# 8x12 Shed Spring 2011



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*It all starts with a good floor...*

My construction class here at school started building a shed, and today was the day for the floor. Since this shed will be transported and moved around, we put three 2×6's 12'-6" long on the bottom to use for skid plates. The floor is made from treated 2×4's with 3/4" treated plywood flooring. This costs a little more, but it should last a long time since it will be exposed to the elements. We used 2-3/4" torx screws to attach the floor joists to the rim joist and the skids to the floor. We use 1-3/4" torx screws to attach the plywood to the floor frame. I wanted the floor to be real solid during moving around, so the torx screws were great. They also beat phillips head screws due to their ease of installation. Enough talk, here's the floor!


----------



## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

JonH said:


> *It all starts with a good floor...*
> 
> My construction class here at school started building a shed, and today was the day for the floor. Since this shed will be transported and moved around, we put three 2×6's 12'-6" long on the bottom to use for skid plates. The floor is made from treated 2×4's with 3/4" treated plywood flooring. This costs a little more, but it should last a long time since it will be exposed to the elements. We used 2-3/4" torx screws to attach the floor joists to the rim joist and the skids to the floor. We use 1-3/4" torx screws to attach the plywood to the floor frame. I wanted the floor to be real solid during moving around, so the torx screws were great. They also beat phillips head screws due to their ease of installation. Enough talk, here's the floor!


Are you using it for a shed or shop?


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

JonH said:


> *It all starts with a good floor...*
> 
> My construction class here at school started building a shed, and today was the day for the floor. Since this shed will be transported and moved around, we put three 2×6's 12'-6" long on the bottom to use for skid plates. The floor is made from treated 2×4's with 3/4" treated plywood flooring. This costs a little more, but it should last a long time since it will be exposed to the elements. We used 2-3/4" torx screws to attach the floor joists to the rim joist and the skids to the floor. We use 1-3/4" torx screws to attach the plywood to the floor frame. I wanted the floor to be real solid during moving around, so the torx screws were great. They also beat phillips head screws due to their ease of installation. Enough talk, here's the floor!


Thats cool, are you using it for a shop?


----------



## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

JonH said:


> *It all starts with a good floor...*
> 
> My construction class here at school started building a shed, and today was the day for the floor. Since this shed will be transported and moved around, we put three 2×6's 12'-6" long on the bottom to use for skid plates. The floor is made from treated 2×4's with 3/4" treated plywood flooring. This costs a little more, but it should last a long time since it will be exposed to the elements. We used 2-3/4" torx screws to attach the floor joists to the rim joist and the skids to the floor. We use 1-3/4" torx screws to attach the plywood to the floor frame. I wanted the floor to be real solid during moving around, so the torx screws were great. They also beat phillips head screws due to their ease of installation. Enough talk, here's the floor!


Actually, there are more "shed" size shops than one would think. An ongoing poll (Shopsmith forum) revealed that 13% worked in 100 sq. ft. or less. With about 300 respondents the poll is beginning to have statistical revelance.


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

JonH said:


> *It all starts with a good floor...*
> 
> My construction class here at school started building a shed, and today was the day for the floor. Since this shed will be transported and moved around, we put three 2×6's 12'-6" long on the bottom to use for skid plates. The floor is made from treated 2×4's with 3/4" treated plywood flooring. This costs a little more, but it should last a long time since it will be exposed to the elements. We used 2-3/4" torx screws to attach the floor joists to the rim joist and the skids to the floor. We use 1-3/4" torx screws to attach the plywood to the floor frame. I wanted the floor to be real solid during moving around, so the torx screws were great. They also beat phillips head screws due to their ease of installation. Enough talk, here's the floor!


Actually, we are building this shed for a member of the community. Yes, its big at 8×12, but go big or go home, right? Our customer has a riding lawnmower and other garden tools to put in there.


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*Day 2 wall framing begins*

On day 2, we got into laying out the walls. We went with 2 foot centers on this shed. Last year we did a shed that was 16" on center, framed just like a house and the thing ended up being referred to as an above ground bomb shelter. It was too expensive and was overkill. We also did not utilize a double top plate on top of the walls and we did not use a full header also. I must remind myself this is a simple shed, not a house! We got most of the way with the walls today, tomorrow we will finish and begin siding. Whoever invented the Swanson speed square (Mr. Swanson I presume) was a GENIUS. Here is a picture after the walls were done framing early on day 3.

The finished product


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*Day 3, Wall framing finished up and siding begins*

Its day 3 here in the Wahoo Woodshop and we finished up the framing and began the siding. The siding we got was a primed plywood type of siding. Its 5/8" thick and is great to work with. It has an OSB backing, and is strong enough to go right on the studs without any need for plywood on the walls. The guys are doing great, we got the front, one side and the rear done today. We also cut out the opening for the door. This plywood will make up the door later. We need to gather up some muscle to scoot the shed over in our shop so we can put siding on our left side.

