JBMatth's Garden Shed

[jbmatth]

I mentioned this in my introduction thread, but was asked to start a build thread as well.

I'm going to be building an 8'x1?' garden shed. It'll be home to my riding mower, all other yard type tools, some misc. storage and power wheels for my girls. That way I have room to pull my car in and out of the garage without having to move everything out of the way. The shed is my own design that I've drawn up in MicroStation 3d. I'm debating on making it 12 or 16 feet long now and will have that decided before I buy materials in the next few weeks. I may have to just make it 12 because I'm only allowed $1000 for the full build and this will put me right in that ball park. I'll be doing most of the work on it myself over a 6 day weekend I have planned in April. If I get into a bind I'll call my FIL who lives here in town to come tell me how bad I messed things up.

I would hold out for a larger budget so I can build up to the city limits of 200 sq ft without a permit, or 800 with a permit, but we don't plan to live in this house for more than another year or two and don't want to sink too much into it in the time being. I'll try to attach a picture of the shed design, and the car I'm trying to access more easily with this shed build.

 

[pd1266]

Have you thought about a prebuilt shed you can get a pretty good size for 1000 bucks

 

[techlaf]

I looked at Lifetime sheds and decided on a SunCoast. First resin shed and I am very pleased with the results.

One of the best parts to me is the easy ability to break it down and take it with me if I need to move it offsite or another spot in the yard.

It poured for hours just after finishing it and not a drop of water inside the shed and that's with no silicone. All friction fit.

I already had a concrete pad and and 8'X8' shed took my 4 hours with my wife helping here and there briefly.

 

[jbmatth]

@techlaf, I like the thought of being able to break those sheds down and move them if I wanted to, but I see two potential problems with them. #1 cost, they run $200+ more than the same basic design as I want. #2 I have seen them, and similar at lowe's and here at work and they get blown away or destroyed regularly. Even the ones at work don't seem to survive more than a couple years.
Even though I don't have to build them to code, I know that we have to build to 90 mph wind speed if it were to code. I can't say the design I have would survive, but feel it would have a better chance than those mentioned, or most of the pre-built or kit sheds I've seen out.
I appreciate the input and would love more. Even if I go over budget a few hundred I think I can explain it away and get by, I just don't want to have to buy/build another if I can help it.

 

[jbmatth]

Garden shed design is complete, no major changes. I've extended the truss to go down below the top of the side by about 8 inches, and lowered the roof from 45 degrees to 40 degrees so I can use less siding style plywood. Then just moved some of the bracing around on the walls and floor so there are more even gaps between them, and still hit the edges of the plywood and siding right in the middle.

I've compiled a spreadsheet with all of the parts and pieces from gravel foundation bedding to drip edge. The total cost (as quoted on Lowe's website) will be $1,372.77 for an 8' by 16' shed. It will also weigh around 3,963 pounds excluding waist. I'm sure there are some materials I am missing, but can't think of anything for now. Scheduled to kick it off on April 15th.

 

[Dz_speed]

Any updated images? I just poured my concrete base last week, should start building in a week or two. I am designing mine in Solidworks. Aiming for 10'x12'.

What is the spacing of your floor joist?

 

[jbmatth]

Any updated images? I just poured my concrete base last week, should start building in a week or two. I am designing mine in Solidworks. Aiming for 10'x12'.

What is the spacing of your floor joist?

I've created a full set of construction drawings with all of the cut lengths, spacing, and any other information I feel would be of value. I don't have an really interesting pictures to show. I won't start the foundation until closer to the actual build date of April 15th.

The floor joist are on 16" centers and are all treated 2x4's. I would love to do a concrete slab, but don't fee like it would be worth it at this time. That alone would kill my budget. Speaking of witch, how much did your base run you if you don't mind me asking? Also did you level and frame it yourself, or did you have it done?

 

[Loresonde]

Wanted to subscribe to this one, getting ready to do the same. Just moved into a home with old(built 1960s) 12x16 shed that was way beyond neglected. Saved a decent amount of lumber(mostly siding), floor was rotted, metal roof was leaking bad. I've been working on trying to decide what size to rebuild, 12x16 is too big. Right now 12x12, but the lumber is getting pricey, may switch that to 10x10 to get away from those 16ft boards.

What is the reason for using 2x4 floor joists? Be interested to see how you build yours.

