My Solar Shed

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

One of our first construction projects for our rural property was to build a Solar Power Shed. It's purpose is to house the batteries, inverters and back-up generator for the system. The Solar company was going to buy a Tuff Shed for this purpose but I figured building one would save me some money. I went to Tuff Shed and took several photos of how they were constructed and basically copied their method. This shed does not require a permit nor does it need to meet code because it is not over 120 sq ft. (8' x 15'). In fact, we could have used one of those cheapy metal ones if we wanted to put it together. I thought it would be fun to give it a try and build our own.

I paid my son Matthew to help me for a few days. He works in construction and gave me some pointers to make it sturdy enough to serve it's pupose. The concrete foundation is 6" thick and 12' x 20'. We used a CAD drawing I'd made to build it.

This picture shows him starting to build the sides and ends.

This one shows the framing complete and ready for the next step.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

One of our first construction projects for our rural property was to build a Solar Power Shed. It's purpose is to house the batteries, inverters and back-up generator for the system. The Solar company was going to buy a Tuff Shed for this purpose but I figured building one would save me some money. I went to Tuff Shed and took several photos of how they were constructed and basically copied their method. This shed does not require a permit nor does it need to meet code because it is not over 120 sq ft. (8' x 15'). In fact, we could have used one of those cheapy metal ones if we wanted to put it together. I thought it would be fun to give it a try and build our own.

I paid my son Matthew to help me for a few days. He works in construction and gave me some pointers to make it sturdy enough to serve it's pupose. The concrete foundation is 6" thick and 12' x 20'. We used a CAD drawing I'd made to build it.

This picture shows him starting to build the sides and ends.

This one shows the framing complete and ready for the next step.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

One of the reasons we needed to build the shed first is that the General Contactor who will build our home is going to knock off a substantial amount if he does not have to supply a couple of generators and associated fuel bills for the year long project...maybe up to 18 months to complete all phases of construction. He had $10,000 included in his estimate to supply power for building our home during that time frame. When the Solar system is complete (in about 45 days) it will provide 110v and 220v single phase for the home and 3Ø power for my machine shop. We will be totally off Grid.

Back to the shed now...
A similar Tuff Shed was quoted to me for $2,995 plus tax. This included installation and painted. I was able to buy ALL the materials including roofing and paint for $1,200. I paid my son $500 to help me for a total of 4 days (cheap) but that included his room and board, transportation and medical bills. Ha Ha. It also included hunting on the property and spending quality time with Pop...priceless.

Here's a photo from the double door end after we got all the siding and OSB on the roof.

And another of the single door end.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

One of the reasons we needed to build the shed first is that the General Contactor who will build our home is going to knock off a substantial amount if he does not have to supply a couple of generators and associated fuel bills for the year long project...maybe up to 18 months to complete all phases of construction. He had $10,000 included in his estimate to supply power for building our home during that time frame. When the Solar system is complete (in about 45 days) it will provide 110v and 220v single phase for the home and 3Ø power for my machine shop. We will be totally off Grid.

Back to the shed now...
A similar Tuff Shed was quoted to me for $2,995 plus tax. This included installation and painted. I was able to buy ALL the materials including roofing and paint for $1,200. I paid my son $500 to help me for a total of 4 days (cheap) but that included his room and board, transportation and medical bills. Ha Ha. It also included hunting on the property and spending quality time with Pop...priceless.

Here's a photo from the double door end after we got all the siding and OSB on the roof.

And another of the single door end.

EddieWalker · Jun 10, 2006

Rob,

I realize it's just a shed, but there are all sorts of things that I don't understand that you're doing here. Please don't take this to badly. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Six inch pad for a shed??

OK, I can almost understand spending extra on making the pad extra thick, but why is it so much larger than the building?

How wide is your door opening? Why no header? Are the studs doubled? It looks like your missing your jack studs, but it could be the picture.

How did you build your corners and tie them together? The picture isn't clear.

Is the roof framing done, or is this picture from before the finished framing job? The building is small enough that you might not need to tie the side walls together, but over time, they still might bow out without something to hold them together.

The roof overhang isn't supported or tied into the wall at all. How will you keep if from sagging? If you get strong winds, this will also flex allot and lead to failure.

Sorry, I know it sounds like I'm picking you building apart, but I would rather know I was wrong and fix something than to continue and have it fail on my down the road.

Eddie

EddieWalker · Jun 10, 2006

Rob,

I realize it's just a shed, but there are all sorts of things that I don't understand that you're doing here. Please don't take this to badly. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Six inch pad for a shed??

OK, I can almost understand spending extra on making the pad extra thick, but why is it so much larger than the building?

How wide is your door opening? Why no header? Are the studs doubled? It looks like your missing your jack studs, but it could be the picture.

How did you build your corners and tie them together? The picture isn't clear.

Is the roof framing done, or is this picture from before the finished framing job? The building is small enough that you might not need to tie the side walls together, but over time, they still might bow out without something to hold them together.

The roof overhang isn't supported or tied into the wall at all. How will you keep if from sagging? If you get strong winds, this will also flex allot and lead to failure.

Sorry, I know it sounds like I'm picking you building apart, but I would rather know I was wrong and fix something than to continue and have it fail on my down the road.

Eddie

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

So all in all, I was going to make out pretty good building it myself and then saving what the GC was going to charge. Made it worth while until this happened. Matthew and I got in an argument because we were hot and tired. Then he stormed off to start laying the tar paper on the roof and fell off the ladder! His pliers in his tool belt gouged into his jaw when he smashed into the ground. So I took a picture of it to show what NOT to do when you're tired, hot and mad...
I took him back to camp to clean him up and returned to finish putting all the tar paper on the roof and then go home. As it turned out, he is OK and healed up in a couple of days.

But I wanted to get the tar paper on in case it rained or something.

This is a photo of the inside. My contractor friend told me I should have doubled up on the side walls and blocked in some roof beams, so I will do that next visit up to the property.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

So all in all, I was going to make out pretty good building it myself and then saving what the GC was going to charge. Made it worth while until this happened. Matthew and I got in an argument because we were hot and tired. Then he stormed off to start laying the tar paper on the roof and fell off the ladder! His pliers in his tool belt gouged into his jaw when he smashed into the ground. So I took a picture of it to show what NOT to do when you're tired, hot and mad...
I took him back to camp to clean him up and returned to finish putting all the tar paper on the roof and then go home. As it turned out, he is OK and healed up in a couple of days.

But I wanted to get the tar paper on in case it rained or something.

This is a photo of the inside. My contractor friend told me I should have doubled up on the side walls and blocked in some roof beams, so I will do that next visit up to the property.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

Eddie,
Don't feel bad, I know there is a lot to be desired here. My contractor buddy is coming up to straighten me out. However, it is just a shed and I thought I'd give it a shot. I am not a builder obviously. Any critique will be helpfull so when I return to finish it, I can re-inforce it better. Your comments will help me a lot.

3RRL · Jun 10, 2006

Eddie,
Don't feel bad, I know there is a lot to be desired here. My contractor buddy is coming up to straighten me out. However, it is just a shed and I thought I'd give it a shot. I am not a builder obviously. Any critique will be helpfull so when I return to finish it, I can re-inforce it better. Your comments will help me a lot.