A 4- by 8-foot shed has enough room to store a lawnmower, basic lawn equipment and other things without taking up a lot of valuable lawn space. It's a good size for homeowners with small yards, and it is a size that is fairly easy to build because it conforms to standard construction material dimensions. You can paint a wood-sided shed to match your house.
Instructions
1. Pick a level spot that's out of the way but convenient, away from any buried utility lines, tree roots or other impediments. Mark the outline for the shed with concrete blocks, one at each corner and in the middle of each 8-foot side. Use 4-inch solid blocks if they provide enough height; otherwise use standard 8-inch blocks set with the holes up.
2. Square the outline by measuring the diagonals, corner to corner, with a tape measure and adjusting blocks until the dimensions are the same. Put an 8-foot 2- by 4-inch board across the blocks with a level on it, and adjust the dirt under the blocks until the tops are level in all directions -- length, width and diagonal.
3. Build a floor frame with two 4-foot 2-by-4s, and use a tape measure and circular saw to cut two 2-by-4s to 7 feet 9 inches for side bands. Cut two 2-by-4s to 3 feet 9 inches to fit between the long boards. Nail those into a frame with 16d framing nails and a hammer. Put the 4-foot boards on the ends, use the long boards for the sides, and use the other two boards spaced 24 inches apart in the center for floor joists.Use a framing square to set the boards square.
4. Set that frame on the blocks, and make sure the frame and blocks are square. Use diagonal measurements to get all the corners square. Place the frame on the outside edge of the blocks. Cover the frame with a 4- by 8-foot panel of 5/8-inch plywood. Nail it to the bands and joists with 8d galvanized nails.
5. Build four walls with 2-by-4s for top and bottom plates and vertical studs. Make side walls 7 feet 5 inches long with two end studs and four studs in between, set 16 inches apart. Make an end wall 4 feet wide with end studs and one center stud. Nail studs through the top and bottom plates with two nails on each end.
6. Make a front door wall with two end studs and a door frame in the center. Mark the center of the wall, and set a stud 16 inches on either side of that point. Install a door header board horizontally between those studs at the top plate. Cut two 2-by-4s to go from the bottom of that header to the bottom plate of the wall, to frame an opening for a door.
7. Raise the walls, set them plumb with a level, square the corners with a framing square, and nail the bottom plates to the floor frame. Nail all the corner studs together. Tie the walls together with cap boards on top of the wall plates, 8 feet long on the sides to overlap the end walls and 3 feet 5 inches on the end walls. Add an extra cap board, 4 feet long, on the front wall to provide a roof slope.
8. Cut two 1- by 4-inch boards to nail across the width of the roof at 24-inch intervals to provide strip sheathing for metal roofing. Put a 1/2-inch plywood shim under the first strip to provide the slope from front to back.
9. Cover the walls with 4- by 8-foot panels of 1/2-inch plywood, nailed vertically. Use two panels on each side and one on each end. Cut out the door opening on the front panel with a reciprocal saw. Nail plywood to the studs with 8d galvanized nails.
10. Roof the shed with two 8-foot panels of corrugated metal roofing. Fasten the panels to the end wall caps and the center strips with galvanized screws with plastic washer caps, installed with a screw gun. Overlap the panels by one ridge and one valley; panels normally are 26 inches wide, to cover 24 inches of roof with overlap. Seal the edges with edge caps made to conform to the corrugated patterns.
11. Trim the corners and tops of the walls with 1- by 4-inch trim board, vertically with sides overlapped at corners, and horizontally at wall tops. Angle the side strips to cover the gap between the top of the plywood and the roof. Nail 1- by 2-inch batten strips over the plywood joints on the side walls.
12. Build a door by making a 2-by-4 frame the height and width of the door opening. Cover it with the plywood cut out of the front wall panel for the door opening. Cut one 2-by-4 at an angle to fit diagonally on the inside of the door as bracing from corner to corner. Install hinges and some door latch on the door and frame so it closes against the front wall.
Tags: build, shed, feet inches, bottom plates, door opening, frame with, front wall, walls with, with 8-foot, with galvanized, with studs, 2-by-4s feet, 2-by-4s feet inches
Related Posts:
Build A Firewood Cutting Rack
Build a Firewood Cutting RackThe use of a firewood cutting rack helps to prevent damagie to the teeth of a saw blade, whether a chainsaw or or standard hand powered saw. The idea of a cutting rack...
Build A Basketball Backboard
Build a Basketball BackboardBasketball hoops stand at the forefront of American society, especially throughout the Midwest. Drive through any small town in that area, and you'll find several homem...
Build A Shadow Box Fence
Shadow Box FenceA shadow box fence provides privacy without totally walling you off from your surroundings.Better looking than a solid fence, they are just as easy to build. Follow these simple st...
Build Backyard Batting Cages
A batting cage kit comes pre-made, but making your own can be rewarding and less expensive.A backyard batting cage can be the envy of the neighborhood -- or the bane of it, if it's not built prope...
Build Your Own Metal Clothesline Poles
Laundry hung to dry on outdoor clotheslines saves money.In the days before automatic washers and driers, laundry was hung out to dry on outdoor clothes lines. Many people have become accustomed to...
