Building a "She" Shed

woodlandfarms · Nov 3, 2018

So I got home late September, left a couple of weeks later and the Movie I was to start folded due to the director hating the script. So home I went, and the wife said "You are not sitting around waiting for your shop to get built, you are helping build mine". Helping generally means providing the money, and the manpower, and doing at least 50% of the labor but not being in charge while being in charge. Its is complex dance...

Anyway, we had bought shed plans on the internet a while ago.

So pretty self explanatory, We had some other dirtwork going on so the guy dug out a space for the building. It was neither level and was far too deep, thank you very much for not listening. So more concrete than necessary was put to use.

We Framed up the bottom, and the wife informed me she wanted an insulated floor. so we got some 1.5" closed cell, laid down a 3/16 sheathing, but some 2x2's down and then put in some insulation. Then some 5/8 flooring and bobs your uncle.... Oh, I had to fly out at this point for a meeting.

woodlandfarms · Nov 3, 2018

So I got back and to my surprise the wife had made 3 walls. Raised them alll on her own. Pretty impressive I have to say.

woodlandfarms · Nov 3, 2018

We finished off building the walls, brought the kubota over to help square up and then started sheathing a bit to firm up the building and then got news of impending weather, so we jumped ahead to the roof. Finally today we got on some fancy underlayment that is UV proof for 120 days and Sunday we can return to the sheathing

My hope is by the end of this coming week the sheathing will be done, the wrap will be on, and I will have the front door in and the porch started.

None of this is cheap and add to it my wifes expensive tastes and we could be taking a world cruise right now...

Wagtail · Nov 3, 2018

And what's the eventual purpose/use for the She-d?

oosik · Nov 3, 2018

Very nice AND no cold feet - ha, ha. Obviously, its the wife's workshop/hobby shop/tool shed.

woodlandfarms · Nov 3, 2018

Actually it is a garden shed. At least at this point. For permit issues this is our plan. It might change once completed.

Big Barn · Nov 3, 2018

Looking good!

. Send your wife over when she’s finished

Thomas · Nov 3, 2018

Tip of the hat to your bride...nice..darn nice.:thumbsup:

EddieWalker · Nov 4, 2018

Very nice.

On the framing of the floor. Why didn't you rest your joists on top of your beams instead of using all those joist hangers and building up the concrete so high?

KennyG · Nov 4, 2018

Impressed with how it's going. If I was doing it nothing would happen if I didn't do it and whatever I did would be wrong.

RayfromTX · Nov 4, 2018

I hesitate to comment about this, especially since it looks like you are doing a nice job and keeping everything really neat. I only want to say a couple of things for others that may want to follow in your footsteps.

When you wish to use foam board insulation in the floors there are two things I would do differently. First I would skip the runners and just run the insulation continuously and then I would use screws all the way through to the first layer or into the joists if wish to try that. If you use 5/8" or greater decking for the first layer then you can just go for the decking instead of trying to hit the joists. This will save time and money and is how I do all of my roofs. I use big washers on my roofs but that is to get the 110 mph wind rating. You wouldn't need that. Second is that I would wait until the building was dried in before adding the insulation and second layer of decking.

I am concerned about the rain water that gets into the layers and how long it would take to dry and what kind of mold and rot that can occur. I would get it closed up at this point and run a dehumidifier for a long time to try to pull the moisture out through the plywood. For sure don't cover it with anything that will inhibit drying until a deep probe moisture meter comes out under 15%. Good luck with the rest of the build. You're going to love it.

woodlandfarms · Nov 5, 2018

EddieWalker said:
Very nice.

On the framing of the floor. Why didn't you rest your joists on top of your beams instead of using all those joist hangers and building up the concrete so high?

I dislike smart people;-) Honestly until you said it I never thought of it. I just followed the plans we were given. And also why take the absolote fun of mixing 50 bags of concrete by hand and pouring them into small tubes deep in the ground.

woodlandfarms · Nov 5, 2018

RayfromTX said:
I hesitate to comment about this, especially since it looks like you are doing a nice job and keeping everything really neat. I only want to say a couple of things for others that may want to follow in your footsteps.

When you wish to use foam board insulation in the floors there are two things I would do differently. First I would skip the runners and just run the insulation continuously and then I would use screws all the way through to the first layer or into the joists if wish to try that. If you use 5/8" or greater decking for the first layer then you can just go for the decking instead of trying to hit the joists. This will save time and money and is how I do all of my roofs. I use big washers on my roofs but that is to get the 110 mph wind rating. You wouldn't need that. Second is that I would wait until the building was dried in before adding the insulation and second layer of decking.

I am concerned about the rain water that gets into the layers and how long it would take to dry and what kind of mold and rot that can occur. I would get it closed up at this point and run a dehumidifier for a long time to try to pull the moisture out through the plywood. For sure don't cover it with anything that will inhibit drying until a deep probe moisture meter comes out under 15%. Good luck with the rest of the build. You're going to love it.

Ray, great advice. Honestly appreciate it. I am very new to working with foam sheets and the strength of the sheets makes me unnecessaryly leary. I was worried that the sheets would not support so I ran those stringers. As for drying, yeah, we will be water tight very soon and intend to put a propane heater in the building for a day or two.

sailfast · Nov 5, 2018

Propane heaters add moisture

RayfromTX · Nov 5, 2018

Propane heaters add a lot of moisture. Get a big dehumidifier from the rental yard. Run it for a month. That will help but test with a deep probe sensor. You don't want to have a building that always smells like mold. The right way to fix it is to remove the plywood and let it dry out. I'm giving you the easier way. You can also pick a spot that will be covered with a cabinet or what have you and use a hole saw to investigate what is going on underneath.

The foam sheets will support lots of weight. Tons

If that is polyiso then the minimum compressive strength is 16 psi.

woodlandfarms · Nov 9, 2018

Thought i would throw this up. Sheathing is done as well as a very custom house wrap. We lost the light so no pictures of this house wrap.

dragoneggs · Nov 9, 2018

Looking good Carl... I don't dare show this thread to my wife. I am presently getting away with a HF greenhouse and a Costco plastic storage shed for her gardening.

jcmaurice6 · Nov 9, 2018

My wife also want to have her own workshop/hobby shop/tool house! It痴 a hard long project, she is mediculous on every aspect. It痴 a multi year never ending project. But it痴 slowly coming. I have use an old shop and incoporate the old tractor garage together. Using existing building add time and complexity!

This what it was in 2013 when we had just bought our property, and how it look now.