Garden Shed

During the summer and fall of 2003 I designed and built a garden shed and attached greenhouse for our back yard. The shed is 120 square feet (10'x12'), and the greenhouse is an additional 48 square feet (4'x12'). This fell under the threshold in our town for requiring a building permit, especially since there is no utility service to this building.

The design is entirely my own, although I did consult a couple of how-to books to learn about how to do my own design.

Click on a picture to see it in a larger size.

I used a 3D solid modeler called VariCAD to design the entire shed in 3D, including the framing. This shows a design that is a little taller than the final shed. We decided to modify it a little later in the project and I didn't fully update the CAD model.	This was the prep work for the slab foundation.	Slab foundation forms.
Slab foundation forms.	All prep work for the slab foundation is complete. The forms are finished, 5 inches of compacted gravel in the center, rebar in the footings, and welded-wire mesh for the expanse. The finished slab will be approximately 4 inches thick, with 10-inch footings.	Closeup of the reinforcement metal.
This is the morning of the pour. Todd and Kevin, and a few others, were on hand to help.	The slab is now poured, and some of my friends designed this makeshift sun block to help prevent the concrete from drying out in the sun before it's fully cured. I also sprayed water on the concrete periodically to keep it hydrated.	Another view of the makeshift sunblock.
The concrete slab has cured for one week, and now the forms for a small perimeter foundation for the greenhouse are in place. The inside has been filled with gravel. There is also compacted gravel underneath the perimeter.	The perimeter foundation for the greenhouse has been poured and screed.	Taia dancing with the small concrete mixer we rented to do the perimeter foundation.
This shows the garage in full shop mode with tools and materials for this project.	Man, that's a lot of lumber! The 2x4 stack back by the open garage door is 4 boards deep.	Now the fun part begins: framing. Believe it or not, I did all of the framing myself and even erected the walls without help.
	The walls are up, but are still braced with temporary boards reaching out into the yard.	Now the permanent diagonal braces have been installed into angled dadoes cut into the studs, and the temporary braces removed. The wall framing is now done, and the structure is freestanding.
This shed has a gambrel roof (barn roof), and the easiest way to make this type of roof on a small shed is by assembling trusses and then placing them on top of the framed walls. A compound miter saw is a very useful tool for this work!	All seven trusses are finished and shown in this picture.	Taia and I worked together to raise each truss and anchor it in place with hurricane ties.
Now that the roof framing is in place, the siding begins. We elected to use T-111 LP siding. What was really nice is that it was pre-primed.	Now the siding is finished, and some of the roof sheathing has been done (with CDX plywood).
This shows some detail on the trusses. The gusset plates were attached using both screws and construction adhesive. This combination made them very rigid and there is no creaking when I walk across the roof.	Once the siding and roof sheathing was on, greenhouse framing could begin. The shed and the greenhouse are actually separate structures, with the frame of the greenhouse nailed into the frame of the shed through the siding. The greenhouse is almost freestanding on its own.	The greenhouse is completely framed in this picture.
Here I am admiring the view from the top of my new building.	I took this picture to remember all of the angle cuts necessary to frame this triangular-shaped window. I think it came out very well.
	There were a few steps missing since the last picture, but the next photo I took was this one after a snowstorm. The shed is almost done. Taia's painted it to match the house, and I've installed trim, made doors, and roofed it.