 

[jbmatth]

What is the reason for using 2x4 floor joists? Be interested to see how you build yours.

Thanks for the subscription, It was all based off of cost really, I wanted the largest shed I could for close to $1,000 out of pocket. I know I'll go over, but have a couple of gift cards and plan to cash in on some credit card points to make up the difference.

The floor joist are on 16" centers and will have 8"x16"x4" solid concrete blocks every other joist with 3 per joist. I'm thinking it will be plenty to support anything I'd ever put in there. I haven't actually put any numbers too it, but just knowing I can hang from the center of an 8' span of a 2x4 with little deflection I don't think I'll have much to worry about. If I find out otherwise I'll post it.

If you want to get away from 16' board why not just make it 8' wide by 12' long? There isn't much difference in the cost of the 8' to 12' boards, and you will be able to use whole sheets of plywood rather than having to cut them. Let me know if you start a thread.

 

[Loresonde]

Thanks for the subscription, It was all based off of cost really, I wanted the largest shed I could for close to $1,000 out of pocket. I know I'll go over, but have a couple of gift cards and plan to cash in on some credit card points to make up the difference.

The floor joist are on 16" centers and will have 8"x16"x4" solid concrete blocks every other joist with 3 per joist. I'm thinking it will be plenty to support anything I'd ever put in there. I haven't actually put any numbers too it, but just knowing I can hang from the center of an 8' span of a 2x4 with little deflection I don't think I'll have much to worry about. If I find out otherwise I'll post it.

If you want to get away from 16' board why not just make it 8' wide by 12' long? There isn't much difference in the cost of the 8' to 12' boards, and you will be able to use whole sheets of plywood rather than having to cut them. Let me know if you start a thread.

Makes sense on using 2x4's I had in my mind only using a few and picturing a trampoline floor I was able to size the shed down a bit and use nothing longer than a 12ft board and saved a bit on lumber. the 16fters were for the roof(flat 2/12 pitch). Settled on 10x10 with 1ft overhang.

Not sure when i'll rebuild the shed, as we just started building a 26x36 garage also. Been thinking about starting a thread for both, just havent gotten around to it. good luck with yours!

 

[jbmatth]

Start the thread, and take a lot of pictures. I would love to eventually build a separate shop but according to city code I can only build up to 800 sq ft. We are also talking about moving to a bigger house in the near future and I don't want to sink too much into this one that we will never get back on sale.

 

[jbmatth]

It is standing, but not finished. I'll try to add the pictures and see where that takes me. I have about 40 hours in it right now, and probably another 5 before this first round can be called complete. I have to say my design was spot on, I'm proud of what I was able to do and the plan I had worked out pretty darn all right. Well that is other than the location, I'll let some of ya'll guess as to the problem with this first round of pictures.

My little truck was not exactly happy to be hauling all the weight from the two trips to Lowes. It wasn't bottomed out, but was close, luckily it was only a 1.5 mile trip to pick them up.

 

[jbmatth]

No guesses, well if you look in some of the pictures you can see a line at the top of the photos, that is the power line going into the house. It is about 8 feet off of the ground at this point, and the shed is 12 feet tall at the peak.

The foundation is all treated 2x4's on 16" centers with 3/4" treated plywood screwed on top of that. By my calculations it was right at 600 pounds and a little more than I could wrestle on my own.

Well my father-in-law decided to come over right after I discovered this mess and came up with an idea to help me move the base. He was a smoker for about 50 years and is 18 months tobacco free, so he isn't in any kind of shape to do much heavy lifting, but was a huge help to me with his experience and knowledge. We lifted it off of the blocks to the south, then I redug 14 of the 21 foundation holes to move the gravel and blocks over. I leveled it and we moved his contraption in.

He had this electric winch with a hydraulic lift attached to it we welded onto square tubing inserted into the receiver hitch then screwed old receiver hitch brackets to the ends of the base connected by a large ratchet strap. We lifted and winched it as high as possible before the winch ran out of umph. Then I used my little dinky dolly to lift the back side and rolled it with the truck onto the new foundation. Wow that was a scary time, I just knew something was going to snap, but we made it without incident.

Then to finish out the second day of work I built all of the trusses using this little jig I screwed onto the floor. All of the plate on the trusses are glued and screwed to the the 2x4's. This took a LOT of screws, way more than I originally thought. I don't like nails, and only used nails on the shingles, everywhere else is screws. I discovered those star screws on a previous project, and man they are amazing! No stripped out phillips heads to ever deal with.

