OT: Building A Shed

Ken Christopherson

Well-known Member
Hello all! Well, we are well settled in our new home (moved in back in March)... Now that our garage is full with my wife's car, and the Case SC (with 5 other tractors outside)... And the little 7'X7' Rubbermaid shed is full... I need to build a bigger shed. I am trying to do it with recycled materials to get costs as close to ZERO as possible (we have our first baby due in April). Seeing as though my dream shop will be put on hold for about 6-7 years. This is my way of trying to open up a little more garage space for tractor work (replacing the 7X7 with a bigger shed).

So, here is my question.. I am limited to 120 square feet without pulling a permit. I figure I can go with two dimensions - either 8' X 15' or 10' X 12'. The 15' length I think would be nice as I could 'bury' the less used items towards the rear - BUT this limits door opening width (say, if I could put in a roll-up overhead door). Now, it also limits what I can do with shelving (or a small workbench) on the sides.. The 10' X 12' shed would give me more room on the sides for shelving, would allow me to install a standard width garage door if I should choose to in the future, but I obviously don't get the depth.

Things I will be storing? Riding mower, snowblower, yard tools, lawn trailer, lawn sweeper, etc. Shelves would contain totes or boxes, most likely. Maybe some tractor parts that I like to hang onto...

So, anyone have any suggestions? It is also much easier to find lumber in standard 8' lengths versus 10 or 12 foot lengths. (I'm searching for recycled materials like pallets, etc.).
 
I am struggling with an overhead door in a 10 ft wide shed and a door 7 ft tall and 9 ft wide. It is being extremely difficult to mount a 9 ft door in a shed that is 10 ft on outside. There is no room to work on the cables, Another problem was not enough head room, but in modifying the hardware and a lot of thinking I have made something that is working
 
My barn started life as a boat house on a lake 40 miles away. Free to haul off, I even reused the shingles!! When we got the property next door we tore it down again and moved it a couple hundred feet. We also added a second floor. Shingles were done for so I had to tin the roof. All together I have under$1000 in it. Lean to on each side don't count as footage on permit. One idea is find a guy that builds decks and see if you can get the used floor joists, they are usually still good even after the floor is done for. The decks we tear down have made many sheds, shooting houses, wheelchair ramps, chicken coops ,and who knows what else. Worth asking around. I've know folks to rip the joists down to 2x4's for walls.
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Build your little shed a bit taller so you can put in a loft for storage. Then put an open lean-to roof on one side for storage,or put your workbench,tools under.Or you can put up one of those WeatherPort(tensioned fabric) structures.Because they are 'portable'(no foundation) you don't need a permit.
 

If you built it as a "shed" roofed 10x12 with the high end along one of the ten foot sides, sitting on four poles, it could eventually become 1/8th of a 40x24 pole barn when you get the money.
 
Are there any height limitations? Build a barn type building with a second level for storage of the lighter "poofy" seasonal items (lawn chairs, lawn mower, kid toys, coolers, etc). Add a ladder on the wall of the lower level up thru a hatch. Include a door out the front on the second level, along with a built in 4x6 with a lifting eye. Helps to lift the bigger items upstairs.

My previous 12 x 16 barn was built on a slab, 1 course of blocks, 8' side walls, upper level was between 5.5 & 8' high.

The carports on the side may or may not be considered floorspace, but make a good place to store tractors.
 
I built my 24x36 shop with recycled materials. Then added a 16x24 'garage.And later added some lean-to type roofs to that. All recycled.Have built several smaller sheds with recycled as well.I tore down an old house for the lumber,and continue to add to the pile from time to time..Here,we don't need a permit for a 'farm building'.
 
Is it the cost of permit or why not get a permit and build it bigger. Yes, it would take longer to round up the "free" material but I think you would be happier in the end.
 
I would do a 12x10. 12 wide 10 long. Make door as wide as possible in case you get a bigger riding mower
 
Does it count it's portable?

