Baada's Storage/Garden/Work Shed

[Baada]

Greetings all. I am presenting my storage/workshop/garden shed I built in lieu of a traditional garage because…well, I don’t have a garage and no room to build one…thanks for rubbing it in. I built it last summer but I am just finally getting around to posting it.

About two years ago my wife and I moved to the Midwest so she could live close to her family. I’m from the Pacific Northwest so it’s been an adjustment. To make things easy we moved back into my wife’s previous house, which she had been renting out for several years, while we looked for a permanent home. It’s a 900 sqft , 2 bed, 1 bath, no garage bungalow with a basement. After extensive interior remodeling it was time to build myself a little place to hold my outdoor tools and other stuff that really didn’t belong in the basement. Lugging the gas powered yard tools up the stairs and through the living room was plenty of motivation. Oh I forgot to mention I was REALLY missing my extra deep 3 car garage I used to have. Ahhh....the things you do for love.

The wife gave the go ahead with a few limitations. 1) It had to look like a smaller version of our house and 2) she got to pick the colors.

While I had a city inspector out to do a final on my kitchen remodel I asked about the requirements for building a shed. The pamphlet the city provides was extremely vague so I really had no idea other than anything over 100sqft required footings. He said that if I was buying one from the big box stores I could simply submit the brochure and my fee and it would be good to go.

Well after looking at the various options available for purchase we quickly realized that there was no way to adhere to rule 1 if we purchased a premade one I decided to just build from scratch. This also coincided with my desire to learn Google Sketchup so I was off to the races. Since I was only doing a 12x8 I initially planned on just putting it on concrete blocks which the city pamphlet indicated would be sufficient as I was under the 100sqft limit.

Here is the area where we decided to put the shed. And don't worry, the timber retaining walls/steps are being replaced with blocks and the brick redone so that it's I don't know....level? While I'm doing that the brick walkway will be lenghted to the shed door and power run under the walkway.

The drawing I submitted to the city was about as detailed as the brochures I saw for the prebuilt sheds. I also provided a specification sheet that detailed the building plans and materials. The next day the inspector called and said that because we were in a tornado zone it had to meet a 190mph wind loading…which would require a cable anchor system of his approval. I said how about I just do concrete footings and he said that would be perfect. So much for the informative pamphlet huh? Then he said he was concerned about the lack of detail in my drawing because he wanted to know exactly where the studs were located and in general wanted significantly more detail. No problem I said (while thinking to myself this is why I asked when you were here), I happen to have very detailed drawings so I gave him these. This lead to a lengthy discussion about Sketchup because he was blown away with my drawings??? I’m not sure what everybody else is submitting but the bar must have been very low.

Next Step: Site prep, footing pour and foundation install.

 

[Baada]

These aren't all that exciting but here is what I was left with after site excavation. Dogs are great companions but they can't operate a shovel worth a ****! I had to fix everything she dug.

And after digging the footing holes:

Here is the rebar and J-bolt I zip tied together to make setting easier:

One of the footings after concrete:

And finally the base being put together:

Here is a picture showing the "HeadLok" fasteners I used to hold the outer 4x6s together"

Before putting the subfloor down I painted the underside with some old exterior paint I had for a little extra moisture protection. Supposedly they were rated for moisture but I needed to get rid of the paint anyway so what the heck.

And with the subfloor down. Yes, I know I screwed up and put the wrong side up on one of the pieces. It all started with painting the wrong side and by the time I realized it a storm was rolling in so I didn't have time to fix it before the rain.

This photo shows a large eyebolt a put in through the floor and 2x6 blocking. I drilled it before I put the other sheet down and put jambnuts on the underside. I can run a chain or cable through it for a little extra security for when I get around to buying a dirtbike or mountian bike.

Next step: Framing

 

[Baada]

Now it's starting to take shape.

Back and side walls framed up:

Front wall and roof joists installed:

Had to verify the sights on my nailgun. I shoots a hair left!

Hurricane ties at the request of the inspector:

And a funny story. So I go to HD to get my brackets to attach my roof joists. I see just what I'm looking for:

Then I see the price, $8.40 a piece. HOLY ****! I need quite a few of these and for that price I'm gonna do something different. So I pick up more of these instead which are only $0.82 and figure I'll just cut a little flat spot in the joists so they can sit flat on the top sill. It took F-O-R-E-V-E-R but I finally finished framing the roof.

