Wood Shed Design

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CT-Mike

Minister of Fire
Mar 22, 2008
503
New England
So I am tired of screwing with pallets and tarps going in to my 5th season and am looking to build a permanent shed.

I don't want to spend the money to pour a concrete pad so I am thinking about building a deck to store the wood off the ground. I am planning something in the neighborhood of 20' x 20', a lean-to type roof and being able to stack somewhere around 10' high or so. It will have divided stalls to separate wood by year.

So, figuring wet red oak weighs around 45# per cubic foot or so and stacking 10' high would yield in the neighborhood of 450# square foot for floor loading.

I am looking for some mechanical engineer type to tell me what size joists and spacing I would need to support such a load and have some design margin built in.

I only want to do this once.

Thanks,

Mike
 
Do you have to use those measurements? 20x20 gets into some long joists or something complicated. 20x20 is 400 sqare foot, could you go 12x32 or so, it would make the design easier especially with a shed roof.
 
20x20 really fits the available space I have. Figured on at least 3 beams to support the joists, one on each end and one down the center.
 
How's the digging there? Can you go with a pole barn, then you wouldn't have to worry about the floor load. A 20x20 deck floor could get expensive.
 
Digging here sucks. I am convinced the #1 crop in CT is rocks. Renting a post hole auger is worthless because of all the rocks.
 
Floor trusses - 20 foot 10" steel "I" beams , every 16".

I'm guessing of course. Wet oak at 10' high on a 20' X 20' span is going be be several heavy duty beams.
A level gravel pad & concrete footers or pier blocks to support the roof might be easier & cheaper.

A local lumber yard may have the specs for your area. Draw up the basic design & have them spec it out for the floor weight & snow load for the roof.

Good luck. Looking forward to the build pictures
 
That would be huge, you could fit 30 cords in a shed that big, even 12' x 20' would hold a lot of wood and be a lot easier to build.
 
Does the floor have to be part of the shed? I built my shed, then put pallets on concrete patio blocks for a floor. The blocks keep the pallets off the ground, and the pallets will be easy to replace in the future when necessary.
 
I just started a pole barn style shed which is 16x6. With the winds we get here in MA during Noreaster's, there's no way a pole barn without being tied to footings is going to stand very long. That, with some heavy wet snow is a disaster waiting to happen if it's not secured down. I just dug 6 footings and yes, I ran into rock. The good thing is the soil around my parts is good gravel and it drains well. Just have to get the big rocks out which is work, but it's the only secure way in my opinion.
 
Digging here sucks. I am convinced the #1 crop in CT is rocks. Renting a post hole auger is worthless because of all the rocks.
I live in whats know as the "Stony Hill" area....between the stones/rocks, and the freakin' roots from all the trees in the yard, digging is almost impossible
 
i agree with blacktail -

makes so much sense to get the ground as level as possible and put down pallets.. no floor joists, no flooring, much less cost. i mean..its a woodshed! unless you plan on also using it as poker room.;) every few years replace some pallets, but i don't even think that would be necessary.
 
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So I am tired of screwing with pallets and tarps going in to my 5th season and am looking to build a permanent shed.

I don't want to spend the money to pour a concrete pad so I am thinking about building a deck to store the wood off the ground. I am planning something in the neighborhood of 20' x 20', a lean-to type roof and being able to stack somewhere around 10' high or so. It will have divided stalls to separate wood by year.

So, figuring wet red oak weighs around 45# per cubic foot or so and stacking 10' high would yield in the neighborhood of 450# square foot for floor loading.

I am looking for some mechanical engineer type to tell me what size joists and spacing I would need to support such a load and have some design margin built in.

I only want to do this once.

Thanks,

Mike
Do you want a real shed or just a wood shed. A real shed usually has a floor to keep items off the dirt or gravel.
A wood shed is fine to have a gravel or pallet floor to keep the wood off the dirt.
A wooden floor designed and constructed to hold all that wood will get expensive and is really not worth it if you have no interest in using this building for anything else in the future.
If constructing a wood floor I would increase conventional building codes. Use taller and shorter and more floor joists and footing than required. To get actual plans you would need to hire someone that will take the time. This building would cost approx 6-20k depending on materials used.
 
How about a metal carport?
 
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A deep gravel floor would stay pretty dry. not as dry as a raised deck but dry enough, I think. With the gravel there is no danger of too much weight on the deck.
 
For my shed, I started with a bed of gravel. Then I lay cedar 2x6x8's down flat, a few inches apart. Then I cross laid another set at 1" apart (I got a deal on cedar culls, cedar is normally too expensive) and screwed them on the base. Bark and crap accumulates, so when one stall is emptied, I'll run a leaf blower through.
 
The floor on my woodshed was DIRT CHEAP ;lol What do you need a floor for, I just stack it on cheap free 4x4 s
 
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