The "hunting gear" storage shed project

[Stay Sharp]

Now that we are back from our 4th of July trip it’s time to start a storage shed project that been on the back burner for a while. My son and I are building the shed. Its time to take the garage back which has become the manufacturing area for Innovative Outdoorsman products and we need a better storage area for all the ladder and chain on tree stands and climbing sticks and deer decoys and other hunting gear and yard tools. We designed the shed and gathered all the supplies before the holiday. Its going to be a 12 x 12 shed with a roofed overhang on one side. The shed will have 8 foot walls and a couple windows. It will have double doors, a ramp for the riding mower and a roof vent because sheds can get pretty hot inside. The plan is to work on the shed in the afternoon/evenings after work each day as weather allows. I’ll use this space to detail the project as we make progress. Here is a drawing of the shed we designed and used to generate the bill of materials.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I built a 30x15 addition on the back of my garage for this express purpose, it also was to be a reloading room. Just remember one thing......like a garage, "If you build it, they will come". It can never be too big. I ended up with another storage area that is a 20'x20' loft in my garage, it's loaded up too!

 

[Stay Sharp]

We already put on an addition that is 18 and 24 in addition to the existing 2 car garage. That addition included a epoxy coated floor, a built in game hoist and full kitchen (now we have 2 kitchens) You are right about storage though but as we expand our Innovative Outdoorsman product manufacturing we need to take back the garage.

The mower will only be in the shed for over winter storage, not at the same time. The shed will allow for ample fresh air intake when we want it and then can be closed tighter and allow for the use of an ozone machine when we want it.

 

[buckbull]

Are you going to just pour a floating concrete slab for you floor? Looks like no footers or foundation, just posts.

 

[Stay Sharp]

The building inspector in this town allows for no slab just concrete pavers (in this case 12 x 12 x 1 1/2 thick) For this shed Im using 14 of them under the treated 4 x 4's. If I went larger than a 12 x 12 shed, he would have insisted on a poured slab.

 

[TLowell02]

The building inspector in this town allows for no slab just concrete pavers (in this case 12 x 12 x 1 1/2 thick) For this shed Im using 14 of them under the treated 4 x 4's. If I went larger than a 12 x 12 shed, he would have insisted on a poured slab.

A building inspector is required to build a shed?

 

[Stay Sharp]

In this screwed up community, yes. You need a building permit for replacing a roof, or windows or water heater, Furnace, Central Air and yes, to build a shed.

 

[Stay Sharp]

Step one is sight prep. The shed will be tucked along the edge of some trees in the yard so branch trimming needs to be done to make room for the shed. The building permit is issued and digger’s hotline has marked the area. Each weekday after work (weather permitting) I should get about 5 hours to work on the project. More on the weekends.

 

[Stay Sharp]

I dug away the topsoil and backfilled with crushed paver base and tamped it down and leveled all the pavers. Then the treated 4 x 4’s were laid on the pavers and the floor joists on top of that. The sun went away and the mosquitos came out in full force but it’s a good start.

 

[buckbull]

Your going to wish you would have dug holes below frost line and poured footings. I built a shed about 25 years with the same construction and the damn thing has to be jacked up about every 10 years because it settles into the ground.

 

[Stay Sharp]

The ground here is heavy clay and rock. Its like concrete. I doubt that will happen. The existing shed (soon to be torn down) has been standing for 20+ years with no settling, shifting or sinking. The neighboring sheds have not suffered any frost shift (some larger and some smaller) Ive been living here for many years and this soil is something to behold.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Your going to wish you would have dug holes below frost line and poured footings. I built a shed about 25 years with the same construction and the damn thing has to be jacked up about every 10 years because it settles into the ground.

I was wondering about that too. In that part of the country frost heave could be a big problem.

 

[go_deep]

The ground here is heavy clay and rock. Its like concrete. I doubt that will happen. The existing shed (soon to be torn down) has been standing for 20+ years with no settling, shifting or sinking. The neighboring sheds have not suffered any frost shift (some larger and some smaller) Ive been living here for many years and this soil is something to behold.

I grew up in Barron county, what county you in?
We had to put a post in the ground 48"+ for fence or that thing would get ejected from frost heaving. Had to put at least 8" sand base under cement when we poured.

 

[Stay Sharp]

The opposite corner of the state. Waukesha county. My other shed (50 feet from this one) was buildt decades ago using the same methods and rests on top of the ground and has never moved, shifted, heaved or sank nor have any of the neighbor's sheds. Its a non issue. Even the building inspector (when we drew the building permit) said there was no need to dig a frost footing or pour a slab.

 

[Stay Sharp]

The next step is nailing in all the floor joist braces which provide support/spacing and nailing for the floor decking. The floor is ¾ plywood with tongue and groove edging to lock it all together. The big flat deck is the perfect place to build the trusses needed for the roof. There was still daylight so I built a jig for the 7 trusses and had time to build the first truss. 6 more to go but that’s for another day as I’m out of light.

 

[Stay Sharp]

All 7 trusses are finished and will be set aside waiting for the walls to go up.

Then it was time to build and raise the walls

 

[Tim McCoy]

Nice work!

 

[Stay Sharp]

Because the roofed overhang on the west side will make it challenging to raise the fiber/cement siding, we installed those 3 sheets before raising the trusses. The Fiber Cement siding sheets are heavy (80 Lbs each).

Then we were good to go raising the 7 trusses. That used up the rest of the daylight. We still need to brace all the trusses but that is for another day.

 

[sneakypete]

Looking very nice, just wondering why you didn't carry the trusses to the right as you did on the left side, you might regret that. Very nice work!

 

[Stay Sharp]

You would have to go to the first post to see the design. One side only gets a lean-to overhung roof so the design is not symmetrical on purpose.