Wood shed questions

[Bushfire]

I'm in the process of building a wood shed and had a few questions and I'm wondering what people think. Looking through some past threads it appears there is little consensus on anything , but I thought I'd ask and see what people think.

Shed is 8'x12'. I've used PT2x6 as joists, sitting on two PT4x6 skids atop concrete blocks. I'm in the process of figuring out what to do with the flooring. I plan on using PT decking 5/4x6, but was thinking whether there were benefits of leaving a couple of inches gap between each board for air circulation, or should I just deck the whole thing? I'm wondering whether the additional air flow is counteracted by upward movement of moisture from the ground. Thoughts?

Next issue is whether I actually have side walls on the structure. I definitely want a back wall, but was either thinking of half walls on the side, or full walls, again with sizable gaps between to allow air flow. With enough overhang on the roof, do I really need walls at all?

Finally, what do I stack in the shed? This years burning wood (already seasoned) or wood that requires seasoning? I don't have too much space, so additional rows outside of the shed may be problematic to some degree. The opening of the shed is west facing. My initial thoughts are to simply put the current years burning wood in the shed (keeping it out of the snow and rain), and have the rest seasoning outside of the shed, but my better half may not like that too much. Then, in late summer/early fall move the seasoning in for burning. I guess it's possible to have a rotation system of some kind - as space opens up fill with new wood? What are people experiences with this kind of thing?

Would appreciate any feedback. I've attached an image of the floor structure as it currently stands.

 

[Bushfire]

And now that I'm thinking about it, would I benefit from additional support under my 2x6's in the middle? Right now I have a span of 6' between skids and my joists are 16" on center. So my 2x6's are spanning 6' unsupported. While it's open, it's easy to add an additional skid down the middle resting on three more blocks, but once that decking goes on it's another story.

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

Floor gap: I could go either way here. My own take is that the majority of the wood in my woodshed has been seasoned outside. I'm not sure gaps in the floor will make a big difference in seasoning . . . possible negative is that wood bark and junk could fall down and over time build up underneath the shed.

Walls: I think whether you leave it open or go with partial walls or fully enclosed walls is both a personal preference deal . . . and dependent on the weather. Here in Maine, snow is an issue. I built the woodshed mainly so I don't have to wrestle with tarps and knock off a lot of snow and ice off the top of the woodstack. I ended up going with a board and batting type of wall . . . minus the batting . . . which left a half inch to an inch gap. While most of the seasoning is done in stacks sitting outside, I figure the additional side ventilation can only help the wood continue to season . . . and the resulting gaps allow in very little snow or rain.

Shed purpose: As mentioned . . . I season the wood outside for a year or two . . . and then it goes into the woodshed. No more messing around with tarps . . . I can pick and choose which wood I want to burn . . . and the wood is never wet from snow, ice or rain. For me, it's more of a convenience factor. Not too many folks here season the wood inside a shed.

I would most definitely beef up your floors with some cement blocks in the middle . . . also . . . were joist hangers used? The flooring holds a lot of weight . . . I am not an engineer, but I am a firm believer in over-building stuff so I don't have it break and have to do it again . . . since I am also quite lazy.

 

[Bushfire]

Thanks, firefighter. Lots of good info. There are not joist hangers, but then they are not hanging on the rims joists, they are sat on the skids, although I guess the hangers would help with sideways movement or twisting. I think I'll def. put an additional skid through the middle - I want this to last 15+ years, so money well spent I think. At the same time, I'm kinda going off some plans I bought a while back, and they had a slightly smaller span and didn't have hangers, a third skid, and also sued 2x6s. But for a few bucks and time, worth doing. And I had also thought of all the crap that could accumulate underneath over time, so maybe no gap is better.

We don't get a lot of snow here (at least that was what I was told when we moved here 18 months ago, and then we had an awful winter last year), but I remember the days of ice and snow on my tarp covered rows in CT and I'd rather not go back to that. Walls of some kind could be useful.

