When he said "Tuff Shed," and I thought of the Home Depot products, I assumed a pretty-small footprint. A couple of years ago, after I began looking at south Florida products for premanufactured buildings, I looked at Tuff Sheds, Superior Sheds, and Lark Sheds.
What sold me on the Lark product was the galvanized steel framing, the PT underlayment siding, vapor barrier, and Hardi-Board finish siding. It just seemed like a better-spec'ed product, capable of resisting the deterioration that T 1-11 inevitably undergoes in a humid environment. It also met the HVHZ-high velocity hurricane zone requirement of the Florida Building Code for my location.
For sealing the 2 x 6 PT boards to the slab, I used a double bead of silicone caulk before letting-down the building onto the slab. I've been through a year, and I've never had any water intrusion under the building walls. Planning the slab so the walls overhang the sides of the slab helps.
My friend's Dean steel building, I've never seen any daylight on the building, between the walls and the roof, or anywhere-else. The whole thing is well-insulated, I've been in it for 'frog-choker' deluges, and I didn't feel as-though it was any-louder than another industrial construction. While wood is a likely choice in other parts of the country, something like a steel building or Hardi-Board will withstand the deterioration which wood is susceptible to, seems like a better long-term solution. You should contact Dean Steel Buildings, they should be able to answer your questions. You could even probably arrange a trip to their factory to see for yourself how they are manufactured.
I've had contact from another GJ member on here who has had a long-time experience with the Dean Steel Building products, and he has decades of knowledge of their durability, utility, potential issues, and value, along-with comments on doing business with them. He gave them an enthusiastic 'thumbs-up,' across the board, and I respect this member's opinion.
What's the cost of what you want to build? That's part of your bidding process. How-much work you can do yourself, and what kind of bids you get for the work you want to farm-out. You might be able to narrow things down a bit by telling us where you live, and the overall size of what you want to build/have-built. What types of finishes, methods of construction, electrical, plumbing, mechanical (air-conditioned?). My particular circumstance was budget, and what the local AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) was willing to allow to be built, under the zoning ordinances. Are you under a county government or a city, and what is your zoning? All these things matter to being able to make an informed decision.
