The short version
- A level spot. A gravel pad or a concrete slab works well.
- A clear path to the spot, a little wider than the building, with no low gates, branches, power lines or cable lines in the way.
- Your building arrives fully assembled. 14 and 16 ft wide buildings travel as a wide load; anything extra that needs is confirmed on your quote.
- Permits, setbacks and anchoring are the customer’s responsibility. Check with your township, city or county, or your HOA, before you order.
We’ll go over your spot and how to get it ready with your quote.
Pick a spot that drains
Stand where the building will go after a hard rain or in the spring thaw. If water sits there, pick somewhere else, or ask us about it before you order. Keep the downspouts from the house, and the water off its roof, from running toward the new building, and leave room to walk all the way around it.
Frost
The ground here freezes in winter, and wet ground that freezes can heave and settle again when it thaws. A building on wet, badly drained ground moves more than one on dry ground: one more reason the drainage matters.
If a door or a window starts to stick after the building settles, have the leveling checked first; that is usually the cause.
How deep the frost goes, and how deep footings or piers must go where a building needs them, is set by your building department. We don’t print a number here because it is theirs to give: ask them.
What goes under it
A level spot is the main thing. A gravel pad or a concrete slab works well. For anything more specific, like how big a pad, ask us and we’ll check for your building.
A clear way in
The building arrives fully assembled, so the way to your spot needs to be a little wider than the building, with no low gates, branches, power lines or cable lines in the way. If the way in is tight, tell us before the quote.
Can’t get a finished building to the spot at all? Homestead Barns can also build your building on site instead of delivering it finished, for 20% more than the base price. How your building gets built has more.
Before you dig or grade
- Call 811 before you dig, in Indiana or Michigan.
- County drains and farm tiles. Steuben County lists a ditch encroachment release from the Surveyor’s office among the steps to a building permit, and LaGrange County’s Drainage Board lists building less than 75 ft from a county-regulated open ditch or tile among the reasons to petition it (checked Oct 2026). More on the Steuben and LaGrange pages.
- Floodplains. Noble County wants a Flood Permit for a building in a floodplain, and Kosciusko County’s planning office answers whether a lot is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (checked Oct 2026). More on the Noble and Kosciusko pages.
- Soil erosion, in Michigan. An earth change can need a soil erosion permit; in Cass County the Conservation District issues them (checked Oct 2026). More on the Cass County page.
Then the permit itself: Permits for a shed.
County by county
Each county’s page has its towns, and who handles permits there and what they said when we checked:
- LaGrange County, INShipshewana, LaGrange, Topeka, Howe, Wolcottville, Mongo, Stroh
- Noble County, INKendallville, Ligonier, Albion, Avilla, Rome City, Cromwell, Kimmell, Wawaka
- Elkhart County, INMiddlebury, Bristol, Goshen, Elkhart, Millersburg, New Paris, Nappanee, Wakarusa
- Kosciusko County, INWarsaw, Syracuse, Milford, North Webster, Leesburg
- Steuben County, INAngola, Fremont, Orland, Hamilton, Pleasant Lake
- DeKalb County, INAuburn, Garrett, Butler, Waterloo, Corunna
- St. Joseph County, MISturgis, White Pigeon, Constantine, Three Rivers, Centreville, Colon, Mendon, Burr Oak, Nottawa
- Cass County, MIEdwardsburg, Cassopolis, Vandalia, Jones
- Branch County, MIColdwater, Bronson, Quincy, Union City