Wood shed build

[BrownT10]

I am looking to build a small wood shed this fall. Looking to do 8x12 and have gotten some ideas on this site. I want a pretty basic shed and intend to use 2x8 for the floor frame, wonder it it is overkill and could I go with 2x6 at 16" o.c. as far as the roof framing is it necessary to do 2x6 at 16" o.c. rafters? I live in NE so we do get alot of snow, but I would remove large amounts of snow. Looking to hear some of your thoughts and experiences with what you have done. Thanks

 

[Dan Freeman]

Mine was built with 5/4" decking boards for the floor and side walls. The framing is 2x6's and the posts are 6x6's with a metal roof. It was built 1 1/2 years ago and it is very sturdy. It probably didn't even need to be this well built, but the company that did it for me uses these specifications. We get a lot of snow here in the Pocono Mountains and there was no problem last winter. (This one is 4x20)

 

[kennyp2339]

I did 2x4 at 24" just make sure you build the framing on top of the headers on the 12ft run

 

[Riverbanks]

I don't think it's overkill for 2by8 for floor or 2by6 for rafters, you can get some sagging with anything less on a8' run

 

[BrownT10]

Mine was built with 5/4" decking boards for the floor and side walls. The framing is 2x6's and the posts are 6x6's with a metal roof. It was built 1 1/2 years ago and it is very sturdy. It probably didn't even need to be this well built, but the company that did it for me uses these specifications. We get a lot of snow here in the Pocono Mountains and there was no problem last winter. (This one is 4x20)

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That looks great and basically what I am after. I wonder if I should reconsider my 8' depth and maybe go for 4' x 16' rather than 8' x 12'. I think I will use 2x6 all around either way. Do you have e any photos of how they did the roof rafters and metal roofing?

 

[BrownT10]

I did 2x4 at 24" just make sure you build the framing on top of the headers on the 12ft run

When you did this did you cut a birds mouth in or just lay the 2x4 on the headers?

 

[DonTee]

I used 2x4 rafters on 24” centers on my 7x14 woodshed. We get lots of snow here and it hasn’t been a problem yet. Mine has a metal roof.
I just laid the rafters on headers. I used 4x4 hemlock posts and white pine for the rest. All rough cut.

 

[kennyp2339]

Laid on top of the rafters, toe nailed one side then used galvanized clips on the other side, my roof is ondora sheets - basically rigid rubberized roofing like metal roofing. The shed is now 5 yrs old, no issues and Im in nor'easter country

 

[Dan Freeman]

That looks great and basically what I am after. I wonder if I should reconsider my 8' depth and maybe go for 4' x 16' rather than 8' x 12'. I think I will use 2x6 all around either way. Do you have e any photos of how they did the roof rafters and metal roofing?

I'll get a couple of pics this afternoon and post later.

Here the link to the company that built it. You may get some good pics there as well. https://glennssheds.com/

 

[brenndatomu]

2x6 @ 24" is plenty for the roof...even for the floor if you support it well...just don't make the framing span long sections with a pad under it, you'll be fine. And 2x4"s for the roof would be fine, especially @ 16" and enough slope on the roof to dump off (or easily rake) heavy snow.

 

[bigealta]

Adding a few extra blocks under the floor joists is super cheap and reduces spans easily.

 

[DonTee]

I built mine without a floor, so no worrying about stacking thousands of pounds of firewood on a floor and making it sag. I use strips of wood or pallets to stack the firewood on.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Here is a pic of the roof as you requested. It is hard to see since my shed is full of wood for this season. There is a 2x6 running 10' on the front (in picture), a 2x6 running 10' on the back (not in picture), and a 2x6 running at 24" (halfway between front and back)...the one you see in this picture. Plenty strong.

 

[stoveliker]

I have 2x8 for the floor too. Three bays of 6 wide, 8 deep.
2x4 on the roof, but we rarely see more snow than 2 ft.

Important to keep enough support blocks to spread the weight. I have blocks each 6 ft on the perimeter, and one in the middle (with an extra beam crossing the 2x8s) of each of the three 8x6 squares.

 

[Simonkenton]

My woodshed is 8 x 12. Massive weight is going in there. I used 2 x 12 joists. Rafters 2x6 and 16" OC. Walls 1 x 12 white pine.
This woodshed goes against the prevailing wisdom on this site. It has no ventilation. I load it up, and shut the door.

