New Woodshed

[John_M]

Finally purchased a digital camera for posting and selling on the internet. You are the innocent victims of my first attempt at posting photos.

Started construction of this shed in June(?) and finished in mid-September. My goal was to have it store four cords of 16" splits, be close to the garage, last a million years, have southeast exposure, ventilated on bottom and all sides, and look like a piece of outdoor furniture belonging to the house.

Inside dimensions are 16' wide, 66" front to back, approx. 66 1/2" high in the back, and approx. 7' high in front. All lumber exposed to the elements is "treated". A "Light Natural" Sekkins semi-transparent stain was applied one month after construction. Roof is 1-in-3 pitch and constructed with 5/8" Advanteck T&G sheathing secured with 8d galvanized ring shank nails. It is covered with a double overlap (needed for low pitch of roof) of #30 roofers' felt and 50 year Architectural grade shingles which match the house.

Except for the roof sheathing, all fasteners are screws designed for treated lumber. The short vertical posts are treated 4" x 4" lumber. The cut-to-fit rafters are 2"x6" lumber 16" o.c. with mid-position bracing the entire width of the roof. Hurricane ties secure all rafters at front and back. The siding and flooring are 5/4" x 6" bull nosed treated decking. The sub-structure beneath the diagonal flooring is treated 2" x 8" lumber. This sub-structure is too difficult to explain and I didn't have the digital camera during construction. Rear header is 3 ea. 2" x 6" lumber with 1/2" plywood sandwich. Front header is 2" x 8" lumber with 1/2" plywood sandwich. Roof overhang is 18" in front and 12" at sides and rear.

My legs have a walking handicap so the grab railings allow me to get on the platform. Noticed my friends who do not have a walking handicap also enjoy using the rails.

Construction was a lot of work and I had to call upon some friends for help during various phases of the project. Total cost of finished construction was about $1,500.

Now, all I need do is re-split and move all this maple into the shed so it will be ready for the 2011/2012 burning season.

John_M

PS: I have added a photo of the "down back" racks mentioned in one of the posts below. Will also start a new thread about the outside and inside racks I am using. Weatherguy and others might pick up an idea or two.

 

[Shipper50]

Nice shed John, mine stands on the pads like yours but mine is 4x4x 8ft uprights. Mine also doesn't look quit as nice as yours. It just sits outback where no one can see it. It was built 2 years ago and is still standing, crossing fingers. ;-)

Shipper

 

[Jags]

That thing is sweet. And yes, I'm gonna say it....purty.

 

[vvvv]

minimal angular bracing?

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Finally purchased a digital camera for posting and selling on the internet. You are the innocent victims of my first attempt at posting photos.

Started construction of this shed in June(?) and finished in mid-September. My goal was to have it store four cords of 16" splits, be close to the garage, last a million years, have southeast exposure, ventilated on bottom and all sides, and look like a piece of outdoor furniture belonging to the house.

Inside dimensions are 16' wide, 66" front to back, approx. 66 1/2" high in the back, and approx. 7' high in front. All lumber exposed to the elements is "treated". A "Light Natural" Sekkins semi-transparent stain was applied one month after construction. Roof is 1-in-3 pitch and constructed with 5/8" Advanteck T&G sheathing secured with 8d galvanized ring shank nails. It is covered with a double overlap (needed for low pitch of roof) of #30 roofers' felt and 50 year Architectural grade shingles which match the house.

Except for the roof sheathing, all fasteners are screws designed for treated lumber. The short vertical posts are treated 4" x 4" lumber. The cut-to-fit rafters are 2"x6" lumber 16" o.c. with mid-position bracing the entire width of the roof. Hurricane ties secure all rafters at front and back. The siding and flooring are 5/4" x 6" bull nosed treated decking. The sub-structure beneath the diagonal flooring is treated 2" x 8" lumber. This sub-structure is too difficult to explain and I didn't have the digital camera during construction. Rear header is 3 ea. 2" x 6" lumber with 1/2" plywood sandwich. Front header is 2" x 8" lumber with 1/2" plywood sandwich. Roof overhang is 18" in front and 12" at sides and rear.

My legs have a walking handicap so the grab railings allow me to get on the platform. Noticed my friends who do not have a walking handicap also enjoy using the rails.

Construction was a lot of work and I had to call upon some friends for help during various phases of the project. Total cost of finished construction was about $1,500.

Now, all I need do is re-split and move all this maple into the shed so it will be ready for the 2011/2012 burning season.

John_M

That's a fine lookin woodshed John, but I think your expectations are a little high. It won't last a day over 500,000 years. ;-)
I think I'd have a walking handicap too if I had to push a mower around all that grass. That's a huge lawn to cut. :bug:

 

[Danno77]

True hearth.com porn at it's best. Very nice looking shed.

 

[elijah]

Beautiful shed, wow only 1500 bucks. Looks like a 5,000 dollar shed!

 

[John_M]

Re: "minimum angular bracing?": There are four "smallish" (2.75') 45 deg. braces visible in the front. However, there are 8 very "longish" and "strongish" 45 deg. braces not visible in the back. The 5/4" side and back planks provide very strong resistance to any diagonal shifting. :cheese:

John_M

 

[pen]

I am ooooooozing w/ jealousy.

pen

 

[vvvv]

Re: "minimum angular bracing?": There are four "smallish" (2.75') 45 deg. braces visible in the front. However, there are 8 very "longish" and "strongish" 45 deg. braces not visible in the back. The 5/4" side and back planks provide very strong resistance to any diagonal shifting. :cheese:

John_M

good! floor looks danceable?