On to the third day of construction I built the framing for the walls and put it up myself, added the trusses, and decked all but one of the roof boards before I ran out of screws and it started to sprinkle on me so I called it a day.

 

[48RON54]

Subsribed to this thread and I have a couple questions........


1. Did you build those roof trusses yourself or were those some tight of prefab deal?

2. If I were to build a similar shed, only attached to an existing concrete slab, do you know what I would use to anchor the walls to it?

Thanks for any help and your shed is looking good!

 

[jbmatth]

Well shoot, I just lost all of this last post, time to start over I guess.

So to start day 4 which I thought I would be done on day 4, haha not quite, I finished the last of the decking, and painted the trim for the whole thing. That is as far as I got before I was called away to play dad for a few hours. Upon return I hung siding panels around the gables, the trim around the roof, added the J channel, stapled down the felt paper and installed some of the shingles. Two things troubled me this day, one the electric stapler I have is terrible, so I had to hammer all of the staples after shooting them in. I have a manual staple gun, but it uses a different size staple that I was out of so I just went on with the hammer. I called it a day here and didn't take any pictures because I was running late and needed to be with the family.

Day 5 was a short day because I went to visit my family in the Tulsa area for my brothers annual Easter egg hunt. I was able to installed the rest of the shingles and the siding panels before I was done for the day, but was expecting rain on day 6 so I wanted to get as much covered as possible. I matched the shingles to the house and used some left over shingles for the ridge cap. Sadly they were not the same color and I didn't realize this until it was too late to do over, but I don't think it looks too bad.

On day 6 I knew I needed to get the doors on before the rain came in in the afternoon. I trimmed the shingles to start the day, then framed out one door before screwing on the siding panel. I then cut out the door in the 3/8" gap I left on the side and 1/2" gap on the top and bottom. I tried to cut it out with a reciprocating saw but the cut was crookeder than a dogs hind leg so i marked the line and cut it out with a circular saw. I'll trim the edges a little more before I add the trim boards to hide the ugly cuts. I then did the same thing on the other door. You can see in the picture all of the scrap I generated that has no more use to me in that cardboard box, and most of it is roofing material. I had less than an inch of J channel left over, and very little plywood, which was all part of my design, woo hoo it actually worked out as planned!

This is it now, I have to still paint the siding panels, add the trim, and build a ramp. Then of course move all of the garden shed stuff in there to clear out the garage some so I can start playing with my car some more. We had a hard rain here yesterday and I'm happy to say there was no water in the shed other than by the doors which is what I expected, but should be better when the rest of the door latches are installed and the trim is up.

Whew that is all for now.

 

[jbmatth]

Subsribed to this thread and I have a couple questions........


1. Did you build those roof trusses yourself or were those some tight of prefab deal?

2. If I were to build a similar shed, only attached to an existing concrete slab, do you know what I would use to anchor the walls to it?

Thanks for any help and your shed is looking good!

48 Ron,
I did design and build the roof trusses myself, and installed them myself, that was a little bit of an adventure. They are really simple and pretty strong, the base board is the same width as the outside walls so I could screw through the top board into the truss.

Here are two methods I've used in similar situations to attach wood to concrete:

http://myhardwarestore.blogspot.com/2013/04/fasteners-in-concrete-ramset-vs-tapcon.html

Another thing we use at work are called hilti anchors, they drill a hole, insert 2 part epoxy, insert the hilti anchor, let it dry and you have a VERY strong anchor, but they get pretty pricey. The other hilti design uses expandable fasteners that are held in by friction, but again are pricey.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Dz_speed]

The floor joist are on 16" centers and are all treated 2x4's. I would love to do a concrete slab, but don't fee like it would be worth it at this time. That alone would kill my budget. Speaking of witch, how much did your base run you if you don't mind me asking? Also did you level and frame it yourself, or did you have it done?

Sorry for the late reply to your question. I totally forgot I had posted to your thread. I am out in California I can get a yard of concrete delivered for $130 and my friend is the finisher. I've poured about about 7 yards at my house. I extended my drive way and added a walkway and patio around my house. Beside taking time off work, due to a happenstance number of circumstances (broken concrete truck, concrete truck spilling oil in front of my house) I am at a little over $100 a yard.