This year I have to buy wood as I'm behind the 8-ball, but I have already started scrounging for next year. Bought wood will go in the shed this year, and I'll keep my scrounge wood outside to season as best as it can.

Thanks again.

 

[glennm]

I would beef up the floor for sure, I filled my shed the first time and broke a couple of joists. Had to remove 6 cords of wood and support the floor with poured concrete. I left the back off mine so I can load and remove wood from either side. I also put a divider through the center so you can remove wood from either side. I have sides on mine up to 6 ft, that makes filling it much easier. Mine holds 2 years with of wood so I remove from the front one year and the back the next.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

You're already set on your course so none of this will help, but. . .

1) That shed will hold, potentially, 6 cord. Each cord weighs 3800-4100 pounds. That's a lot of weight. Which is why I would have gone with pallets set on the ground.

2) 8x12 is kinda small - my shed is 10x20 with two 10x10 bays so I do both - a green side and a dry side - this year/next year

3) Even if you pack it with dry wood the fewer walls you have the better.

 

[Bushfire]

Bigg-redd,

I'm looking at storing just over 4 cords, so less weight, but I get the drift. I already plan to add an additional skid down the middle of the joists for added support. Jamaica Cottage up in Vermont make some great looking sheds (and woodsheds) and their plans show 2x6 joists on skids for sheds that hold similar amounts of wood, if not more, than this will. However, I'm going to air on the side of additional support as it'll only cost me $40 extra.

The reason I didn't go with pallets was that this is in a highly visible area of the yard so I want the best look I can get at a reasonable price (ignore the falling fence - that's a future project). I would love a bigger one, but space is at a premium in this area of the yard (close to the driveway and stove). I may build a second in another location of the yard if I think I need more - will mean a longer trip from the driveway and stove, though (although I do have a double back gate that I can get my truck through which helps with bringing in scrounged wood, but not so much when it needs to get to the stove).

I think for this winter (and to save a little up front), I'm going to go with no walls and see how much moisture (rain and snow) gets on the wood from the sides. Stacking will be more difficult (nowhere to lean the stacks against), but I usually do the criss-cross ends that seem to hold a stack up real well.

Appreciate the input.

 

[Poindexter]

Your local county extension agent should be able to tell you how many square feet of ground contact you need to keep your piers from sinking into your ground.

I talked to my local guy before I built, I am on a the weakest possible soil as far as pounds per square foot supported. For my woodshed my local guy suggested 8x8 RR ties on three foot centers under my joists so my loaded shed doesn't sink into the ground. You won't need more than that, I am on an ancient river plain, my subsoil is sand with glacial silt mixed in. Nothing weaker. It's "free" to use your extension agent as you already paying his salary out of your federal income taxes.

For the floor, I would put the 5/4x6 PT boards on diagonally and I would install them flush up against each other. Diagonally they will stiffen your floor. Within a year they will shrink back to 1/4" or so gap between each board. If you want to season green wood in there I might think about spacing the wet 5/4PT apart a bit to end with a solid floor and bigger gaps.

The tricks I think to finding consensus about wood sheds is A) is this shed for storing already seasoned wood (mostly here) or seasoning green wood (rarely here) and B) - how much water gets pumped out of the ground into your shed space in your local climate.

Locally for me the ground can give up a terrific amount of water into a hot volume with no vapor barrier under the floor. Thus a dry wood on pallets under a tarp on five sides can go from 18% MC back up to 25% MC in just the couple months of shoulder season when it freezes overnight and then thaws during the day. The tarps traps a lot of heat, I won't make that mistake again.

What I do in my climate is season on pallets that are up on cinder blocks. My shed is convenient to the back door but I didn't fool with vapor barrier. I just wait until the temp drops below freezing for good this year, about now actually, and then move my dry seasoned wood into the shed - don't have to worry about water vapor coming out of the ground until March or so.