HOW TO BUILD A SHED
1, Background
Winter is coming soon, and urgently we need to build a shed to store BBQ stove, grass mower, and some other tools.
Originally I thought I will buy a shed from Home depot. unfortunately, the one I want is out of stock.
Finally, I decided to build the shed by myself. Luckily, I found a shed kit in amazon.ca. If I have that, all I need to have is the lumber and a shed base.
2, Site selection and shed base build-up – Nov 5
I have a relatively bit yard and finally, my wife and I chose this corner.
Today, my wife and I moved some plants and flowers out to other places.
I also found out that the distance between shed and fence should be around 24 inches.
3, Build the shed base (7*8) – Nov 6
To build a shed, we need 4 deck-blocks, and 4 2*4*8 lumber. I also bought a bag of the pea gravel (this could be used underneath the deck-blocks to adjust the height of the deck-blocks)
set up the 4 deck blocks – Nov 7
Today, I also received 2 things from Amazon.ca. with amazon membership, it is very fast, for most of the items, it is 1 day or 2 day delivery for free.
the other one is the shed kit that I bought from Amazon. I do not think Home depot has it.
3, build a shed base (continue)
Nov 11.
Take a vacation day off, reserve a small van on-line.
Tips: need to book early. I booked late (only one day before), and I have to go to the homedepot which is far away to get the small van next day. it costs more money and time.
Use the small van to carry the long stuff (2*4*10, 2*4*12 lumber) and the big ones (4*8 board). The experienced Home depot staff told me I can use 7/16 for the wall and half inch for the floor and roof. Eventually, I got 8 of the 7/16 and 5 of half inch board.
For screw, it is better to use deck screws, because is water proof and it endures longer
To make the shed base last longer, it is better to have paint it for water proofing
It is also smart to make the shed base animal unfriendly. I put some broken bricks under the lumber. In this way, it is difficult for animal to dig.
3, build a shed base (continue)
Nov 12.
To put vaper barrier or not, that’s the question.
This well written article suggests that a vapor barrier is needed under a shed on a gravel pad.
Also make sure there is enough space between the shed floor and the gravel pad for proper ventilation.
The material is not expensive and I decided to buy one.
The other thing that multiple articles talk about is how deep should the gravel go. the answer is around 4-6in. basically, a 2*4 stud’s height is 3.75 inches. So that is the minimum depth of the gravel. I plan to buy some 3/4 crushed gravel tomorrow. usually it is measured by yard. a yard is 3*3*3 cubic foot. By calculation, the shed base volume is 1/3 * 7 * 8 = 18.67 cubic foot. Therefore, One yard gravel is enough for me, and I plan to dig out the soil a bit more so that we can have more of gravel.
Another good news is that my drywall screw gun is finally ready for pick-up.
3, build a shed base (continue)
Nov 13.
In the morning, I plan to buy some gravel to finish the shed base. I went to a place where it has lots of gravels, but it only allow TRUCKs to go in. My car was rejected unfortunately.
in the afternoon, I found a place in kijiji and he said he will have gravel for me.
When there is no gravel, I did make some progress by painting the shed floor with waterproofing.
It rained in the afternoon, so my garage became my carpenter studio. my young kids helped me cut some woods and paint the floor.
I also used my new Dewalt drywall screw gun to build the shed floor frame.
Tips.
Tip 1, In order to make sure the wood frame is a rectangle, we need to measure each diagonal and adjust until they are of the same length. Instead of doing trial and error, we can calculate the length of the diagonal. in this case, it is the square root of (83^2+96^2), equal to around 127 inches. If one diagonal is 127 inches, then the frame is a rectangle.
Tip 2, Using the circular saw is not that difficult. I watched a couple of youtube videos and the one on the right is an interesting and useful one.
Tip 3, I tried to use some non-Dewalt bit, after couple of driling, the bit is ruined. I think I better use Dewalt bits.
Insights: While I am doing that, I thought about Noah, who did exactly what God commanded him. He did not use 1 less screw, did not change the drawing, and did not miss the water-proofing step.
Nov 14. cloudy in the morning, and rainy in the afternoon.
In the morning, I travelled around 20 km to get some 3/4 crushed gravel.
