Building a crooked shed- on purpose

[MushCreek]

I'm thinking about building a new shed (long story) and have a whim to intentionally build it a little crooked or swaybacked. I figured I'd build the walls fairly straight, but find a bowed 2X for a ridge board (should be easy, right?). The shed will be 12' long, and I figured about a 4" sag would be noticeable. If I keep the rafters the same, it works out to about a 1-1/2" bow in the side walls. The door will be on the gable end, so that end can be kept straight and plumb to avoid trouble hanging the door. I might throw the other gable end out of plumb just for fun. As a tool maker by trade, this is a challenge for me! Any thoughts?

I have a perfectly good 8 X 12 shed, but in the wrong place. It would be hard to move it where I want it, so I'm thinking about selling it on craigslist and just building a new one.

 

[ScottsGT]

Google "Crooked Sheds" and you can get all kinds of ideas.

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

Why do I get the feeling you will go to homedepot and for once all the boards will
be perfectly straight. You will sort through the whole pile and not be able to find one dang crooked board and leave in disgust.

 

[dutchgray]

Yeah but just leave the 2x out in the sun for a bit and they will soon be nice and curved.

 

[wssix99]

If you want a 4" bow, I'd take a straight 2X8 board and use a saw to cut the bow in to the side of it. That way, the walls inside will be straight - and strong for real world use and you can sculpt the outside to be however you want.

Radically curved boards will want to bend more and won't be as strong as the forces traveling straight down through solid wood.

You could also tack on plywood ribs on the outside off a straight shed and then use 1/4" sheathing over top of that to give you the look you want on top of a solid skeleton.

 

[Scott r c]

Why do I get the feeling you will go to homedepot and for once all the boards will
be perfectly straight. You will sort through the whole pile and not be able to find one dang crooked board and leave in disgust.

It would be the first time in history someone got a straight board at home depot!

 

[MushCreek]

Why do I get the feeling you will go to homedepot and for once all the boards will
be perfectly straight. You will sort through the whole pile and not be able to find one dang crooked board and leave in disgust.

I had that same thought!

There are a lot of crooked sheds on google, but most are too cartoonish for what I want. I want it to be subtle; as if it actually had sagged over time. I don't think the walls being bowed an inch or two will compromise the strength. It's just a garden shed. If I lock in my rafters with a bottom joist, they can't go anywhere. Basically, I'll have one pitch at the gable ends, a lower pitch in the middle, and then the rafters in between will have to be custom fit. It would be cool if I could make the whole building look swaybacked, but I'm going to side it with leftover Hardiplank, and I don't think I can get that to bend much edgewise. There's an old swaybacked building near here that has to be seen to be believed. I bet it sags 18" in the middle. It's an antique store, and I'm afraid to go inside!

 

[Zeke]

This is one concept I do not understand. It's hard enough to build plumb, square and level and now you want to calculate how to introduce a certain amount of sag? What, did you work for Disney or something?

 

[rburke65]

Yep.....just buy your "lumber" from HD......you will have your crooked......

 

[pablo94sc]

I had hoped this was about building a shed that had odd length sides. Disappointed.

 

[bczygan]

"There was a crooked man,"
By Mother Goose
There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

As an aside....I Googled "crooked shed" and look what turned up:

Bill

 

[kaymccampbell]

Really? I have all I can do to make the damned things stand up straight. If I want to see crooked little houses I go to Story Town.

 

[30cal]

Build it strait as you can out of treated lumber, you'll get what you want..

 

[wssix99]

There's always the case of beer and blindfold method...

 

[MushCreek]

I would love to work for Disney! Actually, I've done a lot of set building for local theaters.

The idea is to make it a little crooked, to give the impression of age, not all cartoonish. I could just build it the old way (no plywood or OSB) and wait for 50 years. I went to a fair amount of trouble to make my house look as if it's been there 100 years, although it is perfectly straight, level, and plumb. A shed built 100 years ago would be pretty crooked, if still standing at all. I see a lot of old barns around here that have leaned or sagged.

 

[bczygan]

I love your idea.

If you've lived long enough, like me, you remember the days when there was no zoning, and old buildings got old and dilapidated.

The countryside was full of old weathered sheds and farm buildings. In the cities, the old out of fashion Victorians were shabby chic and scary haunted.

There was variety and character.

Now everything is homogenized and vinyl covered, impervious to weather.

Bill

 

[Doug B]

If I want to see crooked little houses I go to Story Town.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Interesting idea. Expanding on the idea of "patina". I envisioned an old sagging shed in the country side when you described what you were looking for.

There is this cool old garage , shed for cars , from the 20's or 30's at the back of a property near my house. Classic peeling paint, sag, etc. I have no idea how you would have built in sag

 

[wssix99]

I went to a fair amount of trouble to make my house look as if it's been there 100 years, although it is perfectly straight, level, and plumb.

1) You can't just go and drop something like that on us without posting a picture!

2) There are lots of great picture books of outhouses, which you can get for some good inspiration.

 

[MushCreek]

 

[wssix99]

Excellent! I'm interested to see how this project turns out.

BTW - Don't forget to add the weathered advertisement painted on to the side of the shed!

 

[srmofo]

I loathe faux patina on cars and the thought of it on a house or shed is even worse.

 

[wssix99]

I loathe faux patina on cars and the thought of it on a house or shed is even worse.

You probably shouldn't read this thread, then.

 

[bgarrett]

here ya go