Building sheds

217 Pages·2016·36.8 MB·english

by  Truini

B U I L D I N G
SH EDS
Joseph Truini
B U I L D I N G
SHEDS
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Text © 2016 by Joseph Truini
Photographs © 2016 by The Taunton Press, Inc., except where noted
Illustrations © 2016 by The Taunton Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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The Taunton Press, Inc.
63 South Main Street
PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
Email: [email protected]
Editor: Peter Chapman
Copy editor: Seth Reichgott
Indexer: Jay Kreider
Jacket/Cover design: Guido Caroti
Interior design: Guido Caroti
Layout: Guido Caroti, Sandra Mahlstedt
Illustrator: Christopher Mills
All photos by Geoffrey Gross, except as noted below:
pp. 3, 36-41, 42 (top left, top right), 43, 44 (top middle, top right), 45 (top right, bottom right), 46-63: courtesy
Fine Homebuilding magazine © The Taunton Press, Inc.
p. 8: courtesy DekBrands®
p. 9 (bottom), p.14 (bottom): © Smith-Baer
pp. 18 (left), 21 (left), 22 (left), 23 (top right), 26 (top right): courtesy Pine Harbor Wood Products
p. 26 (bottom): courtesy DaVinci Roofscapes
pp. 29 (bottom right), 44 (top left), 45 (top left, top middle), 89 (bottom right), 105 (top left, top right),
181 (bottom), 182, 184 (left), 192-93, 196 (right), 199 (right), 201 (right), 202, 206 (all, except bottom left),
208, 209 (top left, top right, bottom right): Joseph Truini
The following names/manufacturers appearing in Building Sheds are trademarks:
Azek®, CertainTeed®, Cor-A-Vent®, DaVinci Roofscapes®, DekBrands®, GAF®,Owens Corning®, Palram®,
Sonotubes®, Stanley®, SunTuf®, TimberLOK®, TimberSIL®, T-RexTM, Tuftex®, Tytan®
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Truini, Joseph, author.
Title: Building sheds / author, Joseph Truini.
Description: Newtown, CT : Taunton Press, Inc., 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015045971 | ISBN 9781627107709
Subjects: LCSH: Sheds--Design and construction--Amateurs’ manuals. |
Toolsheds--Design and construction--Amateurs’ manuals.
Classification: LCC TH4962 .T783 2016 | DDC 690/.8922--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045971
Printed in the United States of America
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Construction is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring safety practices can
lead to permanent injury or even death. Don’t try to perform operations you learn about here (or elsewhere)
unless you’re certain they are safe for you. If something about an operation doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Look
for another way. We want you to enjoy working on your home, so please keep safety foremost in your mind.
To Marla, Kate, and Chris: Thanks for shining your light on me.
Acknowledgments
Thank you first of all to all the talented men and women at The Taunton
Press. I’m proud to have my name on one of your books. Thanks in particular
to Executive Editor Peter Chapman: This book wouldn’t have been possible
without your unwavering support and constant encouragement.
And my sincerest appreciation to art director Rosalind Loeb Wanke, design-
er Guido Caroti, and layout coordinator Sandra Mahlstedt for creating such
an attractive, thoughtful book design. Thanks, too, to production manager
Lynne Phillips and administrative assistant Sharon Zagata. Your contribu-
tions made my job much easier.
As the author, I sweated over each and every word, but truth be told, it’s the
photographs that make this book special. It was my pleasure once again to
work with photographer extraordinaire Geoffrey Gross, whose keen eye and
skillful approach produced the most information-rich images imaginable.
It isn’t possible to write a shed book as comprehensive as this one without
a lot of help. I’d like to thank Justin Fink and Rodney Diaz of Fine Home-
building magazine for their assistance with the Timber-Frame Garden Shed.
Many thanks to Peter Charest of Connecticut Post & Beam for allowing us
to photograph the construction of the Board-and-Batten Shed and Post-
and-Beam Barn. Pete and his crew, including Dennis Royer and Greg But-
kus, couldn’t have been more accommodating and helpful.
Thank you to contractor Doug Foulke, and his son Devon, who built the
Vinyl-Sided Storage Shed. They both showed great patience and good
humor over many days of construction and photography. And many thanks
to Jamie McGrath of Pine Harbor Wood Products for inviting us to join
his crew—Mike Anderson, Jesse Chase, and Jason Phillips—to build the
Cedar-Shingle Shed, one of the most beautiful sheds to appear in any book.
Finally, I’d like to express my sincerest thanks to the following people who
went out of their way to provide me with information, photographs, techni-
cal data, and products: Kathy Ziprik (DaVinci Roofscapes®), Penny Barrows
(Better Barns), and Angelika Igoe and Chris Apolito (Pine Harbor Wood
Products).
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .............................................. 2
1 SHED-BUILDING METHODS AND MATERIALS. ........ 4
Shed-Building Methods .................................................. 7
Shed-Building Materials. ...............................................20
2 TIMBER-FRAME GARDEN SHED ......................... 30
Timber-Frame Foundation .............................................33
