Building a small storage shed is one of the best diy home improvement projects. You can easily build a small storage shed on your own within the budget. In this article we will discuss few tips to build a small storage shed.
If you do plan to heat the shed use two by sixes as these will accommodate an R-19 insulation material. Starting with the floor since this is a small shed, we will use pre-cast concrete footing blocks for supports.
These pyramid shaped blocks with flat tops if placed on flat, well drained, good solid flat ground, will provide adequate support for your shed. An eight by ten foot shed could use at least six of these piers and eight would be better. One pier in each corner, one pier midway in the ten foot dimension and one pier mid way in the eight foot dimension should give plenty of support. Total eight piers.
Floor framing for light garden hand tools, wheel barrows and such could be as small as two by six inches for floor joists. A better bet is two by eight inches and if you intend to store anything heavier, two by tens are the best bet. All these floor joists must be pressure treated materials as they are in contact with the concrete footing piers.
Once the floor framing is done, add a single row of wood blocking across the middle of the floor. This will further add to the stiffness of the floor system and eliminate bounce. Plywood flooring should also be pressure treated as it is exposed to the earth below and will last a great deal longer.
Three quarter inch thick plywood is the minimum and once again depending on what you are storing you can add a second layer. If you are storing a lawn tractor the second layer will prevent the floor panels from sagging over time. The floor plywood should be fastened with a bead of good construction adhesive and galvanized deck screws.
Put screws eight inches apart in the field and four inches apart on the edges of the plywood. Framing the walls should be done with the wall lying flat on the floor. Any window or door openings should be framed as well. Sheath the wall with your T111 leaving enough hanging over the bottom edge to nail to the floor framing. With the aid of a helper, stand the wall, nail it to the floor and brace it making sure it is plumb in both directions.
Continue around the shed on all four sides. That’s a pretty good weekends work. The second weekend we have to frame the roof, install the roof plywood and roofing materials, doors and windows. Framing the roof is pretty simple.
Shed roofs should have a minimum of a two by eight rafters in snow areas and two by sixes perhaps in others. Decide how much overhang you want in the front and rear, measure from the front to the back wall on the slope and add those numbers together. Add one foot to that total measurement.
Stand a rafter piece on the front and back wall leaving the rafter hang over the walls by whatever distance you wanted. Make a vertical and a horizontal mark at the walls to cut out a “birds mouth” or notch on both ends of the rafter. The notch cannot go more than one half way through the rafter and less is better.
The rafter when placed should sit firmly on the top plates of both walls. If it fits correctly, use this rafter as a template and go ahead and cut the rest of the rafters. At two foot centers there will be five rafters. Install the rafters and then plumb cut the rafter tails.
Add the fascia and soffit boards. Now install the 5/8″ roof plywood, felt paper, edge trim and shingles or roll roofing. If the budget allows, most standing seam metal panels will last fifty plus years. In the end metal panels are cheaper. Stain or paint the shed, cut out and add your windows and doors and you have a simple small shed.