 

[Dz_speed]

Good job on the build. Sounds like your father in law saved the day. The shed is looking good.

I started my build but had a surprise kick to funding the build (taxes). My design is a bit over kill as I am building a joined wood floor over concrete foundation. So far I have The floor done. Next week I plan on picking up a few windows and starting the walls.

 

[jbmatth]

Dz speed, That isn't too terrible for the concrete from what I have seen. I just didn't want to pour a foundation and then not be able to take this shed with me in the future when we move. Good luck on the build, I'd like to see some pictures if you have a thread of it started.

Yesterday I was able to finish up the anchoring of the shed, the design code here in town is for 95 mph winds. Even though I didn't have to follow code I've seen too many sheds destroyed in some of the storms we have blow through so I wanted to make sure it was held down as best I could. I put 4-4" diameter 36" long anchors in the ground before building the foundation then used through eye bolts into the top plate on the walls at an angle and turnbuckles to keep the tension high. I then moved some of the yard equipment into the shed. I'll post pictures when I remember to take them.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I would have added 2 extra layers of concrete blocks. Built that low to the ground is an invitation for skunks, raccoons and possums to move in underneath. They love cool, dry, dark places. They don't like light and moving air.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Looks pretty good! Very professional.

Can you show a photo of your doors on the inside? I ask because it looks like one of them is slightly cocked open at the bottom. I am wondering how you reinforced them?

 

[jbmatth]

I would have added 2 extra layers of concrete blocks. Built that low to the ground is an invitation for skunks, raccoons and possums to move in underneath. They love cool, dry, dark places. They don't like light and moving air.

Mr. Wizard, Thank you for taking the time to check out my little build thread. I had thought about lifting it up a little higher, but decided not too in order to keep the ramp small and the incline to a minimum. I also have a black lab that stays in the yard that keeps most wildlife at bay. He seems slow in the head some days, but he loves to bring me his trophies when I get home. I may also put some sort of a wire mesh or other material down there that'll allow some air flow but keep critters out. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[jbmatth]

Looks pretty good! Very professional.

Can you show a photo of your doors on the inside? I ask because it looks like one of them is slightly cocked open at the bottom. I am wondering how you reinforced them?

Thank you for taking a look at my little shop of horrors I'm working on here. The door is twisted a little, I'll try to get a picture of the inside tonight when I get back to working on it. That is the bottom of the door open about an inch there at the bottom. I'm not sure why that is actually occurring. It is a H pattern frame with the top and bottom of the H capped, all in 2x4's. Do you have a suggestion on how to take the twist out of it?

Thanks,
James

 

[jbmatth]

JimVonBaden,
Here is a picture of the inside of one of the doors, if you have questions or suggestions for me please let me know, I'm open to both.

These two pictures show how I have some stuff stored in there for now, it is all recycles lumber from either the build, or an old swing set we had on the property. The yellow hooks are ones I pulled out of the garage.

This last photo shows some of the things that will be stored out here. I have another powerwheels to bring in, my engine lift, and an old engine to fit in there as well. Some of the things will get rearranged so it'll all fit a little better.

 

[jbmatth]

I haven't done a lot of work on this little shed lately, but have managed to get the entire thing painted and most of the trip boards hanging. In my original design I didn't plan on any trim boards and just tossed some on the wood pile when picking up parts. So naturally the 16 I purchased weren't enough. I'll be getting a few more today and will try to hang them this week and get more pictures uploaded. I'll also try to show some of the movements I've made in the garage before the brake upgrade on my cobra.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Sorry, I missed the response. You need cross bracing on your doors. You can do it with wood, pull it flat and use a lot of screws.

 

[madoc1]

great shed build! you ought publish plans. I want to see more pics of the cobra and your brake upgrade..is yours a 5?

 

[jbmatth]

Jim, I didn't install cross bracing as you show in the picture, but did screw 3/8" plywood gussets on the 4 corners which did help some. I think most of the twist is from when I built them on the floor of the shed I didn't drill pilot holes which gave the doors a slight twist that I hoped I could take out after putting them all together. As you can see it didn't quite work as planned. Good news is that no water gets in because of this mishap. I've got it on my list to tackle after the trip boards are ready to install. I didn't get any pictures because I ran out of time with another little project that came up, my black lab has been hunting rabbits under the shed and has been digging it up slowly so yesterday I filled the holes and ran a leg of his invisible fence under the shed to keep him away from it.