A few days later I'm back in HD and I notice that the brackets that I really wanted were only $0.84 a piece now. I was like WTF? Then I realized I was a victim of a price tag error. And duh, who the hell would pay $8 for one of those brackets. I should have realized. Oh well, too late now.

Next step: Sheathing, tar paper, windows, door and siding

 

[SpeedinLemon]

Looking good....Nice Sketchup work too! Looks very solid so far. Do you have a rough budget worked out for materials? Curious how it compares to the prebuilt you looked at. From the looks of what you have so far, it will be much better built than most of the prebuilts I've looked at. Keep us posted as you go!

 

[Baada]

Thanks Speed! All told I spent approximately $1900. The biggest expense was the pine tongue and groove siding I had to buy to match the house. Plus all the little extras you will see soon that were definitely not available with the ones you can purchase. However, I save a couple bucks on the roof shingles because we had some left over from the main house re-roof job.

I'm also not adding in the cost of a few new tools that I "had" to have to get the job done...like my Porter Cable framing nailer. That completed the set for the Porter Cable finish/brad/staple nailer compressor combo I "had" to have to complete the kitchen remodel. I'm hoping the wife doesn't catch on to my inventing projects to justify tool purchases!

 

[txusa03]

Your inspector forgot to tell you to put a top sill plate to tie all the walls together. Other than that it's looking sharp.

 

[Baada]

Your inspector forgot to tell you to put a top sill plate to tie all the walls together. Other than that it's looking sharp.

Not to worried about the walls coming apart on my little shed as each wall is heavily nailed together and the sheathing overlaps the joints. But you're right, on a real structure the sill plate is a must.

 

[DYNA BILL]

Ya'll must not have a lot of rocks there in Eastern Mo.
Here in the Ozarks, as soon as you dig one up another one grows right back in it's place!

 

[Baada]

Got the sheathing up....which really made it look tall:

And the tar paper up. And just in time as I got drenched by another summer T-storm 5 minutes later:

Then I installed the windows...twice if you must know....because the first ones weren't up to the missus standards. Getting the door in made it really start to feel like a shed and more than just a overbuilt lean-to. And by far the most time consuming part of the project was hanging the tongue and groove siding....alone. I need some friends!

And finally with shingles and a coat of primer and paint. The color my wife choose is the color of the shutters on our house. Because the shed is quite visible from the street we wanted it to coordinate with the house. Also, as I mentioned in an earlier post the shingles are the same as the ones on the house.

Next step: Interior

 

[Baada]

Ya'll must not have a lot of rocks there in Eastern Mo.
Here in the Ozarks, as soon as you dig one up another one grows right back in it's place!

I was very grateful to have 95% clay. I had a few small roots to cut through but overall it was really easy. I did have to dig a bunch of sloppy mud out of the post holes once after a severe downpour.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Looks great! Very nice work!

Jim

 

[Baada]

So the reason I built it so tall is so I could put in a storage loft to store all my wifes seasonal outdoor decorations.

Here is a shot before I put the loft in. The loft was placed just above the top of the door/windows.

And after the loft is in and painted. For interior paint I mixed about 15 quart samples we had left over with even more left over paint from who knows where and a gallon of Kills to brighten it up just a bit. The resulting color was a nice light gray.

I also built a ladder in between the studs so I could quickly scramble up. I can't take credit for the ladder though, it was my 8 year old neighbor kids idea. This only works to quickly grab something. If I really need access I have to put up the real ladder.

And a shot of workbench, storage shelves and a toolbox area. Since I got a new Torin box on sale at Costco my previous toolbox will reside in the shed and hold my older tools.

Next step: Gutters, drainage and others small bits.

 

[elguappo]

Looking good.
This is nice inspiration for my own 8*10 shed that needs building.

 

[Baada]

Because the yard slopes down towards my shed and because I didn't want to have the door threshold to high up off the ground to make it easier to push the lawnmover and other things in and out I planned for the threshold to be just slightly higher than the grade. This required a some work to protect the foundation. All the mud on the shed was from rain before the gutter were up, no longer an issue.

For starters I layed crushed gravel below the PT lumber and then put a layer of bricks hard against the timbers on their sides. Against this I put concrete pavers 15x7x1 on their sides so the top edge would be about at grade. My thinking was that the pavers would keep water flow to the PT lumber to a minimum and that water would collect against the paver and get picked up by the drain pipe. The bricks were simply to space the pavers out from the PT lumber. Truth be told the pavers really don't push on the bricks now that everything is installed so I might have been able to get away without them. Then I put perforated drain pipe in a trench immediately next to the pavers on the uphill side.

