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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.