spring project- wood shed

[Kaptain]

No way around it, you are going to have to do some math. Or take the easy way out...

http://www.maine.gov/ag/firewood.html SNIP...

"Doing math" to figure wood cordage is no biggie. No fancy electronic gadgets or searching web sites are required.

You already know 128 cu ft is a full cord of stacked firewood (4' x 4' x 8'). Ignore air spaces you're worried about.

1. Measure your stacked wood: 8'3"L x 5'8"D x 4'6"H

2. Multiply those figures IN FEET: 8.25'L x 5.67'D x 4.5'H = 210.5 cu ft

3. Divide by 128 (the cu ft in 1 cord): 210.5/128 = 1.6 cords of wood

Surely big boys like you can do this.

Aye,
Marty
Grandma used to say, "Don't work harder. Work smarter."

I can do the Math in my head without your illustration. The post was for the OP...

FYI: Not everyone has your math talents. I'm glad you told me as well as others reading this string.

Aye,
Marty

It seems like it would be easier to simply click on a link, enter the variables of the stacked wood, and click the 'calculate' button to figure out what you have...

Especially when you have 'Don't work harder. Work Smarter' in your sig...

 

[John_M]

micaaronfl, Here is a link to the wood shed I built last summer and fall. If you look closely at the concrete piers holding up the shed you will see the "concrete blocks" referenced by Marty S. The vertical 4" x 4" vertical treated posts fit into a "pocket" at the top of the pier. Drainage slots prevent any water build-up in the pocket. I believe I purchased these at Home Depot. Please note that I removed all the sod in the area where each pier was positioned. This revealed the original dirt put here by glaciers many moons ago. It is therefore very stable and probably not prone to any other settling. Also note that because the ground there slopes, I had to bury the upper piers quite a bit to compensate for the slope.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/64043/

Here is another link with more construction details: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/61234/

Looking carefully at the wide photos shows the roof of the shed seeming to bulge up and the deck of the shed bulging down. Neither the roof nor the deck bulge in any direction. The bulging look is known as the "pin cushion" effect and is caused by the camera lens I was using and by standing too close to the shed for the photo.

I built a similar shed with identical piers about 20 years ago in Idaho and a friend tells me it hasn't noticeably moved or settled in those years. John_M

 

[mecreature]

That is one sweet wood shed John M

 

[John_M]

micaaronfl, I've added another link to my post above. If you are interested, the new link explains and shows more of the construction details.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Weight . . . lots of weight . . . I know my woodshed is plenty heavy without wood . . . once loaded with wood it's not going anywhere short of having a direct hurricaine strike or tornado touch down on top of it . . . and if that happens I'm ready . . . got my ruby red slippers all ready to go.

I take it yours has a floor then. I am mainly considering the no floor option, but even with a floor, when its empty...

 

[firefighterjake]

Weight . . . lots of weight . . . I know my woodshed is plenty heavy without wood . . . once loaded with wood it's not going anywhere short of having a direct hurricaine strike or tornado touch down on top of it . . . and if that happens I'm ready . . . got my ruby red slippers all ready to go.

I take it yours has a floor then. I am mainly considering the no floor option, but even with a floor, when its empty...

Yes . . . I have a wood floor in my shed.

 

[kettensäge]

Agree with having a floor, a lot of moisture comes out of the ground. Cover the ground with plastic before building the floor.

 

[ironpony]

around here the new recomended method is
dig hole
put a concrete footer in the bottom
poured or round pre-cast
set post in hole
fill with gravel and compact as filling

 

[Lumber-Jack]

guys, can u all post pictures of your wood shed. i don't have much land so i cant put a car port in, and my wife is looking for one that is pretty if that is possible. the problem here, is i do not have much of a backyard and my wife wants something that looks good and can hold at least a cord. i i build something that she doesnt like i will hear about it the whole friggin summer.

I live on a smaller city size lot (70'x110') and didn't want my wood stacks becoming an eye sore, so what I came up with was to build a long narrow woodshed along the property line next to my driveway. The back of the woodshed doubles as the (much needed) fence between me and my neighbor. The metal roof matches the house and garage, and I stuccoed the house to match the woodshed. ;-)
Each section is two rows deep and holds approximately one cord.

But CL you didn't tell him about the best part . . . the super secret compartment that you can use in case we get bombed . . . or where you can store your most prized firewood.

Now c'mon Jake, you know that's suppose to be a secret between you and me, and just a few hundred YouTube viewers. ;-)

Actually that underground hole has worked out really well for storing stuff I want to keep cool, but don't want to freeze, from paint and acrylic stucco to vegetables. And the space above that I originally was going to use to store firewood is used for storeing all the recycle stuff (which can get pretty bulky at times), and for a place to store the garbage for the week until it's time to put them out by the side of the road. It turns out I don't need that extra space for firewood anyway, it's funny how things work out sometimes.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

As for a woodshed blowing away, really anything that isn't anchored to the ground runs the risk of blowing away given a strong enough wind. Last year our trampoline blew over and almost ended up in the neighbors yard. Two more trampolines (that I knew about) blew away in that same storm, and a 5th wheel RV, just down the street from us, flipped right upside down. And yet, I've been waiting for my unfinished 16' x16' lean to roof I have off the back of my house to blow off and it hasn't so far. It is only anchored down with weighted post blocks at this time. I did take the extra precaution to glue the metal post saddles into the cement blocks so the posts saddles couldn't just lift up out of the blocks if a wind gust were to pick up the roof. Still, I'm sure there are winds out there that could take the roof and the post and the blocks if it had a mind to.
I share OhioBurner's concerns about an (empty) unanchored shed blowing over in a strong wind. I'd want to find some way to anchor it to the ground.

