Chicken (Pox)Shed Build

[Mr. Ugly]

Well a couple of weeks ago I came down with chicken pox. Weird deal for a 40 year old to get chicken pox but I've been traveling for work and think I got it on a plane. So after all the itching, fever and general malaise, I had some time on my hands before the doc would let me go back to work, so I decided to put a lean to on the back of my shop. I'd wanted to do this for a while to get the bicycles out of my shop and the lawnmower and my boy's go cart out of the weather.

Here's what I'm starting with:

Here’s my materials. Bought a little extra concrete for another project.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Decided to go with a 8’ by 12’ lean to minimize cutting. Set the 4’ by 6’ by 12’ posts 10’ apart to allow for overhang. Set the posts about 3’ deep and put a bag and a half of concrete in each post hole. Used my 1 by 4 lathing boards to help keep the posts level while the concrete set up.

My lovely assistant:

<a href="http://s1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/?action=view&current=014.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/014.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Mr. Ugly]

I’ve got cypress siding on the house and shop and had to figure out how to get the surface flush to attach the rafters. I decided to nail pieces of 1 by 6 to get a flush surface.

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Treated 1 by 6’s in place.

<a href="http://s1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/?action=view&current=018.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/018.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

That’s was it for day one. My brother came over the next morning and helped me with the pitch on roof and gave me a tutorial on how to use a speed square to cut the angle on the rafters to match the pitch. I went with a 2 – 12 pitch.

Oh and I had to relocate my 1 by 6’s, they were too low….PITA!

 

[Mr. Ugly]

After getting everything as square as I could I set the beam. I made the beam out of two 2 by 6’ with a piece plywood sandwiched in the middle. I used an 8” long ¾ inch lag screw to attach the beam to the corner posts. I used an impact wrench to screw it in, which was a big help.

<a href="http://s1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/?action=view&current=020.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u407/roadking106/020.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Next up was the rafters. I used prefabbed hangers to attach the rafters to the beam and toe-nailed the rafters to the back of the shop.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Next I installed the lathing boards (1 by 4’s) to the rafters. Had to pull them a couple of them up and reposition to get the spacing right.

After that I put the tin up and attached them to the lathing boards with screws with washers on them to prevent leaks. I also screwed them in on the peak of the corrugated tin and not the valley. Here’s the finished product:

 

[Mmfh]

That turned out pretty good! Ever think about enclosing it with a door?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Thanks Mmfh, yes I may enclose later on and add my commpressor to keep noise down in my shop.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Project costs were about $350 and it took me three days to complete. As you can see I’m no carpenter, but I’m proud of my work.

Last picture is of a little critter that greeted me while I was cleaning up my mess.

I think it’s a chicken snake. Happy building GJ’ers!

Charlie

 

[synergy321]

Very nice work. I'm only planning a shed build, but already thinking about a lean-to also, due to size restrictions.

 

[SGKent]

I was going to warn you that lean to's with bicycles and things become great places for cottonmouth in places like SE Texas. You might want to consider making it with solid walls instead of a lean to.

 

[HOTFR8]

Great looking lean to. If you think Chicken Pox is bad you have Shingles to NOT look forward to.

 

[SGKent]

what did you do to keep termites from working up the yellow pine columns to the main structure?

 

[KEH]

Good job on the shed. Check with your doctor on shingles vaccine, it's 50% effective. Shingles is 100% miserable.

KEH

 

[Mr. Ugly]

I'll look into the shingles vaccine. I have a couple of friends that have had it and it sounded rough.

SGKent, I was under the false impression that using treated wood would prevent termite damage. After some timely research, I now know that's not the case.

I figure I could dig out the dirt from the post holes and fill it completely up with concrete to prevent wood to dirt contact? Any suggestions?

 

[JamieK]

It looks like from the pics there is only one bolt per post holding the roof up. I would feel better with another couple bolts, or some strong ties. Or even attach the outer rafters to the posts also.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

It looks like from the pics there is only one bolt per post holding the roof up. I would feel better with another couple bolts, or some strong ties. Or even attach the outer rafters to the posts also.

Not bad advice. One more bolt and 8 inch 2x6 nailed under the beam to help support it. Cut it the bottom of the 2x6 at 45 degrees for a better look. It's a little over kill but most things I do are overkill.

Taking this thread the way most of them go. You should have built it BIGGER.


Glen