How to Put Up a Storage Shed

A shed can provide a safe location to store your tools.

Building a storage shed in your yard can provide you with much-needed space to store lawn tools and equipment like shovels, rakes and tractors that you may not have room for in your garage. It can also be a place to safely store dangerous chemicals that you want to keep away from your children and pets. A well-built wooden shed on a solid concrete foundation can last for decades.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Shovel or excavator
• Vapor barrier
• Wooden stakes
• Hammer
• 2-by-4 boards
• Nails
• Sand or gravel
• Rebar or wire mesh
• Concrete
• Pressure-treated 2-by-4 boards
• Circular saw
• Safety goggles
• Drill
• Masonry screws
• Level
• Prefabricated roof trusses
• 3/4-inch plywood sheathing
• Roofing paper
• Hammer stapler
• Staples
• Drip-edge flashing
• Wooden shingles or siding
• Roof shingles
• Roofing nails
• Door
• Windows

Instructions

Laying the Foundation

1. Dig a hole in the ground for the shed's foundation that is 4 inches deep. Make the foundation at least one foot longer than the walls on each side, so if you're building a shed that measures 6 feet by 9 feet, dig a hole that measures 7 feet by 10 feet.

2. Lay a vapor barrier over the soil in the hole. The vapor barrier is a plastic sheet which protects the foundation against moisture damage.

3. Drive wooden stakes into the ground every three feet around the edge of the hole and nail 2-by-4 boards to them so that the top of the 2-by-4s are an inch above the ground. This frame will provide a form for the concrete when you pour it, with the slab one inch above grade.

4. Lay rebar or wire mesh on top of the sand or gravel, again following local building codes regarding which material to use. The metal bars help reinforce the concrete, making the foundation stronger.

5. Fill the hole with concrete. Depending on how much concrete you're using, your best option may be to hire a contractor to do the pour.

6. Screed the pour by dragging a 2-by-4 board across the top of the wooden frame. Screeding exposes any low spots in the pour while smoothing the surface and removing excess concrete. Add more concrete to any low spots that were exposed, and screed the surface again.

7. Smooth the surface of the concrete further by gliding a float over the surface. Cover the slab with a plastic sheet for 5 to 7 days. Lift the plastic and add water to the concrete to dampen the surface once a day, then cover it back up. Allow the concrete to cure for an additional 5 to 7 days.

8. Remove the wooden form from around the foundation after the concrete has finished curing.

Building the Shed

1. Cut sill plates for the base of the shed. These are pressure-treated 2-by-4 boards which connect the wooden frame of the shed to the foundation.

2. Place the sill plates into position on the concrete slab and attach them to the concrete by driving masonry screws through the wood and into the slab every 6 inches.

3. Cut standard 2-by-4 boards to be the top and bottom plates for the walls. The top plates and bottom plates should be the same length as the sill plates on the wall they're being installed on.

4. Construct the frame for the first wall by nailing a stud into each end of a bottom plate, then more studs in between the two end plates, keeping the studs spaced no more than 16 inches apart. Nail the top plate to the studs. If installing a window or door into the wall, follow local building codes when framing them.

5. Lift the frame into position on top of the sill plate with the help of a friend. Check to make sure the frame is plumb and level, then nail the frame to the sill plate.

6. Build the frames for the other three walls and nail them to the sill plates. Nail the end studs of the adjoining walls together.

7. Nail prefabricated roof trusses to the top of the walls. You can purchase these from home improvement stores, or directly from manufacturers.

8. Cover the framing of the walls and roof with 1/2-inch plywood sheathing. Begin at the bottom of each wall, and work towards the top of the roof, covering the entire structure. Stagger the boards so that there is no point where the corners of four different boards meet. This makes the walls stronger.

9. Lay roofing paper flat against the sheathing, and staple it with a hammer stapler every 6 to 8 inches. Start at the bottom and work up, and overlap the edges of adjoining sheets by about an inch. Cover the entire structure with the roofing paper.

10. Nail drip-edge flashing to the bottom of the roof to prevent water from seeping up underneath the shingles and damaging the roof.

11. Install the wooden shingles or siding on the outer walls of the shed.

12. Attach roof shingles to the roof of the shed with roofing nails. Start along the bottom edge and work towards the top, and stagger the shingles in each row.

13. Install the door and any windows on the shed.

Tips & Warnings

• Contact your local zoning board before building the shed to learn the building codes you must follow, as well as acquire any needed permits.

• Get the location of the utility lines in your yard marked before beginning construction by calling 811. The location of the lines will be spray painted on the ground at no cost to you. If you were to damage the lines during construction, you can be fined and forced to pay for repair costs.

• Wear safety goggles when sawing the wood.

References

• Fine Homebuilding; How to Build a Shed; Rick Arnold; 2011
• Ask the Builder; How to Build a Shed; Tim Carter