went out and bought a work truck and a new Mule 4 quickly before we were “self-employed” so they would actually give us loans.
Then, we needed money to buy tools, materials, and also to fix up the shop. The original figure we thought we needed was $80,000. Since Dad wouldn’t loan us the money, we went to the bank, and of course, they said, “No way!”
We had one more option left on the table—a local private lender who we had some connections with. He helped us with a loan of $30,000 to get going with starting up.
Then, we needed a place to build sheds. On our dad’s property is a 60 by 120-foot horse riding arena. We excavated 40 feet of it, put rock down, and poured some concrete giving us a 40 by 60 workspace, built a small room for a breakroom/office, and installed a 16-foot-wide door in the one end.
We got the shop ready to go with tools, concrete, and the whole nine yards and realized we had no money for the materials. Oops.
So, we went back to our private lender and were like, “Uh, we kinda need some more money,” and he was able to give us another $17,000 for materials. The bank had also given us two business credit cards that we maxed out on tools and such.
We did go to a shed builder in Idaho for a day of “training” where we learned a little about trusses, walls, and floor systems. We took a bunch of pictures and left thinking we had the world by the tail.
Our dad did end up loaning us $11,000 to buy a used Pine Hill Trailer (turns out you can squeeze some water from a rock).
One thing I would like to mention here is that, yes, we used debt to start our business, and it worked. We now view this quite differently. We got connected to The Ramsey Show, and you know what Dave Ramsey says about debt.
So, about two or three years in we were completely debt free and are able to be our own line of credit as far as buying truckloads of materials and such.
Describe what it was like when you were finally able to start building sheds.
Starting to build sheds was a challenge. I remember getting to the “roofing” part of our first shed and realizing we had never put shingles on before. So far, we have never had a leaky roof to fix, though!
Building had a lot more of a learning curve than we expected. I believe it took us approximately one week to build and finish our first 10 by 16 simple gable-style shed.
We literally built two sheds and stuck them on a lot in town that we rented, and the orders slowly started to trickle in.
Today we finish an average of two or three sheds a week with one or two full-time employees, with the average shed being around $10,000. We also do our own delivery and setup, onsite builds, and site prep.
We started offering site prep a few years in because our customers had a hard time finding contractors to do that small of excavation. So, we purchased a small mini excavator and a dump trailer and now offer full site prep services where we go in and excavate the dirt out, put road fabric down, and the rock, laser leveled and compacted.
The customer can also add a border and other options as add-ons. We always recommend to our customers to have a level gravel pad as it is in their best interest for the longevity of their shed.
What is your shop and build process like today?
We now have a 60 by 60 concrete area with some lumber racking and storage outside of that.
Our builds usually start out on the saw side of the shop where we will get a shed ready to paint.
We then will put it on wheels and roll it to the other side where we will paint and roof and put all the finishing details on. Typically, there are two sheds in the shop on any given day.
We finally got a truss press about a year ago, which is nice. We used to staple all the trusses together in a jig and pound on the truss plates on the floor with some welded-up scrap yard “pounders.”
For the most part as of now, everyone works on all parts of the building process.
You highlight the local focus of your business. Why is that?
Local is always better. You get to work with the community. Sourcing products as locally as possible hasn’t been too much of a challenge. We have some mills that produce great Douglas fir dimensional lumber.
Our siding is sourced from Roseburg. Obviously, some of our hardware and such come from out of state.
We wanted to create a shed that looked different. Everything is plywood. No OSB. We believe it will create a shed that will outlast and looks great inside.
You’ve already shared the challenge of starting in the shed industry. What other challenges have you faced and overcome?
One challenge we face is working on the business—getting out of the day-to-day and strategically planning and building systems and processes, learning how to lead well, and growing our team.
It is so easy just to go and work in the business instead of on the business. Looking into the future we are looking to grow our team and our business.
We aren’t looking to be the biggest shed-building business, but we want to grow a sustainable small business for years to come.
Another challenge we face is actually building a quality shed. Anyone can say “quality sheds,” but what does that mean?
We try to look at it from a customer’s perspective of how long this shed will actually last them. We do not use the cheapest products or the least materials possible. We want to build a building where you can actually tell a difference.
We have been improving on this over the years trying to build a better and better shed. We build a better shed than we did three years ago or five years ago, and we want to always keep improving on it.
We want happy customers years down the road.
You’ve talked about challenges; now, let’s talk about success. Tell the readers about a success story that you’re pleased with.
Back in 2020, we had a guy reach out to us from Portland. He owns a little property in Neskowin, a beautiful spot on the Oregon coast. He wanted a small 8 by 8 for storage and a 10 by 16 Inspiration series with a 4-foot porch for a little getaway spot.
Andy, who does the sales, went and met with him at the property and made the sale. Now the little 8 by 8 was going to be “no problem”; everything was on a hill, but there were a couple of flat spots up there.
The 10 by 16 we knew was going to be onsite as it was probably a 100 yards-plus up a pretty steep path. We thought it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.
So, we built the 8 by 8, and during this time Andy gets married and is off on his honeymoon. He leaves me with the impression that the 8 by 8 delivery will be fairly easy, should be fun! I had not seen the site in person.
So, my little brother Marty and I load up Friday, July 3, and head out to the coast. We planned on delivering the shed and meeting the rest of the family for dinner as it was Marty’s birthday.
We got there, parked down at the bottom, and went looking for the customer up the mountain. We found him and found the spot to drop the shed. Okay, fine.
My first try was with the whole truck and trailer. As soon as I got off the pavement with the truck and trailer, I spun out with the four-wheel drive in low. It completely could not go up the hill.
So, I unloaded the shed and picked it up with the Mule and literally screwed it on. I really, really struggled to get up the first part of the hill due to some mud, but then got going and thought I was home free, but on the home stretch, I spun out and could not go anymore.
The customer had his little two-wheel-drive Toyota Tacoma at the top of the hill, so we hooked it up to the Mule and he gave it all he had, but that still didn’t help.
So, I was stuck on a hill and a half with no wiggle room. I somehow managed to get the shed over far enough to squeeze by to pull it back down the hill to a wide area so at least the customer could get his truck out to go home.
I pulled it back down the hill and pulled the Mule out from under the shed and, bam!, the Mule rolled so fast, I had no time to react.
By this time, I was feeling the “brotherly love” way deep down for the guy on his honeymoon who had said, “Oh, no big deal.”
So, with nothing else to do, we drove home that night with a shed on a mountain, a dead Mule beside it and dinner plans totally screwed, which was the least of my worries.
We (Dad, Marty, and I) came back the next day with a skid steer and some chains and drug the little bugger up the hill, which was still quite a struggle. We pulled the Mule upright, checked the oil, and it fired right up. I was glad that episode was done!
The on-sites we did for this customer, we had to take an RZR and little trailers and truck everything up these little trails to who knows where. We built four studio sheds for this customer over the next of couple years after the fateful 8 by 8 delivery.
Either he thought we were cool and did good work, or he just couldn’t get anyone else to build some buildings up where he wanted them. Either way, we love repeat customers over the years, and they are the best.
How would you sum up your story?
We love what we do and want to build a good, fun place to work while producing a great product with exceptional service. We fall short sometimes, but that is the goal.
A couple of our core values are dignity (treating everyone with the respect they deserve) and excellence (in everything small or large) with our first core value being God first. We want to live our lives and run our business with that in mind every day.
Obviously, there are pros and cons to owning a small business, but being able to offer a good product and service and have happy customers is always rewarding.