I saw 2 kinds of gravels. The white one, which has been washed is called clear gravel. The brown one is called run gravel. I loaded 10 bags of clear gravel into my car. Volume wise, my car can load more, but I am still concerned about the weight, because 10 bags of them weights 300 KG and my car load capacity is 630 kg.
After I went home, the next thing I did is to put vapor barrier on top of the soil. After that, I put the crushed gravel. And then it started to rain.
After the lunch, since it was raining out, I chose to stay in the garage to finish some wood work for the shed base frame.
Believe it or not, it snowed today. apparently, the weather is against me. However, I think, giving me couple of sunny days, I should still be able to finish the project by the end of Nov. Let’s see.
Nov 19, Sunny, Friday (take a vacation day off, realizing there are not too many days left before winter)
in the morning, I was thinking about getting the crushed gravel from the original seller, but the sales person did not answer the call. So I got some bagged gravel from Home depot. you can see in the picture to the left that the gravel from home depot are not fully crushed (some are rounded ones).
Friday afternoon, I put the shed floor base on the shed base. I realized that my shed base was not built big enough. I believe ideally, the shed is supposed to sit on the leveled gravel. However, since my shed base is 7 by 8 and the shed base frame is 83 inches by 8 feet, my shed base frame actually sit mostly on the 4 side-wood.
Just before the sunset, I cut the 1/2 inch thick 4*8 ply wood and form a floor.
At night time, My daughter and I kept working in the garage to make some sub-assemblies such as door frames to get ready for tomorrow.
Nov 20, Cloudy, Saturday, temperate from 1-6 Celsius.
In the morning, Rachel (my daughter) helped me install the 10 pillars. Because of this, she got 2 points in her new Garmin watch.
Later on, My wife and son helped me with the difficult parts -which is to install the front and back rafters.
For these 2 rafters, you absolutely need a helper or 2 helpers. for the middle 2 rafters, I managed to install them by myself.
Just a note, while installing the long back post, when I used screw gun to screw the bracket, the bracket rotated. Need to make sure kids are not around holding it.
Luckily, before the sunset, the whole skeleton of the shed has been assembled and installed.
Based on the weather forecast, it will rain tomorrow. Got no time to protect the skeleton (hoping that even if it gets rained, the wind and sun will dry them up quickly).
I did use the vapor barrier to cover all the 4*8 wood sheet.
Friday
Saturday
Nov 21, Sunday, Cloudy.
It is forecasted that the chance of raining is around 80%. I did not expect a very productive day today.
Thank God that it did not rain until 3pm. I got around 3 to 4 hours of work opportunity outside in the backyard.
The big job today is to cut the 4*8 board to different shapes so that it can become the thick skins of the skeleton. I started to put some small woods in front of the shed to make the base flat. I managed to use the clamps to keep the board stay upright so that I can free up my hands and use pencil to make lines inside the shed.
Cutting the big board is a bit challenging. I do not have a fancy wood bench to do the work. Deck is good place. To make the long line straight, I use another long narrow board. To make the narrow board and the board to be cut both stable (I could not use clamp this time), I put 20 bricks into 2 buckets and put them over the 2 boards to add weight. In this way, I figured out how to cut a straight line for the big board. I am pretty proud of this idea and even think that if I do not become a carpenter, it is loss for the carpenter industry. 🙂
Sunday
Nov 24, Wed, Sunny.
This week, there are not lots of sunny days. I took a day off to continue building the shed and also to burn down my vacation before the year end.
First thing I did today is to install the walls. Before I used the screw gun, I used the clamps to make sure the stud and ply woods are connected tightly.
Secondly, to prevent the woods from erosion, I put some gravels and bricks around them. I have seen wood got rotten after it stuck too long with the soil. one protection I did to slow down the erosion process is that I painted them, which you can see in my earlier steps. this step will help too.
it was dark already, but I have not finished all the installation. I brought the camping lantern to light the night. 🙂
At around 7pm, I finished the all the wall installation. You may discover that there is a mistake in the front wall installation. Remember that the oriented strand board also have front side and back side.
Finally, I used some vaper barrier tape to connect the vaper barrier so that it can cover the entire shed.
Sunday
Nov 27, Saturday, Sunny
Today’s struggle is that if I really need to install a gable vent and wall vent.
