Building a shed from scratch
The construction of the walls was quite a challenge. I insisted on doing everything myself, as I wanted to have an accurate estimate of how long it took me to complete the project. There are two 12′ walls and two 16′ walls, which created a shed with 192 square feet. I decided to make the walls a full 8′. I constructed the walls on the shed floor and then stood them up. I also nailed 1/2-in. CDX plywood on the outside before they were stood up to help save time. This of course made the walls very heavy, and nearly impossible to move into place. The 16′ wall was the most difficult. The wind certainly did not help either. That huge wall almost blew over several times before I managed to temporarily secure it using the 2×4’s attached to the shed floor (these look as if they are leaning up against the walls, however they are nailed to both the floor and to the walls).
The front of the shed was also tricky. I couldn’t build the entire front wall and raise it up because it would fall apart (it would have been possible if there were two or three people). So I built it in five sections; three small walls (left, right, and middle) and two headers (above each doorway). I then laid a 16′ 2×4 across the entire top to tie it all together. I decided to make two doors incase I ever sold the house and wanted split the shed into two sections.
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10 Comments, Comment or Ping
rA
excellent job…now lets build it on a bigger scale with garage doors = D
Mar 3rd, 2006
DJT
Awesome job there… I too built my shed. Purchased at Home Depot and screwed it together (vinyl shed) :p I wish I had the time and know-how to do something like that.
Mar 4th, 2006
YO MAMA
WOW WOW WOW — I CANT DECIED WHAT I LIKE BETTER — THE SHED — OR THE FANTASTIC BLOG OF THE SHED–
KIP LENIX AND START WRITING–
IF I TELL YOU SOME STORIES WE CAN START DOING NOVELS–
I THINK WE COULD GET THE WHOLE FAMILY INVOVED AND HAVE A FANTASTIC NEW CAREER –HOBBY — LIFE STYLE —
PS… I AM NOT DOING THE SPELL CHECKING !!!!!
Mar 26th, 2006
tom
fvckin awesome
Jun 21st, 2006
Zip
Great job Raam !!! I got one question, how did you finish the outside facing your neighbor’s shed?
Aug 18th, 2008
Raam
Thanks Zip!
I left about 3′ of space between the fence and the shed on the neighbors side, so it was easy to get access to that side (though it was difficult to get on a ladder with only 3′ of space!).
If you’re building a shed this big, I wouldn’t recommend trying to put it right on the property line — you should at least be able to walk all the way around it.
You’ll notice I did build the shed a few inches from the smaller, older shed that was already on the property. To do this, I needed to finish that entire exterior wall BEFORE putting the wall up. Finishing the wall nearly tripled its weight and it was a lot more difficult to stand up.
Aug 18th, 2008
Linda
Wow! This is an amazing shed! Wonderful description of how you achieved this as well. Thank you!
Oct 23rd, 2008
Raam
Thanks Linda! It was quite the learning experience (especially the roof trusses!).
Oct 23rd, 2008
Rick
How did you raise the walls up after building them on the floor
Nov 23rd, 2008
Raam
Hi Rick,
I simply lifted the walls into place (human muscle power) and temporarily secured them using 2×4’s diagonally attached to the shed floor (note that you should nudge the wall into the correct place before doing this).
As you can imagine, the first wall was the most difficult, especially since I did it by myself. Even the smallest amount of wind made controlling the 16′ wall very difficult. I used a sledge hammer to nudge the wall into place before securing it to the floor. If you have one or two people help you, it will make raising the walls that much easier.
I also made sure to build the walls oriented on the shed floor so that I could simply lift them up. This meant I didn’t need to maneuver the wall very much once it was stood up.
After the first wall is secured, you can secure the second wall to the first wall as well as the floor, which gives it a lot more stability.
Nov 24th, 2008
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