Madoc1, It is a B&B kit built in 2001 I purchased in 2010 and have SLOWLY been working on it. There are some shots of it below. The smaller brakes are original mustang II 8" (?) rotors and the new ones are 11" willwood brakes I was able to score for free! I have a lead on an awesome engine if it all works out this thing may be LS powered next year with 550 hp on tap.

Here it is when I was driving The Warthog home on the 350 mile trip.

I have always liked this view.

This is the best shot I have of the brakes, it should make a pretty good improvement in stopping power.

 

[madoc1]

beautiful car. the brakes should make a difference what is it powered with now? whatever the weight and power of an ls will help most anything, even if it is an iron blocked one.

 

[jbmatth]

The LS is actually an LS3, I don't know if it'll be available for sure but the seller says it will be. So I'll have an all aluminum engine instead of the iron block and heads on the 351w that is in it now. I know nothing about the engine other than what I can see on the outside. It may have a cam, of course has the side exhaust, and an Edlebrock intake and carb. It is decently quick with 4.10:1 gears in a 2,400 lb car.

 

[jbmatth]

I have been distracted quite a bit lately, and it is killing me to being so close to being able to complete the outside of the shed. I have all of the remaining trip boards, I just need to carve out the time to paint, cut and hang them.

I did manage to get the brakes changed on my car last week. I didn't get any of them on the car, but there is a noticeable size difference in them. I was trying to bleed them myself but wasn't having a fun time of it, so I ordered a vacuum brake bleeder tool and will give it a shot when that comes in. I have to have them working by next Wednesday because I promised my youngest brother that if he kept all A's in school I would give him the keys to it so he could take his drivers test in it. That will require an 8 hour drive to get it to him so I want it to be safe.
That is a 2x4 the 11" is sitting on.

This is what happens when you don't look at the "truss" design before adding temporary supports under a car port to remove the support posts. I say "truss" design like that because there were no trusses which will be hard to see in the photo. So when I am back home I'll get to help my brothers rebuild this guest house on my families farm. I can't wait to play with some power tools!

 

[48RON54]

I hate those vacuum bleed dealibobs.......Some people swear by them but I always have to do it the old 2 man way.......good luck

 

[jbmatth]

I hate those vacuum bleed dealibobs.......Some people swear by them but I always have to do it the old 2 man way.......good luck

I've never tried one before, but usually don't have a helper around when it is time to do something like that. It is either late at night or at 4 am when no other sane (or is it insane) person is awake and moving. I'll try it and if it doesn't work I'll make time during the waking hours of the day.

 

[Keebs]

Happiness is building a shed to keep the lawn equipment and kids toys out of the garage. Here are pictures of my newest addtion!

 

[jbmatth]

Keebs,
Wow you have been on the forums for 2.5 years and you first posted on my little writeup, I am very honored!
That is a very nice shed, I like the little sitting area you've built on the side of it. What are the dimensions?

 

[Keebs]

10x12 on the shed, the sitting area is another 3.5 or so.... I signed up years ago when I was looking for ideas for my Garage, got busy and stepped away. I finally replaced my plastic shed with this and have now started working on the garage. Had to get all of the "stuff" out of the way!

Love this site!

 

[jbmatth]

I was in your same boat, I was having to move 5 things to get to one, so I just gave in and built my little shed. I am now free to work on and in my garage and have lots more room.

 

[jbmatth]

I had an interesting phone call from my father a little while ago. He found something at a yard sale he thought I should have so he picked up this little gem for me for $60 I don't have much use for it, but it should be a fun little project to keep me off of the streets. I is a Bolens Handi-Ho built around 1952 or 53. It has a B&S model 8 2.5 hp engine and is only missing the chain cover and belt guide that I know of. Have any of ya'll ever seen one of these before?

 

[Bricen18]

Nice how's it coming along


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

I haven't gotten much time lately to work on the shed. When I do have time it is raining out, not that I am complaining because we really need the rain. I was able to disassemble the Handi Ho a little and will have some welding to do on the 3 piece rim before I can get to much else on it. I was able to get the brakes bled on my cobra but I now believe the master cylinder is sized wrong as I just don't have the pedal feel I'd prefer, it is really easy and a long travel. I'll probably use it as is until I get other projects knocked off the list then get to it this fall.