Posted: 4/8/2007 6:12:43 PM EDT
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I have needed a shed for a while and I thought I finally had some funds to make it happen. I looked at some models from Home Depot and Lowe's, but they're all so expensive. The only ones that fall within my price range are the crappy, plastic ones. While looking at the models, I realized that they can't be all that hard to build. My carpentry experience is only limited to fences, decks, and dog houses, but I'm sure I could pull this off. The size will be roughly 7' X 8'. Will 2X4s be sufficient for a frame? Also, if you have any tips regarding the roof design or the floor (to keep it from rotting), I would appreciate it. Thanks. 
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2x4 is fine for the frame. Pour a slab and build it. I did a 8x12 at my old house with a wood floor on top of a slab. It needed a limited amount of portability due to being on a shared easement. I built a 10x12 at my current house on a slab. I can post photos later. If you plan your materials and have everything purchased and staged, it is a 3 day project. Tip: the project goes much faster if you rent a pneumatic nail gun! |
When you do your design, give some thought to being able to utilize standard-sized material. For example ... don't design it to be 16'4" (when it could have been 15'10")or you'll need TWO 8' sheets of plywood. I used to design/build cabinets and always tried to account for that when possible.  Good luck.Stay safe |
If you are only building an 8' square, a 3 pitch (3" in 12") is more than adequate with 2x4 construction. Don't make the mistake of leaving out ceiling joists with such a pitch because it will sag. I built a 12' square last year...10' ceiling and all 2x4 except for floor joists which are 2x6. I used 3/4" floor decking and 7/16" roof. For siding, I recommend Hardipanel. Why? Because it lasts forever and is insect proof. Use screws for the Hardipanel and it will never fall apart. They need to be hot dipped galvanized. For the floor, keep it off grade by 6" and use treated wood (CCA is no longer available, enviroloonies got it pulled and now only ACQ is available). Even treated wood lasts longer if it is kept dry. Make sure water drains away from the foundation and bed the treated wood on crushed stone or cinder blocks. For my 12' square shed, I used a perimeter of 4x4 treated posts with one down the middle of the 2x6 floor joists. From there, I laid the decking down to get a work surface where I assembled the walls. Walls were made square with temp diagonal bracing and then erected. From there, I capped the box with ceiling joists, framed a ridge beam and then installed the rafters. I designed eaves into the roofline and used short external joists to make the soffits horizontal. These also perform as makeshift "hurricane straps" as they are screwed onto the ends of the joists and the other end onto the studs under the wall header. Before installing siding, CHECK WALL FOR SQUARE! The best time to do this is right before transfering the temp wall bracing from the outside to the inside. Wall bracing is first installed on the outside (top of the wall when framing flat) and then transfered one at a time to the inside so siding can be installed. Only remove one wall diagonal bracing at a time. For larger walls, installing two diagonal come-alongs before removing external diagonal bracing is safer and makes truing easier. I don't like using let-in diagonal (shear) bracing for sheds as it compromises wall strength in a movable structure. It is also not needed when using solid sheathing...even Hardipanel has more shear resistance than a single 2x4 let-in. My estimate for an 8' square shed would be ~$1000 in materials when using Hardipanel siding. |
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abnk Another item to consider we "cactus patch folks" do, is to make an elevated roof or front wall whereby you can install a a "skylight"type of window to let in natural light. Make it a little easier to see inside. But then again with our dry heat here you can plan on sunshine 365 days a year. Learning |
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I'm in the middle of planning a shed as well. Unfortunatly it has to be built on a slight slope, so I figure I need to build a good foundation first. Concrete is out, so I think I can use a gravel bed as a foundation for the floor. Will this be enough to keep the floor from rotting from moisture or do I need to raise the floor on blocks? If I use blocks, do I still need to put in a gravel bed for drainage considering the slope? Thx. |
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Here is a link to a WikiHow article about shed building. I cut & pasted several pages of this & put it on my thumb drive. Good luck! |
I would think that stacking blocks and putting a rubber pad (shower pan liner material) between them and the floor joists would be the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way, rather than gravel bed - and probably "last" longer too (gravel tends to migrate). But I'm not an expert on this and it depends a lot on the degree of slope and your environment. As I said above, my prefab TuffShed has galvanized steel floor joists. One corner is "on grade" and the far corner has about 8" of concrete block beneath; the other two corners are on about 4" of blocking. The only downside: my dogs went bananas when they discovered a cat hanging out underneath. I stacked brickbats (from another project) around the open spaces to solve that. |