Hung the gutters and connected the downsouts to the drain pipe, which is on a much steeper slope going onward from the downspout so that it doesn't run into the perforated drain pipe. The drain line also picks up the rear gutter downspout before running another 8 feet and dumping into an ivy bed.

After I filled the trench in with crushed stone and smothed everything out it looked like the grade was consistent. Then I took thin fiberglass lawn edging and wedged between the brick and pavers so that it stuck up about 1.5 inches to keep the mulch off the shed. After I put the mulch down it looked perfect. Hopefully this made sense...maybe?

Around the gutter downspout

Another shot

Next step: finished product

 

[DYNA BILL]

That looks Awesome!

 

[Tony in IN]

Well done project. Your obvious sense of humor was very nice.

Thanks
Tony in In

 

[Baada]

And finally the finished project. I just took this a few days ago so you can really tell the midwest drought is taking its toll on my grass, which was already pretty weak sauce to begin with.

And another from a different time of year as seen from our living room windows:

The inside now that it is overflowing with stuff. This is the result of my basement remodel that I just finished.

And the toolbox and work bench...also a mess. It's downright embarrasing. I mean if I had a cool project going on that would be one thing but I got nothing like that to blame.

Here is a shot of the door lock. It works with a code which is really nice because most of the time I'm doing yard stuff I don't have my keys on me.

And my extende rear eave mostly protecting my woodpile. The utility sink was leftover from the basement remodel and I'm trying to figure out a way to make it a potting station outdoor sink with a garden hose running to it.

All told I think I spent approximately $1800-$2000 on the shed. A little more than some of the kit options. That being said it is significantly nicer than the kits, in my not so humble opinion. It definitely fits my needs a whole lot better than the kits which were either very short or two story monstrosities.

Sometime in the next few months when I tear out the timber retaining walls and redo the brick patio I will extend the brick walkway to the shed door. I'm also planning on running power to the shed at that point. Other than that it's pretty much done.

I will definitely say it is a huge improvement over not having anything but it's still a far cry from a garage. Now I just have to see how much the city will request in increased propterty taxes now!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Next step: finished product

Baada-Bing?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The shed looks great. I love the color you chose.

 

[marty_p]

Very nice garden shed, Boss!

 

[Baada]

Baada-Bing?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The shed looks great. I love the color you chose.

Ya. My last name starts with Bing so ya....play some softball with a bunch of guys and everybody gets a nickname....Baada-Bing was mine.

 

[crazytrain]

Very nice shed Baada. I am in the same boat as you no garage and no room for one in my small yard. So I went the same route and have a workshop in a garden shed, and only dream of having a garage to work in. Again Great job on the shed and thanks for sharing.

 

[txusa03]

Wow, very nice. The best thing is it looks like it has been there for years so it blends in very well with the surrounding landscape!!!

Btw, I see the new onwer of the shed lounging right outside by the door (last pic in post#9)...lol

 

[Baada]

Btw, I see the new onwer of the shed lounging right outside by the door (last pic in post#9)...lol

She runs the place I'll tell ya. I was away on a boys golf trip when the missus called and said we were gonna foster a dog that was going to be put down the next day if we didn't. Not sure if thats true or not but foster we did. We even managed to tell ourselves for two months that we weren't keeping her.

We finally yadmitted that we didn't want to give her up and shes been in charge ever since.

 

[feedyurhed]

Yes very nice.

 

[JenNeil]

Very nice and AWESOME man! Another great addition to your house!

 

[NewShockerGuy]

AWESOME!

Did you manually paint the inside by hand or did you spray it? Looks freaking awesome. I just bought a shed from costco and going to put it together one they deliever it... Wish I had the skill to make one from scratch!

-Nigel

 

[Baada]

Shocker...sprayed the inside....twice. Well only about 70% got painted the first time because I forgot to mix all the paint together the first time and ran out. Basically, I took all the old paint I had and mixed it in a bucket. I knew I didn't have enough so I bought a gallon of white to mix in with it. Well I got carried away and started spraying before I mixed it in and I ran out.

So, next time around I found other un-needed paint that I had missed the first time and mixed in the white paint I bought and made it through. In all honesty you can't tell that some has two coats.

The sprayer does a good job on OSB. Back rolling it would have probably made it look even better but at the end of the day...it's just the inside of a shed!

 

[timtim2008]

very nice