Installing those vents will add a bit difficulty to the vinyl siding. If I do not install them, the ventilation may not be good enough.
Struggling….
I did purchase many materials and tools for vinyl siding, which is the next big task. the list includes stapler, staple, house wrap. aviation snip, corner post, starter strip, and J channel.
Nov 28, Sunday, Snow
No activity today. Just a stand-still picture of it covered by snow.
Dec 2, Thursday, Rainy
Tomorrow, I will take a day off, hoping to finish most of the vinyl siding work.
I need to review all the knowledge that I learned at you tube.
Step 1 of vinyl siding. – install corner post
The post I bought is 10 feet long, and my wall is only 6 feet high. and I can use the 2 left-over 4-foot long post to form 1 6-foot long post. this is why I need to see how to extend the corner post.
Because I install the vinyl siding in the winter, I need to even leave more space between the top of the corner post and the bottom of the eaves.
This longer video also tell me what kind of shape I need for corner post. because I have an extended reave, my post needs to be a bit more than 6 feet tall, which is the wall height. Caution: please do not cut the corner post too short before you understand how long it should be.
Step 2 of vinyl siding. – install starter strip
Looks like I can install the starter strip before I install corner post.
make sure to leave 4″ for corner post if you decide to install starter strip first.
when you do nailing, the gap between nails should be around 8-12 inches
Step 3 of vinyl siding. – install J channel
3.1 the video left gave me a good idea of where to install J channel.
3.2 install J channels on the front.
Need 2 below the rafters
Need 2 vertical ones besides the door frames
Need a horizontal one on top of the door frame
Dec 3 and 4th
Execution time.
Did one wall. Steps
1, Staple the paper first (My suggestion is that you start from the bottom so that the top one installed later can cover the first paper. Note, you can cut the paper inside the room if you happen to do this in the winter.
2, Install the corner posts
3, install starter strip
4, cut the vinyl siding into its correct length (in my case, it is 94 inches. please make sure to leave 1/4 gap left side and right side)
5, install vinyl siding
6, install J channel at the top (make sure leave a 1/4 inch gap at each side)
7, cut the vinyl siding and install the last piece under the J channel.
8, Finally, finish one wall.
Forget to take a picture of it.
Dec 5th
Planning on Dec 4 – watch a video about gable siding because my goal for Dec 5 is to install the siding for the back wall.
My shed is not 100 % straight, at the bottom, the length of the siding is around 80.5 inches, but at the top, it is 80 inches. So it is a good idea to measure the distance for each line and cut it to the exact size, or else, if you cut the piece for the same size, it will be too big for the top siding.
You won’t believe it, it took me 4 hours to finish everything.
first of all, it is snowing outside, I have to cut the piece to its size in the garage using the grinder, and there is a at least 100 feet to walk (one way) from garage to shed.
secondly, rework, recut, and fit takes a lot of time.
One tip is that when you install the vinyl siding, make sure you lift the piece up so that you can hear the sound of a “click”. if not, it means the 2 pieces are not tightly connected. It happens to me once and I have to withdraw the nail and redo nailing.
The final piece was installed at around 7pm. at 8pm, there was freezing rain. I hope this new siding covering can easily defend the ice rain.
The video left showed me how to
cut a vinyl siding piece when it cross a door or window
how to use utility strip (for the very last piece at the top)
how to use siding snap lock punch so that the last piece will stay on the top.
Cut pieces that are used under the rafter.
Dec 6th Rainy
It was rainy this morning. I went backyard to check the waterproofness of the vinyl siding. This is what I saw. Looks good
Dec 7th Sunny
Lighting up my camp light, using my grinder (You can see the smoke and fire spark), I finally cut a hole.
Cutting a hole definitely makes the project longer by making it difficult for vinyl siding. However, I feel that I really need to have it.
Dec 7th small snow
I bought some Mcdonald’s for kids and quickly finished the dinner.
After that, I cut the J channel to fit the inside of the vent.
I then use the strong glue to put the vent into the wall.
Tomorrow, my plan is to install the J channel onto the wall and start vinyl siding to the left side and right side of the vent, and then keep doing vinyl siding for the right side wall.
