Last year, we purchased Scherell a new car. The Killer Cam just was not cutting it. Well, with the purchase of the car came new issues. There was no room under the carport to park it, as my boat was taking up all the space. Well, Scherell wasn’t having that. The boat had to go, so she said. She suggested that I park it in some storage lot blocks, maybe miles from the house at a cost of no less than $100/mo. I wasn’t having that. After all, the boat was here first, first come first parked. What was I to do to keep a happy home? Bingo, I’ll build myself a new shed, i.e. preamble to a Man Cave. Then, I’ll open my current utility room so I can park the boat in it, i.e. creating access to the Man Cave. This would make room for the new car under the carport. That is what I called a win-win solution.
My existing utility room was 14 feet by 16 feet with a single door entrance in the front and a double door in the back. I figure I only need to build a 12 feet by 12 feet shed since I would only have one door in the front allowing me to use the entire back wall to store stuff. So, I set out planning and designing my pre-amble to my Man Cave. I was fairly confident I could build the floor and sides of the shed. After all, it is just a box. I didn’t know how to build the roof. So, I went to contractor’s school over the internet at You Tube U. You Tube is your friend. I learned the ins and outs of roof trust building and roofing shingle calculations. Now that I knew the type of roof I was going to put on my shed and how to build it, I broke out my trusty Excel spreadsheet to do my addition and take-a-ways. I estimated the shed would cost me less than $1200 to build, approximately 12 months of storage rental.
On August 4th 2009, I broke ground. I decided to place the shed in the far right side of my back yard, as the left is reserved for the Man Cave. I also didn’t want it too close to the fence. I decided to place it 4 feet from my either side of my fence so I’ll have some working room and enough space to cut around it. First, I started by laying out 9 concrete footer blocks for the shed to rest on. I took great care to make sure the footers were level in all directions. Then, I laid out 3 4×6 runners. I used these as a sled type footing in the slim chance I have to move the shed since I was building it in servitude. Next, I laid out the 2×6 floor joist perpendicular to the 4x6s. Then, I added the 4×8 sheet of ¾ inch plywood for the floor. The base is now complete.
Footers
4x6 Runners
2x6 Floor Joist
Floor
Next, it was time to start on the walls. But, before I started the walls, I took advantage of the large flat surface of the floor to build my roof rafters. My uncle Kenneth showed up to help me out. I first cut them to size and the correct angles for the pitch on my roof, as I learned from watching many videos on You Tube and reading the DIYNetwork.com site. Then, we laid them on the floor and nailed them together. Once the rafters were done, we moved them to the side and started the walls. We constructed each wall on the floor of the shed by laying out the stub 16? on center with counter post on each side. Then, we nailed the siding to the stub wall before lifting it into place. After lifting and securing the wall to the floor, we plumed the wall and braced it with some 2×4s. Then, we did the same thing to the opposite side, followed by the back wall. The front wall took a little longer since we had to layout the door opening. We add the siding after we lifted the front wall. Once all the four walls were up, we installed the top plate to keep every thing square and sturdy.
Right Side
Left Side
Back Wall
Front Wall
Now, it is time to start on the roof. This was the one part of the project I felt the least comfortable with. But, it was a peace of cake. The rafters were already built. So, all we needed to do was nail them 24? on center to the top plate of the sidewalls. We then constructed a frame on the front and back rafters for the vents. We installed the vents, then the siding. Next, we moved to putting down the roof sheathing. We had to notch to top center section for the ridge vent.
Rafters
Gable Vent Installed
Roof Sheathing Installed
Inside View of Rafters
Before starting on the shingles, the facial and trim boards needed to be installed so the drip edge could lap over them. We started by boxing in the soffits. We cut out 3 vent holes on each side in the soffits to allow for more ventilation. Then, we installed the facial and trim boards around the peaks of the roof. I made sure to prime the facial and trim boards before installing them since a quarter of them would be covered by the dip edge and I would not be able to paint them later. This is to prevent them from rotting.
Rafter Overhang
Soffit Frame
Soffit Complete
Soffit Vent Holes
Next, we installed the metal drip edge around the entire roof starting at the peaks. Then, we covered the roof with felt paper. The roof was now ready for the shingles. We first nailed down a starter row at the bottom edge of the roof, then work our way up the roof to the top. We started off using ladders for the first few rows of shingles. Then we installed roof jacks to prevent us from falling off. I never seen the pros use these, but I never claimed to be a pro. Did I? We let the excess hang off the front and back until we finished a both sides. Then, we trimmed the shingles a little longer than the dip edge. Once the shingles were complete, I installed a ridge vent for addition ventilation.
On The Roof
Shingling
One Side Complete
Completed Roof
With the roof complete, we moved on to installing the door. We used the double door from my existing utility room. Then, I installed the remaining pieces of trim boards around the door and edges of the shed.
Originally, I planned to use a single row of concrete blocks as my step to enter the shed. However, the last minute decision to put the shed on 4×6s and the angle of the yard made the front of the shed sit higher off the ground than I originally anticipated. So, I decided to build and ramp. I was contemplating getting a riding lawn mower, one day, so I wanted to be prepared. This was a very good decision since my wife surprised me with one for my birthday.
Open Doors
Side View
Installed Ramp
Ramp Side View
The final step in this project was to paint it. The first thing I did was re-primed all the trim boards and bare wood. Then, I painted the siding a clay color and the trim white. To paint the doors, I removed them from the shed and sanded them well to remove the old paint. Then, I primed them with my paint gun because I was trying for a smooth finish. After another quick sanding, I painted them a cream color. I left the ramp unpainted since I figured no paint would be able to stand up to the traffic.
Completed Shed
Front View
Angle View
Side View
With the shed complete and all my stuff transferred from the utility room, I was able to cut a large opening in the front under the carport and back walls. First, I had to remove the vinyl siding for the walls. Then, I cut the walls sheathing and removed that portion of the wall. Finally, I had to reinstall the siding on the remaining portion of the front and back walls. This allowed me to park my boat in the utility room to make room from Scherell’s car. The boat is much longer than the utility room thus it sticks out the front and back. Also, I had to install a make-ship fence to keep Satin in the back yard.
Boat in Utility Room
Rear View
Front View
Overall, this was a very fun project. The actual construction of the shed took me about 2.5 weeks. The majority of the work was done on the weekends. However, I was out there almost every day for a couple of hours after working doing something to the shed. Thanks to my uncle Kenneth who was out there for both weekends. Also, thanks the Jason and Terrence for their help, too.
This project was about more than just building a tool shed. It was practice for the Man Cave I plan to build in the not so distant future. I have dreams of an outdoor kitchen with a fish cleaning station, a bar with built-in sink and refrigerator, and a urinal (I did say Man Cave).
If anyone is interested, here is my updated shed material list.