Here in Ohio if it's not permanent (IE on skids) no permit required and it's not taxable.

That's why I have a 10 x 24 on skids with a 9x7 OH door on one end and a man door on the other end. I built it to be temporary.....25 years ago.

Food for thought.
 
Fuhgetabout using recycled materials. Unless somebody gives you a load of clean used 2x4s and plywood, the money you save won't come close to making it worth your while. Ever tried to dismantle a pallet without destroying it? You might chance into some used trusses, doors or windows, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I would go 10x12. You can build 2 foot deep shelves across the rear and still have a 10 foot square area. Items like the snowblower can be parked under the shelves. If you use rafters rather than trusses, the greater width will give you some "attic space" to store rarely-used items.

What's the downside of pulling a permit? Will they require you to pour a concrete pad or ratwalls? While we're on that subject, what kind of floor do you want? Concrete, dirt, or plywood on joists? I've built one shed with a plywood floor and another with concrete, and concrete is the way to go. Woodchucks luv the wood-floored shed sitting on blocks.
 
I wish Indiana didn't tax sheds. I have some 8x8, 8x10, 12x10 on skids, all $1000 assessment at 2% rate $20/year taxes.
The upside to a 12x10 is you put shelves on the sides and put things on wheels in the middle. That way if you need to get to shelves, just roll items on wheels out.
 
In Ohio it also goes by county and then maybe even township ! I'm in Ohio and in my area no permits are needed only if for septic. But they will find out real quick how big your building is and start taxing you ! Portable sheds are not taxed up to 10 x 12 IIRC in my area. But larger will be. Not sure about containers or semi trailers ? I have a box truck with a 20 foot box for storage and so far no tax on it.
 
Mark,

First, thank for your input! I value everyone's advice on these forums greatly! When it comes to pallets, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to dismantle them. It's not so much the planking I care about - it is the 2x4 runners. I do have a friend that has a bundle of treated lumber he said I could have - but I am just not sure what all is in there (or what is good). Hopefully I will gt lucky on that.

When it comes to pulling a permit - I don't have an issue doing that, BUT... 120 sq. ft. is the largest I can go, with an accessory building (like a shop). So, in essence, I am allowed 3 buildings on my property - the primary structure, the accessory structure/shop, and a maximum of 120 sq.ft. of shed space. That is simply the reason I don't want to go bigger. It will cause more teardown work for me down the road.

Flooring will most likely be 3/4" plywood on joists. We don't have much of an issue with woodchucks where I am (for some reason). Gophers, on the other hand.. They are everywhere.
 
That is a good question. I was going to build the shed on skids/timbers so I can move it if need be. I have looked at those pre-fab portable sheds that you can have delivered to your home (but they are quite spendy). It'd be worth me checking into. I know that I can only have a maximum of 3 buildings on my property - the primary, the accessory building/shop, and a maximum of a 120 sq.ft. of shed space when the above two are met.
 
When it comes to pulling a permit - I don't have an issue doing that, BUT... 120 sq. ft. is the largest I can go, with an accessory building (like a shop). So, in essence, I am allowed 3 buildings on my property - the primary structure, the accessory structure/shop, and a maximum of 120 sq.ft. of shed space. That is simply the reason I don't want to go bigger. It will cause more teardown work for me down the road.

I have a friend who has a bundle of lumber he said I could have. Varying lengths, widths, etc. Mostly treated. It is pretty aged, so figuring out what is good and what isn't may be the hard part.. But, free lumber is free lumber.
 
That would be a great idea... IF they didn't just change the rules where I live. In order to build a pole barn in my town, you must have a minimum of 5 acres.
We have 2.69, so not nearly enough. Everything must be stick built with foundation here...
 
I am not sure on height limitations of a shed - I know for an accessory building (i.e. a shop), the roofline cannot be higher than the highest point of the main structure on the property.

