14x20 Shed Construction Questions

[buckeyefarmer]

800# on a wood floor is nothing.

 

[CurlyDave]

I always hire out the finish work. This is how I prefer to do concrete work. I like to set my forms, dig out my footings, run my utilities if I have any, and tie my rebar and set it on chairs myself. I've seen where if you hire a crew to do everything, they sometimes like to skip things, or maybe not do it the way I want it done, and if I'm paying them do to it my way, I don't want to have to also be the supervisor making sure they do it my way.

Getting concrete smooth and nice looking is one of those skills that you have to do it a lot to become good at it. For such a small amount of money, and for something you will have to live with for the rest of your life, there is no question that hiring a pro to finish it is a smart move.

I completely agree with this.

The only thing I would do differently is to think hard about sloping everything toward a floor drain. Or at least slope toward a garage door. Make it easy to clean the floor.

You won't get nearly as much oil and grease as in an auto shop, but you won't get no oil and grease either. And, sooner or later the EPA is going to make you capture that oil instead of letting it flow into a surface drain...

 

[newbury]

First of all, since I'm doing about the same thing near Washington, DC I'm closely following this thread. My plans are for 12x20, max I can do w/o a permit. I've a quote cost from 84 Lumber for materials for the ENTIRE shed w/ wood floor, from ground up to the shingles AND flashing on the top and it's only about $2K TOTAL.

Any reason to not have a concrete floor? For about $500 worth of concrete a lot of problems go away. Even if you've never done it, this is a good size to learn on..........

I strongly disagree. You should learn on a sidewalk or something small. As soon as the concrete hardens it's a royal pain to do over.

I'm also wondering why you want to go to the expense of building a pier and beam foundation when a solid slab is so much better?

Pier and beam are easier to remove when the next homeowner doesn't like where you put the shed.

At $5 a square foot, which is high here for concrete, but probably a safe number for general guessing on here, you are at $1,400 for a concrete slab. You might come in a bit less for wood, but not enough to make it an attractive alternative to concrete.

I just yesterday got 2 quotes for concrete delivered where I (and my sons) did all the prep (dig, form, rebar) and the company did the finish (pour float, broom finish).
The concrete quotes were $1,000 and $2,650.

The other consideration is getting up to the floor. Do you want to be climbing stairs every time you walk into your shed? Odds are pretty good it will be close to 2 feet above grade when you get it all figured out.

I climb stairs every time I walk into my house.

Do you have snakes or rats or skunks or other critters what will want to make their home under your shed? Every shed that I've ever torn down was loaded with dead rats.

If you've got snakes you shouldn't have rats.

<snip>
If I had the money I would do concrete with in floor heat, off a boiler, or maybe water heater if insulated good. That would have to get figured by a pro.
<snip>.

If the OP had the money he probably wouldn't be asking the question.

My 12x16 shed is built on pt 4x4s 24"oc with 3/4" flooring direct on top. Framed walls on top w/ osb siding. 4x4s leveled with blocks under them. cost around $1000 to build. truss and shingle roof. now 18 years old.
Parked my small tractor in it for years without a problem. do have groundhogs under it. I built it before owning a tractor. Today i would level a pad first, put gravel down. Then build on top of runners. I would close off access to the underside.

Today the materials would probably be closer to $2,000. But finally a word from someone with a wood floor.

I always hire out the finish work. This is how I prefer to do concrete work. I like to set my forms, dig out my footings, run my utilities if I have any, and tie my rebar and set it on chairs myself. I've seen where if you hire a crew to do everything, they sometimes like to skip things, or maybe not do it the way I want it done, and if I'm paying them do to it my way, I don't want to have to also be the supervisor making sure they do it my way.

Getting concrete smooth and nice looking is one of those skills that you have to do it a lot to become good at it. For such a small amount of money, and for something you will have to live with for the rest of your life, there is no question that hiring a pro to finish it is a smart move.

DIY 1 person concrete seems to be best left for small projects. Getting "friends" to help finish a concrete project does not sound like a good plan unless they are proven good with concrete.
Concrete is unforgiving.

To the OP - here's an easy to read document discussing joist and beam spacing.
Overbuild.

 

[travlitt]

This is the floor support for a storage building I built.

 

[newbury]

This is the floor support for a storage building I built.
<snip>

Nice, are they 4x4's and what;s the spacing?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Is this more like a barn or more like a house? The difference being, barns are built open and houses are built tight. Building tight is going to be more expensive, but it has two big advantages. First is if you want to insulate the building, second is in keeping wildlife out.

If you are building tight, you want to have conventional framing. There are endless threads here from people looking to insulate and critter-proof their pole barns, they'd be better off if they had just started with stud framing. You can build tight on a concrete slab, or on a floor platform. In either case you need some sort of footing, whether it is skids, piers or footers. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

If you are building open, the simplest (ie cheapest) is a pole barn. Just as an example, check out this kit on Ebay:
16x24 Run in Shelter Loafing Shed with Steel Truss and Metal Roofing Pole Barn | eBay

I have no idea if this is a good kit, I'm just giving an idea of pricing. My estimate is the cost is about 75% of what the same materials would cost at Home Depot. That's the bottom of the barrel, you can pretty much spend as much money as you want making it nicer with more expensive materials.

 

[Zerk]

To the OP - here's an easy to read document discussing joist and beam spacing.
Overbuild.

Good document. Some ratings may be different in different parts of country.

Frost goes deeper without snow, and snow loads on roof.

 

[travlitt]

Nice, are they 4x4's and what;s the spacing?

Treated 4x4's on 16" centers except the first 2 and the last 2 are on 12" centers. Also the 2 center runners have headers between them near the ends so if I were to pull it to another location, they would not try to come together from the force applied while pulling it.

 

[EddieWalker]

First of all, since I'm doing about the same thing near Washington, DC I'm closely following this thread. My plans are for 12x20, max I can do w/o a permit. I've a quote cost from 84 Lumber for materials for the ENTIRE shed w/ wood floor, from ground up to the shingles AND flashing on the top and it's only about $2K TOTAL.d.

That's a very affordable price. I would love to hear how it turns out for you in ten years when I expect you to start having problems with it. There are a lot of kits out there that have figured out how to do it for less. Then there are those buildings that you pay more for upfront using the best materials and methods. I've always found that I never regretted paying more for quality, and always regret those decisions to save a buck.

 

[Zerk]

Are 4x4s laying flat good to use? I have heard the debate of what grain you get. You wouldn't lay a 2x flat.