Shed for lawn tractor, nailed to dirt hillside

[EddieWalker]

I like the idea of tying into the hill. I've thought about doing something similar for a greenhouse.

I don't think the rebar will come out, it looks well thought out. I've struggled with welding rebar, so hopefully your welds are better then mine. Every time that I've welded it, it breaks off. I'm probably using the wrong type of rebar, so hopefully your welds are solid.

Those screws need to be replaced with structural screws. Not wood screws or deck screws, but lag bolts designed to support a load with an outdoor rating. Structural screws are like lag bolts, but thinner, stronger and better.

You need to install the lumber on the roof on it's edge. Depending on how far you are spanning will dictate what sized lumber you need to use. 2x6's on their edge might work for this, but I wouldn't use anything smaller. A 2x4 on the flat, and a lot of the time on it's edge, will sag over time just from it's own weight.

 

[Doughknob]

What if a bear sits on the roof edge?

 

[ljjhouser]

I think your rebar anchor will hold. It is held by both the friction of the rebar and some of the weight of the dirt because they were put in at an angle. If I were concerned, I would use 3 pieces of angle iron instead of rebar because they will not bend under pressure. Or maybe even heavier rebar. I think it will work.

 

[Doofy]

You just never know if something will work until you try it. I enjoy odd-ball projects and follow with great interest.

 

[Sodo]

What if a bear sits on the roof edge?

Doughknob Last night I was fretting about grandkids walking out onto it from the yard above. I think the clear PVC will be so “soft” as to provide a warning. But I don’t have any yet, and modern kids…..welllll…..

Eddie give me a moment, this thing is barely 18 hours old.. I have a few things I wanna fuss with before bolting it permanent. I have 3/8” thru bolts for those heavy steel brackets.

Eddie the key with welding rebar is putting a fillet on both sides. If theres a load bending on the backside of a weld ya gotta put a fillet there. Especially on unknown & often really hard stuff like Rebar.

The cedar 2x4s have been stored on end 20 years and I placed them with their natural bow upward. I may put boards (on end) underneath the two middle purlins, rafter to rafter. I didn’t like the way the roof looked with the purlins standing on end. Its kind of a garden shed, visible.

 

[Sodo]

You just never know if something will work until you try it. I enjoy odd-ball projects and follow with great interest.

The thing is,,,,ya gotta stick around and see if I own up to problems in 5 years. I need it to last about 20 years.

ljj yep nailed connections hold pretty well when there’s several at all angles. Try and imagine if nails were invented after screws, they would be prohibited by building code.

#5 rebar is pretty stiff. Put it in a vise and bend just one, its a fight, you’d better have a long pipe. And a cheater to tighten the vise too (all of them). Kinda hard to imagine how you’d bend 4 or 5 of them all at the same time and with big fat welds. Holding the rebar “with dirt”. I liken it to a stump, which some of you have experience with. I don’t see this 8x10 roof moving two stumps but I could be over-confident.

#5 rebar is $22 a stick now, I don’t wanna imagine the cost of angle iron. Especially angle iron thats thick enough to last in dirt contact. My thought is that many spikes, easily driven, thick enough to last awhile, nots so $$ is good. I’ve dug up #5 rebar thats been (discarded) in wet dirt for 40 years and there’s plenty of strength remaining.

I did a bit of googling and didn’t see foundations like this to ponder so I had to just try it myself.

 

[tomplum]

Creative. Will keep the rain off the old girl. Anything further to keep the mildew away could be the tough part. Putting any base down?

 

[Sodo]

Creative. Will keep the rain off the old girl. Anything further to keep the mildew away could be the tough part. Putting any base down?

yes that’s the next step. Im trying to decide between these two options

Put down 5/8minus, let it compact for awhile, then lay plastic on the compacted gravel and pour a 3” concrete pad.

Or

Lay plastic right on the dirt (its firm) and put 4 inches of 5/8minus on the plastic. This sounds much easier and is my preference.

I’m interested in what other (low effort!) vapor barrier options have you folks come across ?

 

[Doughknob]

With just a roof like that, and no actual enclosure, you are going to get moisture and rain in there no matter what. The plastic will not do anything. So, go with just the rocks.

 

[Sodo]

DK The vapor barrier could impede the ground moisture that continually replenishes the humid environment under the mower deck. Bit wouldn’t take much time to lay plastic down before the gravel.

Probably an effective use of time is to setup a wash station where I drive over a sprinkler to wash the grass away. Mower decks are not cheap.