Top 10 DIY Shed Building Tips
Most professional builders would advise you against building your own shed. But, believe it or not, you can do a pretty good job with little to no experience of woodworking, especially if you have a shed plan handy. But there will still be times when you would wonder about the lengths you can go to with your shed. This is where most young woodworkers would be distracted. Since you won’t have much experience in the arena, you would find yourself going through a plethora of options. This wouldn’t help you much. Stick to the plan and execute it. That’s how simple it should be.
So, to remove any doubts that you might have, here are the top 10 shed building tips from professional woodworkers. In case you find yourself wondering, go through these 10 tips and all your questions would be answered.
Building the Foundation – The Easiest is Not Always the Worst:
Of course, most people would think that the easier the task is, the less important it would be. This might be true generally but in this case, it is not. In fact, when you are building your shed’s foundation, simple pressure-treated timber would do the job better than anything else. Most woodworkers would blind you with their tactics, recommending you materials that would be costly just to create an impression, but leave them be. Use pressure treated timber and tongue and groove plywood for your foundation and flooring, and it will be a good solid shed foundation. Additionally, you can cover it with any anti-dampening layer to keep it safe from moisture.
Define Your Shed Beforehand
Before you even start building the shed, you need to know exactly what you want. Sheds come in all types of varieties and sizes; lean-to shed, gable shed and hip roof sheds to name a few. The sizes can range from as small as 4×6 to as big as 10×24 Gable Shed which you can get from 3DSHEDPLANS.COM. It all depends upon the tasks and functions you want the shed to perform. Smaller lean-to sheds are ideal for storing supplies while bigger gable sheds can be used for setting up leisure space and the like.
Floor & Wall Measurements Should Be Precise:
You wouldn’t believe it but even an inch of difference can make the whole shed unstable. Once you have built the foundation, you will start working on the walls. For most new woodworkers, building the walls is the easiest task compared to the foundation and roof, but it needs precision. If you are planning to buy a shed plan, make sure it has exact measurements of the walls. You don’t want to end up with an even roof.
Use Temporary Brackets to Set Up Walls
Another mistake most new woodworkers make is installing the walls on the foundation without testing them. You might be wondering how you can test the walls. It’s simple – use temporary brackets to set up the walls on the foundation. If the measurements are perfect and the walls seem to be in the precise shape as you want, you should then remove the temporary brackets and install the walls permanently.
Always Think of Air Circulation
Regardless of the size of your shed, there should always be a window and a door in the opposite direction. This would allow for good air ventilation within the shed. Whether you are storing gardening supplies, or you are building the shed for your leisure hours, air ventilation will be important to let out the humidity and moisture that would otherwise dampen the shed’s timber.
Use Low Maintenance Materials
The whole idea of building a shed yourself is to save money. While doing so, you wouldn’t want to spend a fortune on high-end materials when the cheaper ones would do the job better. For the wood, use pressure treated timber. For roof shingles, use asphalt shingles as they are quite resistant against extreme weather conditions.
Sidings Should Be Installed on the Walls Beforehand
One of the most common mistakes people make is of installing the walls on the foundation and then adding siding to it. This would not only make the job more difficult but would also compromise the durability of your shed. It is better to first install the siding neatly on the walls and then erect them on the foundation.
Preparing the Site
While this might not be the case for everyone, it is a good idea to inspect the site carefully before building a shed there. By inspecting, we simply mean to check if the site has issues like water logging, insects, roots of plants and the like. If so, you can either remove them or find another spot for your shed. You wouldn’t want the moisture warping the timber of your shed or the insects crawling in.
Use Trusses for the Roof
Any professional woodworker would advise you to use trusses for your roof instead of building the roof rafter by rafter. When you use trusses, you build a layout for your roof rafters and then install the rafters. This way, the chances for any miscalculation of measurements are reduced and the roof is more solid than without the trusses.
Finishing Touches are More than Just Embellishment
Finishing touches such as painting the outside of your shed and adding drywall inside the shed would help in keeping your shed safe from moisture and other extreme conditions. Also, don’t forget the water drainage system. Don’t spend a lot on it – just make sure that waterlogging does not occur inside the shed. Since the structure is built of mainly wood, waterlogging could create problems.
Whether you are a professional woodworker, or this is the first time you are building a shed, it is best to follow shed plans from professional woodworkers. You can buy one of the shed plans from the 3Dshedplans website. These plans come with a complete list of materials, step by step instructions and 3D rendered diagrams of each step of the plan to help you through.