Timber-Frame Walls......................................................38
Timber-Frame Roof .......................................................44
Roofing ........................................................................51
Windows and Door .......................................................56
Siding and Trim ............................................................58
3 BOARD-AND-BATTEN SHED .............................. 66
Foundation and Floor Frame ..........................................69
Build Roof Trusses ........................................................73
Wall Framing ................................................................79
Roof Framing ................................................................86
Roofing ........................................................................89
Cross-Buck Batten Door ................................................98
Door Overhang. .......................................................... 103
4 VINYL-SIDED STORAGE SHED ..........................108
Foundation and Floor Frame ........................................ 111
Roof Trusses ............................................................... 114
vi
Wall Framing .............................................................. 116
Roof Framing .............................................................. 119
Roofing ...................................................................... 122
Vinyl Siding ............................................................... 126
Door Construction ...................................................... 135
Entry Steps. ................................................................ 138
5 CEDAR-SHINGLE SHED ...................................142
Foundation and Floor Frame ........................................ 145
Wall Framing .............................................................. 150
Roof Framing .............................................................. 154
Cedar-Shingle Siding ................................................. 162
Cedar Roofing ............................................................ 163
Frame-and-Panel Doors .............................................. 166
6 POST-AND-BEAM BARN ..................................172
Skid-Frame Foundation ............................................... 175
Post-and-Beam Frame ................................................. 180
Roof Framing .............................................................. 190
Roofing ...................................................................... 194
Vertical-Board Siding .................................................. 198
Doors and Windows .................................................... 203
Finish Up the Barn ...................................................... 210
RESOURCES. ................................................214
INDEX .......................................................216
1
Introduction
I’ve been writing about home-improvement projects for more than 30 years.
And although remodeling trends come and go, and then come again, there has
always been one constant topic of interest: storage sheds. Why? Because
no one has ever said, “We love our home, but there’s just way too much storage
space.”
For 20 consecutive years I wrote at least one shed-building article per year for
magazines such as Popular Mechanics, Handy, and Today’s Homeowner. And
in each year, those articles were highly ranked as the most popular amongst
the readers. Now I would like to believe that such high praise was due
to my wonderful prose, but in truth it was because of an undeniable fact:
Every homeowner needs a storage shed. Even homeowners who already have
a shed are often interested in building a new one because their existing shed
is too small or dilapidated and ready to collapse.
So when the fine folks at The Taunton Press asked me to write this book, I
called upon all my shed-building skills and experiences to provide you with
the inspiration and information to build your own backyard storage shed. And
unlike most other shed books, which show lots of pretty pictures of sheds but
don’t actually show how to build a shed, I took a decidedly more hands-on
approach.
The first chapter takes an in-depth look at all the various construction methods
and building materials you’ll need to build a shed. Then, in each of the next five
chapters, I’ll show how to build a shed from scratch. And these aren’t your typi-
cal plywood-box shacks. These are beautiful, perfectly proportioned structures
that would be an asset—not an eyesore—to any yard in any neighborhood.
They include an 8-ft. by 10-ft. Timber-Frame Garden Shed that combines a
potting shed with a mini-greenhouse; a 10-ft. by 10-ft. Board-and-Batten Shed
that has a realistic-looking faux-slate roof; a 10-ft. by 16-ft. Vinyl-Sided Stor-
age Shed that features a maintenance-free exterior; a beautiful 12-ft. by 16-ft.
Cedar-Shingle Shed, which has wood shingle walls and roof; and a massive
14-ft. by 20-ft. Post-and-Beam Barn that resembles a traditional timber- frame
building but was built using time-saving modern construction methods.
For each shed, there are dozens of step-by-step photos, detailed tech-
nical drawings, and helpful hints to guide you through each phase of con-
struction. I hope you enjoying reading this book as much as I did writing it.
Happy building!
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Introduction 3