Building a shed

[Rslaugh]

.....Long story short: You may want to price around some 12' X 16' factory built sheds and save yourself a ton of work. I'm betting you can get one not too far off your $1,800 budget.

now where's the fun in that? and more importantly - how do you justify getting new tools?

[bfrikken]

I would like to offer some humble advise on this. Since you're willing to do the work yourself, you may be surprised what you can get for free if you think about it creatively. Of course this will require determination.

I have had friends that have built huge shops for relatively free. One guy I know found a house that was going to torn down. The owner told him he could tearout what ever materials he wanted. He ended up framing a 24 x 30 shop with all free materials with the exception of his slab. Once finished out, his shop looked like it was built from all brand new materials.

Yesterday I saw an excavator tearing down a 2 story house that had cedar siding. I drove back by an hour later & noticed that there wasn't anything left over 3 feet long & was all taken to the city dump. That cedar would have cleaned up to almost brand new with a pressure washing. There is a company in Nashville, Tn that tears down old barns, reclaims the lumber, and sells it for hardwood flooring.

Back to my original point, if you get creative & do the work yourself, your budget will go a lot farther than you think it will.

I can agree with this. Been watching CL. Will continue over the next month or so. Real good suggestions though. Mostly i've been watching for windows or people getting rid of "scraps".

[Woodshark]

I settled on this rough set of material plans for a 12x16 gable storage shed:
http://www.choosefreedom.com/materia..._materials.pdf

I thought those plans looked Familiar.

I was thinking about building a shed four years ago and ordered the exact same set. Because of the Iraq war, the cost of sheet goods was very high at the time so I never got around to building it.

Now things are back to reasonable so I'll probably start on it this summer.

[leehljp]

I will add my two cents on building a shed. I built a 9 by 12, much smaller than yours, but this is Japan. One thing I did that I am very happy with is that I used screws for EVERYTHING but the shingles. When I described it here, a couple of people thought that it was overkill, but it weathered a 100 mph wind for over 4 hours as a typhoon came over a few months after building it. At that time, there was not house behind ours and it took the full brunt of the wind. It has withstood a few 4+ earthquakes without a problem or nail backing out, no cracks or spaces between ANY joints.

Screws keep things tight and pulls twisted boards together with ease. Joints with nails are subject to the strength of the nail itself. Joints with screws help the joint itself be a part of the strength as in cabinets. With an impact driver and a two or three batteries, it will not be as fast as a good nail gun, but it will be far more solid than with nails and go fairly quickly. Use a nail gun and notice the slight looseness of a joint. Drive a 3 1/2 inch screw into a 2X4 joint and you won't feel any looseness.

Even the outside plywood sheeting and inside ply sheeting was done with screws. One tip here: Once the inside is in a basically finished state, before adding shelves, while it is easy and empty - PAINT the inside a light color. This will greatly aid visibility with any lighting you use. Do it while it is easy and before it gets full.

I have built or help build quite a few buildings and sheds over the years and there is a noticeable difference in the "feel" of construction done with screws versus nails. This will be especially true if you did it on runners and expect to possibly move it. Overkill with screws has its rewards down the road.

Just my opinion and suggestion. Besides, it gives you the opportunity to buy another tool, if you don't already have an impact driver or two.

[cabinetman]

I will add my two cents on building a shed. I built a 9 by 12, much smaller than yours, but this is Japan. One thing I did that I am very happy with is that I used screws for EVERYTHING but the shingles. When I described it here, a couple of people thought that it was overkill, but it weathered a 100 mph wind for over 4 hours as a typhoon came over a few months after building it. At that time, there was not house behind ours and it took the full brunt of the wind. It has withstood a few 4+ earthquakes without a problem or nail backing out, no cracks or spaces between ANY joints.

Screws keep things tight and pulls twisted boards together with ease. Joints with nails are subject to the strength of the nail itself. Joints with screws help the joint itself be a part of the strength as in cabinets. With an impact driver and a two or three batteries, it will not be as fast as a good nail gun, but it will be far more solid than with nails and go fairly quickly. Use a nail gun and notice the slight looseness of a joint. Drive a 3 1/2 inch screw into a 2X4 joint and you won't feel any looseness.

Even the outside plywood sheeting and inside ply sheeting was done with screws. One tip here: Once the inside is in a basically finished state, before adding shelves, while it is easy and empty - PAINT the inside a light color. This will greatly aid visibility with any lighting you use. Do it while it is easy and before it gets full.

I have built or help build quite a few buildings and sheds over the years and there is a noticeable difference in the "feel" of construction done with screws versus nails. This will be especially true if you did it on runners and expect to possibly move it. Overkill with screws has its rewards down the road.

Just my opinion and suggestion. Besides, it gives you the opportunity to buy another tool, if you don't already have an impact driver or two.

My thoughts exactly. The shed I built that I already mentioned in this thread was done entirely with screws...not nails. I posed this question on another forum about nails VS screws, and got a real variety of answers. From one guy who worked for a construction company replied that he asked his engineering supervisor, and the reply was that nails have more shear strength.