P.S. If you've ever tried to take a flash picture in a shop with sawdust floating in the air, be prepared for strange things to show up on your camera. No, my shop isn't haunted, and I don't have water on the lens. The particles of sawdust sparkled in the air when I took the picture. It was fun figuring that out.
I guess we learn something new every day!










Picture with sawdust floating in the air









Picture after the dust settled in the shop.


----------



## jkress (Jan 24, 2010)

JonH said:


> *Day 3, Wall framing finished up and siding begins*
> 
> Its day 3 here in the Wahoo Woodshop and we finished up the framing and began the siding. The siding we got was a primed plywood type of siding. Its 5/8" thick and is great to work with. It has an OSB backing, and is strong enough to go right on the studs without any need for plywood on the walls. The guys are doing great, we got the front, one side and the rear done today. We also cut out the opening for the door. This plywood will make up the door later. We need to gather up some muscle to scoot the shed over in our shop so we can put siding on our left side.
> 
> ...


Shed is coming right along. I did the same thing at my high school. Just don't do what the class after I took it did and built the entire shed inside, only to realize it was 6" to wide to fit out the door when it was all finished. I will be following along to see how it turn.


----------



## Splinterman (Mar 13, 2009)

JonH said:


> *Day 3, Wall framing finished up and siding begins*
> 
> Its day 3 here in the Wahoo Woodshop and we finished up the framing and began the siding. The siding we got was a primed plywood type of siding. Its 5/8" thick and is great to work with. It has an OSB backing, and is strong enough to go right on the studs without any need for plywood on the walls. The guys are doing great, we got the front, one side and the rear done today. We also cut out the opening for the door. This plywood will make up the door later. We need to gather up some muscle to scoot the shed over in our shop so we can put siding on our left side.
> 
> ...


Hey Jon,
Looking good.


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

JonH said:


> *Day 3, Wall framing finished up and siding begins*
> 
> Its day 3 here in the Wahoo Woodshop and we finished up the framing and began the siding. The siding we got was a primed plywood type of siding. Its 5/8" thick and is great to work with. It has an OSB backing, and is strong enough to go right on the studs without any need for plywood on the walls. The guys are doing great, we got the front, one side and the rear done today. We also cut out the opening for the door. This plywood will make up the door later. We need to gather up some muscle to scoot the shed over in our shop so we can put siding on our left side.
> 
> ...


Yes, Jkress, I agree. We have 12' doors, so our 9' width (including the soffet) should work. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I can see getting caught on something like that. Sometimes a 12' door doesn't really give you 12' of space.


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*Laying out the rafters*

Lets just once again thank Mr. Albert J. Swanson for his wonderful invention of the Speed Square. I do not remember my Dad ever having these, he always used the traditional framing square. I have both in my woodshop, and both are great. The little book that comes with the Swanson speed square is awesome. Here is some info about the speed square. I have to give it some love, it makes laying out rafters so easy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_square

Once we laid out and stood up our walls, we began working on the rafters on Day 4. Using the speed square and the little blue book, we knocked them right out. One thing we messed up on was the actual thickness of the shed. In order to lay out the bird's mouth for the rafters, we had to account for the thickness of the siding in addition to the 8' width of the wall framing. Once we had that figured out, they went up fine.

Tools of the trade









Laying out a rafter









Finished product


----------



## yougbuckwoodworker (Sep 29, 2010)

JonH said:


> *Laying out the rafters*
> 
> Lets just once again thank Mr. Albert J. Swanson for his wonderful invention of the Speed Square. I do not remember my Dad ever having these, he always used the traditional framing square. I have both in my woodshop, and both are great. The little book that comes with the Swanson speed square is awesome. Here is some info about the speed square. I have to give it some love, it makes laying out rafters so easy!
> 
> ...


it doesnt look like there is any ridge beam, or maybe i cant see it, and its coming out great


----------



## Howie (May 25, 2010)

JonH said:


> *Laying out the rafters*
> 
> Lets just once again thank Mr. Albert J. Swanson for his wonderful invention of the Speed Square. I do not remember my Dad ever having these, he always used the traditional framing square. I have both in my woodshop, and both are great. The little book that comes with the Swanson speed square is awesome. Here is some info about the speed square. I have to give it some love, it makes laying out rafters so easy!
> 
> ...


Respectable looking project. Good job!