 

[micaaronfl]

wow guys, i didnt get a email notification there were responses to my wood shed pictures. Carbon that is amazing.

i am definitely going to do the concrete footers from HD and i was thinking about digging a hole and placing them in. Do you think adding concrete on top would be beneficial? more stable or overkill?

 

[Willman]

All kinds of footing schemes here. I like the pvc redi footing at the bottom of the page. Rot free with 5 ton capacity.

http://www.deckmagazine.com/article/32.html

Will

 

[OhioBurner©]

around here the new recomended method is
dig hole
put a concrete footer in the bottom
poured or round pre-cast
set post in hole
fill with gravel and compact as filling

Thats how my pole barn was built last year, I think, I was not home the first day when they sat the poles in. I do know they used them cement donuts and pretty sure they just back filled with gravel. Of course we are in the same area.

But in trying to do a budget shed, I'd like to avoid having to dig holes and purchase cement / donuts / whatever as well as save 2-3' from every pole. And I have plenty of palets to stack wood on so floor not needed either. I just worry about the wind here. Last year the wind peeled back several feet of old metal roofing on the chicken coup in two spots, and the neighbor down the road lost some metal roofing as well, it was dangling from the utility lines... Were on a bit of a knoll, and directly to the west (where the wind is coming from) are open farm fields.

If I can find the right diamter locust tree I suppose I dont mind setting em in the ground, I'll just either have to rent an auger or see if I can get one of the neighbors over with their tractor, as its pretty dense clay (and stone since it used to be a driveway).

 

[727sunset]

guys, can u all post pictures of your wood shed. i don't have much land so i cant put a car port in, and my wife is looking for one that is pretty if that is possible. the problem here, is i do not have much of a backyard and my wife wants something that looks good and can hold at least a cord. i i build something that she doesnt like i will hear about it the whole friggin summer.

Here's what i put up a year ago. The long side serves as a fence along the property line. And when inclement weather arrives the roll up tarps can be deployed.

Posts were harvested from local cedar trees, cut and peeled. Everything here is sand and i sunk the posts down about apx 3 feet. Crushed stone was put under the post and tamped in place all the way to grade. Pallets are sitting on apx 6" of crushed stone to preserve their lifespan. Each section is 8' and holds about a cord.

 

[John_M]

All around, a very convenient and neat design, 727. I envy the hose bib and raised growing bed. ;-) John_M

 

[PapaDave]

Very nice setup 727.
Just out of curiosity, where (approx) are you on the shoreline. That's a big shoreline. We had a summer place in E. Tawas. Sold it when we moved here.

 

[Wood Duck]

wow guys, i didnt get a email notification there were responses to my wood shed pictures. Carbon that is amazing.

i am definitely going to do the concrete footers from HD and i was thinking about digging a hole and placing them in. Do you think adding concrete on top would be beneficial? more stable or overkill?

If you want to place the concrete blocks in a hole, dig the hole 6 inches deeper than you want the bottom of the block to sit and fill the extra 6 inches with cement. That will make a nice, solid, level place to put the precast concrete block. It is a good idea because it will remove the upper part of the soil, which tends to be softer and less adequate for a footing than the soil below. I would remove at least a foot of soil, or dig until it gets hard to dig, indicating solidly compacted soil. I would not add extra cement over the concrete block, that is overkill for a woodshed. For the concrete to fill the bottom of the hole, just buy a bag or two of quickcrete and add water per the instructions on the bag. As long as you are somewhere close to the right amount of water you'll be fine.

When you pour the cement you will want to make sure the top of the cement in all holes are at the same elevation. I would pound two wooden stakes into the ground on opposite sides of the area where the holes will be and place either a string or a board between the stakes. Make sure the string or board is level, then use it to measure down to the top of the cement in each hole. I am assuming you don't have a laser level, which would replace the string or board.

 

[begreen]

Our shed had the cement piers in the soil, no cement poured around them. It is solid as a rock and going nowhere.

 

[727sunset]

PapaDave ~ I'm on the Ontario side, just N of Goderich.

 

[PapaDave]

My bad to presume you were in the states.
I haven't been to Canada since I was in my teens. TOO long ago.

 

[Alan Gage]

Ponder on this one a bit:

If tonight is supposed to be twice as cold as last night, which was 0* F,
what will the thermometer read tonight?

The easy way out is to claim it's a flawed question since we all know there's no such thing as cold, only a lack of heat.

But if you were to rephrase the question and ask what the temp will be if there's half the heat as when the thermometer reads 0*F I'd say the answer would be -229.5*F.

Alan