View on the cheap home made wood drying cline doubles as wood shed 2 for 1
on the cheap,home made wood drying cline doubles as wood shed. by lawrence montambault
first is to build the 16 ft x16 ft wood shed & then install a small wood stove in the middle of the shed .
to do this on the cheap, get a small used wood stove from www.craigslist.com this can be a pre epa stove, not a secondary burn stove unelse you feel like spending the extra $ for a secondary burn stove or have problems with wood smoke in your particular area. your choice.
for the shed, each wall , 16 ft. long, is two 8 ft sections of stockade fencing @ $25.00 per section. 2- 4×4×12
treated posts are sunk into the ground using 3ft deep holes & ready mixed cement. make sure that the fence
pannels can be bolted to the 4 × 4 poles when laying out the hole positions. rocks are first put in the hole to keep the 4×4 straight vertical & then the cement powder is pored dry into the hole. then water is added & the cement is allowed to dry 4 or 5 days before starting construction.
the reason for 16 × 16 ft is to leave a 6 to 8 ft empty area around the wood stove , for fire safety when the wood stove is burning.
When the stove is not to be burnt, the area around the stove can be used as a woodshed.
The stockade fence panels have 1/4 to 3/8 inch gaps between the wood slats and they are best filled in with
mortar pre mixed cement instead of caulk. much cheaper 2 use mortar mix.
the area around the wood stove can be filled in with wood if the wood stove is not to be burning but must be kept clear when the stove is hot.
a few thoughts about this structure.—- I have built 2 of them .one was a 8 ft x 8 ft to keep my gasoline log splitter in and the second was a 16 ft x 32 ft wood shed.
the 8 ft x 8 ft has a tornado miss it by less than 75 ft & while 2 trees were uprooted & flung down, the shed had no damage to the structure or roof.
the 16 ft x 32 ft wood shed , as well as the 8ft x8ft both have been subject to 65 mph huricaine winds with no damage.
The strength of the structures is in great part due to the 3 ft deep holes with cement anchoring the 4 ×4 poles
into the ground. I underline this as an important feature of construction.
- I just got invited out 2 breakfast, so i am leaving now. but I will come back here later to finish this article.
- I’m back ,several days later.
people will give you their old used or unused plywood that they don’t need for free, if you offer to get rid of it for them, no charge.
you will need a pick up or a trailer to do this but most free wood scroungers already have a pick up or trailer to bring home all the free wood that they find.
the stocade fence panels have 3 rails that attach to the 4×4 ‘s. each rail has room for 3 fasteners in it.
I suggest : one long nail with slightly smaller predrilled hole through rail for fast tack up on to the 4×4 while your buddy holds the panel in position.
Then one 1/4 20 rod or carrage bolt about 7 or 8 inch long with nuts & washers. you will need a 12 inch long 1/4 in diameter drill bit for this. find it in the electrical section at home depot or lowes for something like $12.00 to $18.oo
Instead of rod, it will be easier to use 1/4 inch carrage bolts of the proper length. Measure before you buy
them.
The third fastener can be a 3 inch or 4 inch long #8 (8/32) or #10 (10 /32) drywall screws & the holes must be predrilled 1/8th in drill before installing the screws.
I used 3 drywall screws on each rail, but thinking back , it was a harder way to do it and not as strong as what I sugested above. The nail gets the panel up fast, the 1/4 20 bolt gives great strength & the drywall screw is extra strength & less chance of any twisting.
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PLease bear in mind when drilling that every 1/2 inch into a drill hole YOU must pull the drill bit out to expell
wood chips. otherwise , if you don’t do this and attempt to drill straight through, the drill bit will bind in the wood and snap off; break in half; & you will need to by another drill bit. The wood chips actually grab the bit like vise grips and cause it to twist-snap in half.
My helper couldn’t seem to understand this & broke 4 bits on me until I forbid him to do any drilling.
to use drywall screws , you will need a 1/2 in chuck variable speed reversable drill at 500 rpm gear reduction for power & a box of industrial grade #2 philips bits when installing a 3 inch or 4 inch dry wall screw.
for the drill, try harborfrieght.com or toolsnow.com & shop for best price about $45.00 for the corded model. I dont like nicad battery tools as the batterys are always dead 4 years later. I would rather use an extension cord & have a tool that always works, not dead batterys that cost 40.oo to replace on a regular basis.
When positioning the panels before fastening to the 4×4’s, a gap from off the ground will stop ground rotage of the panel where it would have touched the ground & the gap can be filled in with a board or piece of plywood.
a board or piece of plywood, screwed on at the bottom and the top so that it could be removed in the case that you find you need air circulation to help drying of the wood is an idea worthy of carefull consideration.
you may find that you do more air drying than burning of the stove, depending on your local weather.
I live in new england , when it sometimes seems that we only have two types of weather 1. cold &2 wet
except for #3 cold & wet, both!
for the doors I used 3/8 inch plywood with furring strip framing on the plywood to reinforce it. some doors , i used 1/4 in plywood. I used what I had laying around because it was free.
remember, its a wood shed with a 10 yr to 20 yr lifespan, not a fancy house so don’t be concerned if the
beam is not exactly straight but you don’t want the shed to look like it is leaning over about to fall down, either.
If it looks ok to your eye ,then it is ok.
roofing
make the roof strong enough to bear the maximum snow load for your location. roofs get heavy when they have 3 ft of snow on them & then it rains & the snow makes like a sponge & soaks up & holds the heavy water.
I had one of my roof beam joints let go this feb 2011 on my 16 × 32 ft wood shed & I had to jack it back into position some 17 inches & bolt a 18 inch piece of 4×4 to the 4×4 support pole under the 2×3 roof beam to make a ledge to support it.
This might not have happened if I had used all 2×4 roof beams instead of 2×3 roof beams
when I ran out of 2×4’s but I was having a lack of cash to deal with at the time, so I cheaped out.
Sometimes, you get what you pay for, & stronger is better, if you have the cash available.
The roof beam support repair didn’t cost me anything but my time, so no big deal; but I had to shovel all the snow off the roof & that was a pain in the back, mostly!
my wood sheds were put up in 2003 & are still in good shape after 8 years. ask me again in another 10 years
as to how they are doing, that is ,if I am still alive @ 73.