My thought was to build the shed with 8' sidewalls, and then have a steep-pitched roof (almost like an A-Frame home), so that I had the overhead space for a miniature loft/storage area. Ideally, it would be nice to have about 7 feet or so from the bottom of the 'loft' to the peak. I am not sure how it would work dimensionally as I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but it should be possible. Sure would help shed snow as well!
 
My intentions were to build 8' sidewalls with an almost A-frame style roof (high peak). That way I could use the loft for storage of miscellaneous things. Partially why I thought an 8' X 15' shed would be better dimension-wise. A 12' wide shed, having a high-peaked roof (without building a barn style roof) would be a pretty tall structure.

The tensioned fabric shed are technically only allowed where I am for temporary storage. (Although some have gotten away with leaving them up permanently).. The city inspector drives through on occasion and has already talked to me due to "maximum vehicle limit" allowed for outdoor storage (which is 6). I have my car, and 5 tractors outside (that didn't include my utility trailer at the time). Wife's car and my Case SC sit in the garage attached to the home.

So, to curb that, I started parking my tractors down in the gully by our wetland. Can't see them from the road!
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I remember you posting photos of your barn before when I had asked about planning a shop build. Very cool! My shop build will be put off for about 6-7 years, but the shed project should be easily achievable with materials like you have said. I keep an eye out on Craigslist and other sites for exactly that - deck lumber or even old sheds that need tearing down. A lot of the interior lumber of sheds, or the floor joists of decks are still in great shape, as you mentioned.

I do have a friend that has a pile of treated lumber that said I could take all I want - but it has been sitting in the same spot for about 20 years. Just would have to find out what is still good, and what isn't (no different than using any other recycled material, though).
 
I thought about investing in one of those roll-up steel doors. for a 7'X7', it is about $250.. If that was about the only thing I had to buy, that wouldn't be too bad.
 
Sometimes it get frustrating pulling nails and cleaning up old lumber but for some of us cheap guys it's well worth it. Good luck with your project. Hard work is very satisfying!!
 
I agree. I learned a lot REAL quick about pallet disassembly when I built my little woodshed to keep firewood in for the backyard firepit. Turned out pretty good though for just using wood I had laying around!
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My niece got a line on an old house that was being torn down. It was full of really nice heavy built doors. They got all they could for free. They ended up making a little shed out of the doors ! Kind of neat looking. Only problem was I didn't know which one was the actual door to enter into it . LOL.
 
I?m cheap on some projects, built this shed (26x48?) two years ago, have about $300 or less in it, still haven?t finished it, going to wall it up and already have the tin and lumber to do it with, will have to buy some more screws and nails and still will have less than $400 in it. Got a friend that brings me used utility poles for free and bought four large trailer loads of rough cut lumber for a dollar a board.
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Picture looks odd to me, looks like all the poles are leaning in it, haha, I can assure you though that they aren?t, strange that it looks like that in picture
 
This place had an old 10 x 20 garage when we bought it, sliding doors were gone and it was leaning a little, only thing saving it from a fire was the cement that I didn't want to have removed. A guy I worked with gave me a 9' wood door with the bottom panel just about destroyed. I plated the back side of the panel in four places and then figured out it was too wide for the 109 and half inch door way between the foundation, had to cut/reweld the bottom track brkts, chiseled the foundation for a groove to set the track in and took the door back apart and narrowed it. Also straightened and braced the shed and put the tin on. Door's lasted about 25 years, don't know what I'm going to do when I need another.
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Can you build the shed so the 15 foot is on the end fo the roof ? Or another words can the peak be so the 8 ft side is the end of the roof . If so then build with a sort of temporary end on the back then next year add another 8 feet to it. This would yield a 15x15 that could be added to again for a 15x 24 over 3 years then put your shelves on the sides as you ad to your shed. Would still be one building when done. Also would allow for expansion easily. go higher than you think is needed if you plan 10 go 12. You then have room for a hoist over things to lift with.
 

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