The first installment of the San Antonio Home and Garden Series on The Building Texas Show, titled “No Storage Unit. Still 24/7 Access: Tuff Shed,” hosted by Justin McKenzie, features a floor-side conversation with Richard Castellanos of Tuff Shed, recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show. Published August 30, 2026, the episode explains how an employee-owned American manufacturer is helping South Texas homeowners reclaim their garages, cancel monthly storage rentals, and add fully customized backyard structures that, in most cases, go up in a single day.
Castellanos walks McKenzie through the practical mechanics of buying a Tuff Shed in the San Antonio market, paying special attention to details that buyers frequently overlook. He highlights San Antonio's 300-square-foot threshold for building without a permit, while noting that municipalities like Castle Hills and Alamo Heights have different regulations. The discussion also covers stick-built framing using 2x4s at 16 inches on center, with options for 2x6 or 2x8 upgrades on designs like the two-story barn. Residential use cases—such as studios, workspaces, and garage overflow—are explored alongside commercial projects for school districts, government entities, and San Antonio Air Force bases. The Woodmaster's division, which offers truly portable structures, including popular chicken coops and greenhouses, is also mentioned.
Castellanos frames the company's employee-ownership model as central to the customer experience, not just a footnote. “It's not just me as a sales design consultant trying to sell you a product. It's actually me trying to get you an experience that one, you're going to recommend to your friends and two, is going to keepsake your valuables, your memorables that you're storing in your shed,” he tells McKenzie. On the shift driving current demand, he is blunt: “A majority of our business is residential, obviously, but they want to get out of their storage unit that they're paying for, get something on their property that they can access 24/7.”
The conversation also traces Tuff Shed's national footprint back to founder and CEO Tom Saurey, who launched the company 45 years ago and has grown it to 74 factories across the United States. Locally, Castellanos points listeners to two South Side locations outside Loop 410, a display yard at 410 and Bandera where he is based, and a new location off I-35 in New Braunfels. Turnaround, he notes, currently runs a week to 10 days from design to build slot, with the actual assembly typically completed on site in a single day. Customers can also self-design at tuffshed.com before ever contacting a consultant.
The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the operators, tradespeople, and entrepreneurs shaping how Texas gets built. From job sites to trade-show floors like the San Antonio Home and Garden Show, the podcast delivers practical, name-a-name conversations for homeowners, builders, and small-business leaders across the state. Episode 1 of the San Antonio Home and Garden Series is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