----------



## sblg43 (Jan 4, 2010)

JonH said:


> *Laying out the rafters*
> 
> Lets just once again thank Mr. Albert J. Swanson for his wonderful invention of the Speed Square. I do not remember my Dad ever having these, he always used the traditional framing square. I have both in my woodshop, and both are great. The little book that comes with the Swanson speed square is awesome. Here is some info about the speed square. I have to give it some love, it makes laying out rafters so easy!
> 
> ...


After I read this, I went looking for the Swanson Speed Square and the little blue book. I do work at a True Value hardware store and guess what I found! Yep, I got myself a genuine Swanson Speed Square! The Square itself is of much better quality than the two cheap ones that I had already. Thanks for the Swanson info.

I am building a nearly identical shed. Thanks for the info. Keep it coming!


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*Day 5, We sheet the roof!*

We are trucking right along with the shed project. We sheeted the roof today. It wasn't that tough, we just had to make sure we allowed the 1/2" OSB sheeting to overhang the proper amount on the front and rear. We are building a 6" soffit for a good appearance and it helps keep the rain away from the floor. We were able to make our materials work very efficiently since we stuck to 2' on center with our rafters. We left about 1-1/2" of space down from the peak on each side so we could install a ridge vent to keep the shed cool in the summer. We will install vents in the soffit which will take in cool air and push the warm air out the top of the roof. It should keep the shed from getting too hot in the summer. It took four sheets to roof our shed and we didn't have much waste at all. The whole trick with these shed projects is efficient use of materials. Each time I build a shed, I learn a little more and after this one, we will have our material list down to the smallest detail. I've learned not to overbuild these things too much, they aren't that much better and they end up too expensive for the customer. Tomorrow we work on soffit/fascia.

Notice the gap on the peak so the ridge vent can work its magic.


----------



## NalinGupta (Nov 30, 2013)

JonH said:


> *Day 5, We sheet the roof!*
> 
> We are trucking right along with the shed project. We sheeted the roof today. It wasn't that tough, we just had to make sure we allowed the 1/2" OSB sheeting to overhang the proper amount on the front and rear. We are building a 6" soffit for a good appearance and it helps keep the rain away from the floor. We were able to make our materials work very efficiently since we stuck to 2' on center with our rafters. We left about 1-1/2" of space down from the peak on each side so we could install a ridge vent to keep the shed cool in the summer. We will install vents in the soffit which will take in cool air and push the warm air out the top of the roof. It should keep the shed from getting too hot in the summer. It took four sheets to roof our shed and we didn't have much waste at all. The whole trick with these shed projects is efficient use of materials. Each time I build a shed, I learn a little more and after this one, we will have our material list down to the smallest detail. I've learned not to overbuild these things too much, they aren't that much better and they end up too expensive for the customer. Tomorrow we work on soffit/fascia.
> 
> Notice the gap on the peak so the ridge vent can work its magic.


You have done a good job… and dont forget to upload some more pics after completing the work…


----------



## JonH (Mar 19, 2007)

*Lets skip ahead a bit....*

We have sheeted the roof, and put the shingles on. We used a rolled roof vent to allow the hot air to escape in the summer. We will put a metal grate with a screen in the soffits to allow the cooler air to come in to push out the hot air through the roof vent. The shingles were matched to the customer's house, and we went to work fitting the doors into the opening. The doors are the siding that was cut out of the opening in front. We trimmed out the doors with 1×4's and cut down the doors and trimmed them with 1×4's as well. Doing this allows us to get a good fit on the doors and give the doors the right appearance with the lines matching up with the siding, etc. Now all we need to do is finish the door hardware and put a shelf in the back of the shed.


----------



## sblg43 (Jan 4, 2010)

JonH said:


> *Lets skip ahead a bit....*
> 
> We have sheeted the roof, and put the shingles on. We used a rolled roof vent to allow the hot air to escape in the summer. We will put a metal grate with a screen in the soffits to allow the cooler air to come in to push out the hot air through the roof vent. The shingles were matched to the customer's house, and we went to work fitting the doors into the opening. The doors are the siding that was cut out of the opening in front. We trimmed out the doors with 1×4's and cut down the doors and trimmed them with 1×4's as well. Doing this allows us to get a good fit on the doors and give the doors the right appearance with the lines matching up with the siding, etc. Now all we need to do is finish the door hardware and put a shelf in the back of the shed.


I want to thank you for posting this blog. It just so happens that a few days ago, I began construction of my first shed. It happens to be 8 X 12 as well (mostly because I bought three sheets of T&G 3/4 OSB for the floor and I realized that when they are layed out, they are 8 X 12).

I am interested in building my shed to look nearly identical to yours. I would appreciate more photos of the fascia and soffits to see how they're done. And a closer look at the doors (inside and out).

Thanks again for the info. Great looking shed.


----------

