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Outdoor Storage Shed

| Posted in Construction Techniques on October 22, 2002 01:10am

I’m planning on building a 10′ x 12′ shed out back. I have a couple of questions. I want to set the shed on some type of paving block and I would like to know what kind of block (size and thickness) to use, and where to find them (Home Depot?). Also how many should I use for a 10′ x 12″ shed. Also I wasn’t sure what to use for the floor, I was thinking 3/4″ ply. I’m framing the base with 2×6 pressure treated lumber. Walls will be 2×4 studs, sheathing and roof deck will be 7/16″ osb. And will be vinyl sided to match house. Apprerciate any answers.

                                                                TJ

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  1. MarkH128 | Oct 22, 2002 03:37am | #1

    I'd use 2x8 for joists on a 10x12 shed, with 3 treated 4x4x12 runners. 2x6 is weak but probably would work. The number of blocks to set on is determined by the soil conditions and the weight of the contents. If your soil is well drained and solid, with a normal payload inside the shed, I would have 4 on each 12' side, and 1 on each end of the center runner. That's what I would do, but I'm not telling you to do it that way, just telling you that's what I would do. 3/4 inch floor is fine, but you might want treated flooring if dampness is a problem. If you're parking a Massey Ferguson in there, you might want to use 6x6 or 8x8 runners, and set them on a trench filled with a foot or so of crushed gravel, and skip the blocks. You might want to do the same if your soil is unstable when wet because the blocks will keep sinking in the mud. Clay is bad when it gets wet.

    One more thing, make sure you are allowed to put a 120 sq ft shed up. Some places restrict over 100 sq ft. You might have to pour a slab. Check first.

    1. Loudie1 | Oct 22, 2002 06:02am | #2

      Thanks for the reply Mark.

  2. measuretwice | Oct 22, 2002 06:21am | #3

    Buy a used truck van body and call it a day.  Nothing to build other than support pads underneath.  I got an 18' long truck van body for $600.  Weatherproof riveted aluminum skin, welded steel undercarriage, big overhead door, mahogany floor, window in front.  Hell, I would have paid more for one of those chintzy garden shed kits at Menards or Home Despot!

    (A truck van body is the big closed box on the back of commercial trucks.  Sort of looks like a semi-trailer only no wheels.)

    Question of the day: why isn't it called "disoriented strand board"?

    1. UncleDunc | Oct 22, 2002 06:37am | #4

      >> ... why isn't it called "disoriented strand board"?

      Because you're thinking of the longest dimension of the flakes or strips or whatever you call them. In the shortest dimension, the thickness, they are all oriented the same direction.

      1. measuretwice | Dec 10, 2002 09:40am | #5

        I was just making a little joke...

        1. UncleDunc | Dec 10, 2002 09:54am | #6

          Silly me. When I first saw OSB and found out what it was called I thought "What the heck? That sure don't look oriented to me." Took years to figure it out. So when I saw your question I thought you were having the same problem.

  3. rez | Dec 10, 2002 01:40pm | #7

    Give Woody's response about the truck van body plenty of thought if your not positive about the shed. Unless you're in a residential area and everything has to be pretty bird and just so. Save yourself a ton of work. You could paint T1-11 siding instead of osb and vinyl. I built a 12x16 last summer with vinyl and ended up saying I could have put the extra labor in other more needed places besides a shed. Time.   I'd thicken up the osb roof sheathing to at least 5/8s, the cross tie horizontal ceiling joists 2x6s 'cause you can add a lot of storage space up there, especially with a greater pitch to the roof. Use eave and ridge vents. Extend the eaves out a good distance to give yourself something to stand under in the rain and help keep the runoff away from the building. I used 2x2 concrete pavers underneath 2 high concrete block to keep away from the wet and provided more storage space underneath instead of a place for skunks, woodchucks, ants and snakes. Then I could use 3/4 inch t&g osb for the floor instead of pressure treated plywood.

    I should have planned a lean-to on the back for more storage space. Would have been great for lumber.

    Oops, just reread your post and see you want to match the house. Sounds like you want more of a garden type shed.

    Close to the ground I'd want to spring for the pressure treated 3/4 inch ply.   

    Just my two bits.

     Half of good livin' is staying out of bad situations.

     

     

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