The massive roof overhangs keep the rain off of the shed. It sets in the sun all day and warms up. It works on the principle that water vapor will pass through untreated wood.
The night time fog does not touch the wood, and no raindrop falls upon the firewood. I can load it up with green oak in February, and it is 15 percent moisture by November.
Notice it is at least 16 inches off the ground. Water vapor also passes through the 2x6 floor boards.

 

[Riverbanks]

2 by 12, no flex there, nice job

 

[Simonkenton]

The wood is stacked up seven feet high in the non ventilated woodshed. I just opened the door to take the pic. White oak, ash, black walnut, and locust. Two stacks on the left, a center aisle, and 2 stacks on the right. The woodshed holds 12 heaping Nissan Frontier truck loads of wood.
I am going to round these numbers off. One truck load is about 700 pounds. The little shed holds 8,000 pounds of green wet wood. I understand that half of that weight can be water. At the end of March, I have loaded up 4,000 pounds of water inside the wood in the shed.

In November that wood is 15 percent moisture. Rounding it off, we can say that in 8 months, 3,000 pounds of water, in the form of water vapor have passed through the floor and walls. I know that number is hard to believe but it is true.

I have another woodpile that is under the roof of the carport. This wood sets on the ground on PT 4x4 stringers. This wood pile holds 6 Nissan truck loads. This wood gets lots of afternoon sunshine, and lots of wind. The same oak and black walnut take 2 years to dry in this wood pile.

It is amazing how much wood fits in the little woodshed. Four stacks, 7 1/2 feet long and 7 feet high.

 

[stoveliker]

There might also be a decent fraction going thru cracks. After all the shed is not airtight, I presume? (Similar to homes where air sealing gets a lot of air refreshment out of the picture.)

 

[jmb6420]

I built my 3 cord shed using plans similar to this

6x12 Firewood Shed Plans | HowToSpecialist

Step by step woodworking project about 6x12 firewood shed plans. This is a firewood storage shed with a lean to roof, that will help you make most of the space.

howtospecialist.com

 

[BrownT10]

I built my 3 cord shed using plans similar to this

6x12 Firewood Shed Plans | HowToSpecialist

Step by step woodworking project about 6x12 firewood shed plans. This is a firewood storage shed with a lean to roof, that will help you make most of the space.

howtospecialist.com

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This is very close to what I had in mind. Thank you everybody for the input and ideas.

 

[cahaak]

I have a woodshed built on an 8' x8' modular layout, but it is three modules long, so 8' deep x 24' long. I don't have a floor, and I would recommend that you don't use a floor. For the total module, there are 8 posts, at the corners of each square. The posts are GT 4" x4" and the base of these is down in the ground below the frost line (about 42" down here in MN). The post are attached to each other at the base of the back and the sides of each module - no attachment in the front. They are also attached at the top all the way around, the top being just over 6' in the back and closet to 8' in the front (simple one sided lean to roof). So, the front of every module is open to access and around the back and sides of the whole unit, I used welded wire fencing as the outer containing material. The roof overhangs on the front, back, and sides enough that there is no rain that gets into the wood area unless it is really blowing. 2 x 6 supports from front to back for the roof only at the posts and then 2 x 4 purlins across just like you would for a pole barn support the metal ag panel roof. The whole thing is extremely sturdy. Since each bay is approx 8' x8' x6' high - each bay holds three cords, which is about what I burn in a winter. On the ground, I have sand or gravel with some landscaping fabric in there and then use pallets for the bottom which I stack my wood on. After a bay is emptied, I take the pallets out and clean out all of the bark and other wood stuff that falls down there each year.

When I built this a few years back, the whole thing cost something like $240 for the wood and metal roofing - obviously things were cheaper back then. With the she open on all sides, thing dry very quickly. I do drop down a tarp like material on the prevailing wind side in the winter so a whole bunch of snow doesn't blow in. I also store some wood outside uncovered and typically go into a winter with ~12 cords of split wood, 9 of them under roof. Obviously it is all plenty dry when I burn after three years. I would not mak e things deeper than 8' and if you start to go wider than 8' for a module, then you need to start to upsize lumber due to the spans. Also 8 x 8 at six feet high stores a nice amount of wood. With the modular approach, you can make things as big as you want just by replicating and can even add on later if you want.