General Shed Construction Tips
A shed is an excellent way to create extra storage space around your home without a huge amount of effort. The best part is that you can make your new structure as sophisticated or as simple as you would like. The following shed construction tips will help guide you to making a sound and long lasting structure.
The foundation
The strength and durability of any structure rests on the foundation. Sheds typically do not bare a lot of weight from above so there are a couple of ways to go about this. You can poor a concrete slab for your shed to be built on or you can simply prepare and area on solid ground for it to be built. No matter which route you decide to take, you will want to clear an area slightly larger than the dimensions of your building. Use a spade and shovel to tear up grass. If you do not plan to lay concrete, use a rented compactor to make sure the ground is flat and hard. Use a two by four inch board the length of your clearing with a level on top to ensure your ground is level. Adding dirt in some areas and re-compacting until it is level should do the trick. If you plan to lay concrete, put down an even layer of pea gravel so that your concrete will be able to settle correctly and not crack. Build a frame around the edges of your clearing that will act as the mold for the edges of your concrete slab. Mix bags of cement and water in a wheel burrow. Pour the concrete evenly over the pea gravel to the top of the two by fours. Smooth your concrete with a trowel.
The walls
Build your walls from two by four boards as well. Frame the walls by putting a two by four at the bottom and one at the top and then one every 12 to 16 inches in between standing on end. Whether you are starting on the sides or front and back of the shed walls, the boards along the top and bottom should be as long as the length or width of the shed. The boards that are placed every 12 to 16 inches should be the height that you want your walls to be. Eight feet is typically a good height however you can make them as tall as you like. Nail all the boards together. If you poured concrete, you will need an impact hammer to drive nails through the bottom board on your walls into the concrete. If you have a dirt floor, you will need to build at least two walls in order to erect them and nail them together. Be sure to frame in any windows and a door. If you are running electrical through your shed, this is also a good stage to drill pilot holes for wiring. Once you have your walls erected, you can apply fascia board to the outside with small finish nails. Of course you can use any type of finish material that you like. Some lumber stores sell fascia that is used specifically for shed construction.
The roof
The roof of your shed is built much in the same way as the walls. Laying quarter inch sheets of ply wood over the frame before your shingles is essential. You can use sheets of aluminum for the roof or webbing and shingles depending on what you want it to look like. After you are finished with construction, be sure to seal cracks on the roof as well as spots where nails or screws have been driven in with caulk. Once you are finished you should have a nice little shed that lasts for a long time.