 

[dannynelson77]

What are the posts sitting on??

 

[John_M]

danny,
The 4"x4" posts are sitting on what I believe are called "concrete post bases". Ten of these bases support the woodshed. The bases are approx. 12"x12" on the bottom and about 9" high. The top of each base has a pocket for the 4"x4" post. These are set on undisturbed and compacted soil which drains very well. I used this construction feature with a woodshed I built in north Idaho about 20 years ago. When I sold my house there about 6 years ago the shed was as good as the day I built it.

Some would suggest digging the holes for the concrete bases about 4" - 5" deeper and putting that much crushed gravel in the hole before the base is set in place. That is a more accepted way of doing it and probably much better than my way. However, my way worked very well before and I didn't want to mess with success.

John_M

 

[firefighterjake]

One of the top ten woodsheds that I've seen on here . . . as mentioned true wood porn . . . bow chick a wow wow!

 

[op_man1]

danny,
The 4"x4" posts are sitting on what I believe are called "concrete post bases". Ten of these bases support the woodshed. The bases are approx. 12"x12" on the bottom and about 9" high. The top of each base has a pocket for the 4"x4" post. These are set on undisturbed and compacted soil which drains very well. I used this construction feature with a woodshed I built in north Idaho about 20 years ago. When I sold my house there about 6 years ago the shed was as good as the day I built it.

Some would suggest digging the holes for the concrete bases about 4" - 5" deeper and putting that much crushed gravel in the hole before the base is set in place. That is a more accepted way of doing it and probably much better than my way. However, my way worked very well before and I didn't want to mess with success.

John_M

Just built a shed this year as well using the same technique for my posts - have been a bit nervous about it but glad to see that it seems to work!

Really nice shed you have there - congrats!

 

[dannynelson77]

Thanks for the info. I plan to build a wood shed next year and I really like this footing idea! I hate digging holes!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

A lot of work went into that and the end result looks good.

 

[bogydave]

I am not going to show this wood shed picture to my wife.
You could possible be making trouble for the rest of us.
Painted & roofed to match the house, come on. give us a break.

Just beautiful workmanship & stout design. You are a true craftsman. Built to last.

It looks easy enough to add another 8' - 16' section to it
so the pile of wood next to it can be "put up" too.
(Teach you to make work for the rest of us). LOL

Great job!

 

[John_M]

bogy and others,
Thank you for the very nice comments.
Re: adding another 8' to 16' to the existing shed. My original plan was to do just that. However the slope of the land would have required different elevations for each of the 8' sections. The planning and execution of that addition(s) would have been time consuming and difficult. Also, I live in the middle of very heavy (at times) snow country. I need the area around the shed to deposit snow plowed or blown from my driveway.

I also have firewood racks (five cords of storage) on a concrete patio behind my house and under a 10' roof overhang. That wood (mostly ash and cherry) is for burning this winter. I also have two racks on 5" swivel casters in the garage. That is my day-to-day wood for burning. Those racks are replenished by driving my JD Gator down to the racks, filling the back of the Gator and driving up and into the garage to transfer the wood to the racks there. The entire process is very efficient and not too difficult to me.

In the next day or so I will try to take a few more photos for clarity and post them in this thread.

Perhaps someone who is planning wood sheds or racks might pick up a helpful hint or two. ;-)

John_M

 

[PapaDave]

One of the top ten woodsheds that I've seen on here . . . as mentioned true wood porn . . . bow chick a wow wow!

Jake, don't forget to include your own.
John, thanks for the fix. I feel better now.

 

[weatherguy]

Nice shed John, can you post a pic of your racks on the casters, I want to make a couple too and after seeing how nice your shed is I assume your idea for the racks will be better than mine.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Very classy shed. I think you exceeded your goal.

 

[kbrown]

Found this thread from a link in another...verrrry nice setup John_M! Although I can't have the luxury of a shed like that, I certainly like the shot of your double stack racks on the walk out. Would you mind sharing any info you have on the construction of those? I'm thinking of putting up double stack racks on my property to consolidate the long perimeter racks I have now. Again, great job on the shed! :coolsmile:

 

[John_M]

heatit, Here is a thread from earlier this fall. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/61314/

The doubled racks at my walkout basement are constructed just like the ones in these photos but without the casters. The two smaller racks are 8' long x 14" wide x 5' high. The three larger racks are 9' long x 14" wide x 6' high. On all racks the 14" width is to the outside face of the stringers which support the wood. That would make the rack 17" wide to the OUTSIDE of the vertical end pieces and 17" to the INSIDE of the 45 deg. supports which strengthen the vertical end pieces.

If you are going to double up your racks and make them higher than 4' be certain they are screwed or bolted together. In my experience, a single rack higher than 4' is very prone to tipping. I used one piece of 5/4" treated decking to tie the racks together at each end. This piece of decking is screwed to the four uprights at each end. Three 2 1/2" screws are used to secure the decking to each upright.

Later today I will try to attach a couple of photos to show these details.

 

[kbrown]

Perfect! Thank you very much!!