Dec 10th, Friday, Sunny
I installed the vinyl siding for the left side wall.
Tips: when you push the vinyl siding up, you should hear a soft “click”. if you hear it, it means the upper and lower vinyl sidings are connected.
Dec 11th, Saturday.
I put some door frames (using the treated 1*4*8 wood) to make it more beautiful and also I put 1 horizonal J channel over the top frame and 2 J channels besides the vertical frames.
with those all set, I then put the vinyl siding on the left and right.
Dec 12th, Sunday. Sunny
It is so wonderful that Sunday is also another sunny day, I was able to finish the top portion of the vinyl siding on the front wall.
At night time, I decided to continue working to put the door on. However, it does not fit quite well, I had to trim the left frame.
Part of the reason it did not fit is that my door is quite thick. by looking from the front, you may see there is still quite a bit gap between the door frame and edge of the door, but when the door is pivoted, it can not pass the back edge of the door.
Dec 13, Monday, ( 1-8 degrees)
I painted the door twice to make it water proof. the good thing about this product is that it can be painted at a low temperature (as long as it is above 2 degree). I checked my other product, but it needs to be applied when it is over 10 degrees.
Dec 16th, Thursday, warm and windy
At night, I need to prepare for tomorrow’s work
these are the things I watched.
1, how to install the starter strip.
Looks like before I install the starter strip, I need to install the underlayment roll.
2, how to install the underlayment roll
Looks like a box of 1-inch plastic cap nail is required.
you can also see in the video that the drip edges are installed prior to the installation of the underlayment.
3, how to install drip edges
This article clearly suggests that you install the Eave drip edge first, and then install underlayment, and then the drip edge for the rakes.
Dec 17th, Friday, Sunny.
This is what I did today.
Today, I noticed the vinyl siding I installed days ago was not correct because 2 vinyl sidings are not connected and I can easily separate them. This is not acceptable.
I redid the left side vinyl siding.
My eaves extends only 3 inches out from the wall, so there is no need to install fascia and soffit. Because of that, I think it is a good idea to paint the roof underneath so that it is waterproof.
Based on yesterday’s instruction, I installed the drip edge at the eave side first.
Then I installed the underlayment roll. I covered my entire roof using 3 pieces of underlayment roll (each piece is around 9 feet and 2 inches long).
the roof slop matters. My roof slope is around 9/17, close to 4/8. this determines how much overlap you need among the underlayment pieces. The flatter your roof is, the more overlap you need, because it is hard for water to come down for flatter roofs.
Dec 19th, Saturday, Snow
Rest
Dec 20th, Sunday, Sunny
I noticed that nails are sticking out from the wall. This is not good because if I put some plastic bags besides them, the bags may be pierced broken. I used some left-over plywood to cover the nails to form internal walls.
Dec 20th, Monday
Watch videos to prepare for tomorrow’s work.
Dec 21th, Tuesday
Install the the drip edge at the rake (front and back).
Now it is time to install the starter strip. I revisited the starter strip couple of times to make sure I understand the process correctly.
Dec 24th,
Watch how to install the ridge shingle
Dec 25th, Rainy.
Install the vent.
I installed this because I installed the intake vent on the wall, and I did not buy ventilation ridge. Secondly, I want the skylight. thirdly, this product was invented by a Canadian.
I have 2 reasons to not install it. first of all, it will take some time to install it, secondly, I am afraid it may cause some unknown issues (such as potential leaks).
Finally, I decided to install it despite the concerns I have and inconvenience.
Dec 26th, Sunny
I do not have enough shingles, but I have lots of starter strip left. So I used started strips to finish the roof.
Roof is the first water protection for a shed. You can see in picture 2, I did not use the 50/50 split. instead I used 70/30 split. This is because I wanted to cover most of the nails on the left side. On the right side, the 30% of the width is enough to cover the nails.
the third picture is the final product. I stood at my ladder and took that picture. It looks good and I am pleased of what I made.
Dec 27th, Snow
This is the first day that I did not need to use the vaper barrier to cover the roof. The shed stood there silently in the snow, creating a beautiful picture.
Aug to Sep 2022,
I organized the content above, and made a video to show why you need a shed, why you can do it, and how you can do it.