I took a more physical approach to my own situation. There are good screws and bad ones. I surmised that in constructing the 2 x 4 walls, nailing the top and bottom plate into the endgrain of a 2 x 4 was not structural, rather it has the tendency to split the wood making room for the nail. I've done a lot of wall fabrication, and I've never had one nail together that felt as tight as if it was screwed together.

On my shed, all the attachments were piloted, and there was no movement to the joints as there is with nails. I'm in a high hurricane zone, and would trust screws to have better holding power.

Also, having hand and finger limitations, swinging a hammer is more difficult for me than driving a screw.
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[bfrikken]

Well, I am getting ready to have some contractors come out to give quotes for concrete slabs.

I was wondering if anyone has any idea what I should expect for quotes. I'm asking for quotes on excavating and pouring and a quote on just the pouring. I want options to consider with this small budget.

Just curious.

[HarmsWay]

Can't help with real numbers since prices are very region-specific. I'll warn that quotes will seem expensive though. However, I built my shed (12x14 or so) with a concrete foundation and slab and I'm soooo glad I did. It is an asset to the property and will last at least as long as the house.

I got quite a bit of concrete-related help from this forum:

http://www.construction-resource.com/forum/index.php

With respect to screws, my building inspector said our building code didn't allow for screws in structural applications. I used hurricane clips and nails except for some stuff like concrete forms that had to come apart.

Building codes vary quite a bit. In our municipality, the limit for building an outbuilding without a permit is 100 ft2 (actually the metric equiv.). However, regardless of size it still has to be built to code.

Want some shed ideas? Mine's here (along with other better, worse, weirder sheds):

http://www.readersheds.co.uk/share.cfm?SHARESHED=1001

Bob

[docrowan]

now where's the fun in that? and more importantly - how do you justify getting new tools?

Good point. Recently my wife and I started dreaming about house plans, and I almost immediately started dreaming about a new shop - one that I would build myself except for the slab.

Also, I too like the screws that Hank mentioned. I split the difference between nails and screws. I built a very small shop/shed - 8X12, and I used a combination. I popped two nails in each joint during framing, then came back and put in one screw in each joint.

[spratone]

Doesn't take a contractor. You can dig out your ground for prep (maybe 3 to 4 inches). Lay a bed of gravel and compact it. Build your forms with 2x4 or 2x6. Go to a landscaping/nursery that sells concrete and tell them what you need by size and depth, they'll give you a price on concrete. You can usually use on of their trailers and do it yourself or pay a bit more for delivery (you still screte it yourself). Very easy to do and pretty cheap. I paid 120 dollars for 2 yards of concrete and used their trailer with my wheel barrow to move it where I needed it. 4 inches deep should be fine for a shed, 6 if you want more strength. If larger than 120 square feet, usually code requires a slab and larger will require deeper footings around the perimeter.

[iceman61]

With the slab & footing being well over 3 yards, you will probably end up with a cold joint hauling all the concrete with a wheelbarrow. Plus thats over 7 tons of concrete. Better to just call the local cement company & get them to back a truck right up to the job. Also you would need to specify what mix (limestone or rock, fiber or not, agregate size) psi rating, & slump you want if you do it youself.

I don't know what contractors charge in your area but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the foundation estimate is just a little above your current budget for the entire job. Shop around & ask to see some of their work with your own eyes.

[messmaker]

I have a shed that is almost the same size. It is built with 4x4 skids with 2x6 joist. The skids sit on concrete blocks(4 each side). It has been that way for ten years. I would make sure that you allow for drainage. I did not do it but a couple inches of gravel is probably a good idea.

[bfrikken]

Today I called the closest Concrete ready mix hauler by me. They quoted me around 111 bucks a yard delivered. That's just over 2.5 yards for 12x16 slab. Not bad, so I'll probably plan on digging it myself, building the forms and having them deliver the concrete.

This past weekend I walked my yard and figured out where I'll put the shed. I'm starting to get excited now.

[iceman61]

Today I called the closest Concrete ready mix hauler by me. They quoted me around 111 bucks a yard delivered. That's just over 2.5 yards for 12x16 slab. Not bad, so I'll probably plan on digging it myself, building the forms and having them deliver the concrete.

This past weekend I walked my yard and figured out where I'll put the shed. I'm starting to get excited now.

If you have any friends that know how to finish concrete, remember, free beer is alway good bait, and is cheaper that a contract with a contractor.

[bfrikken]

If you have any friends that know how to finish concrete, remember, free beer is alway good bait, and is cheaper that a contract with a contractor.

I'll finish it myself. May have some help from the FIL or my brother if they can, but we'll see on that.

[billwmeyer]

This is a timely thread. I am also considering building a shed. I am going to use railroad ties for a foundation. I am planning on making an 8 X 12 shed, but I may extend it by 4 foot. One thing I am planning on doing is extending the roof rafters on one side and making a lean to kind of carport like to park my mower. I am still in the planning stage, but I already have the rail road ties. I will be using a nail gun, but I like the idea of adding a screw to the joints.

Bill