Shed Roof Question

Dougryan · Apr 16, 2015

True, you could do an "A" frame shed with the roof going to the ground... Total height 16', Eave height 0'... 16' / 2 = 8'. Eave height of 0' plus 8' meets the requirement.

The more I think about it, and with input from y'all, I'm going to compromise some wall height in order to keep the roof pitch at least 5/12. I really need the slope so that snow doesn't pile up.
Good to go. I'll post some pics as I build this thing.

Thanks again.
Doug

franklin2 · Apr 16, 2015

We have the same sort of rules, but not that complicated. My garage ended up being within 15' of the property line, so the building could not be over 15' high. I wanted it to match my house, which had a 8/12 roof. So I had to lower it to a 5/12 roof. Went through all that, and the inspector did not even look at it, or do any measuring. I could have had a pretty nice attic storage space in the top of it with a 8/12 roof.

ultrarunner · Apr 16, 2015

^^^ I've seen this many times...

My former boss was in the wine business and he was doing extensive renovation to one of his buildings and the only way possible was to "Preserve" the rear wall as existing... the tasting room came out spectacular and as the building was nearly completion the Chief Building Official was there and said the back wall looks so out of place and degrades from the project and got the explanation from planning...

Building Official told to to make like the new sections and wrote in right on the permit and signed it...

In other words you never know...

Brother built a super Cabana that was 10 by 20 to match the home... got caught nailing the shingles and had to go through design and plan... the shed looked so good and neighbors approved so he was able to keep it as is... the permit did go from $600 to $1800

When I lived in the mountains of Austria the homes have low slope roofs with massive timbers... they want the snow to stay on the roof for insulation and to prevent dangerous roof avalanches on the eve sides...

Seems we do it different here with the idea of getting the snow moving off the roof with greater pitch...

BigRol · Apr 17, 2015

Anyway you can dig down, put in say a 2' wall of concrete or pressure treated an then back fill to previous grade

ultrarunner · Apr 17, 2015

I looked a shed the yesterday that solved a similar problem...

It is built on/into a little knoll in the backyard and very nicely done...

The dirt on all sides except for where the door is is raised about 18 inches and against a concrete knee wall...

With the flagstone to the double door and grass all around it blends in perfectly and met the height limitation.

TO_Bud · Apr 18, 2015

How many trusses are supplied? Could go with 4/12 trusses (lower sidewalls slightly) and add a couple of trusses to increase load capacity. Could add purlins across trusses to increase load capacity as well.

jclaudii · Apr 27, 2015

I have question, is the prebuilt already to zoning specs or is it taller and breaking them already? I would think that if you are building almost exactly like the prebuilt it would not take much to get a variance since the prebuilt could be delivered and setup, you only building it onsite so as to not mess the yard up

Do you guys get different tax/permits for portable shed vs permanent? Meaning if it rests on skids and is classified as moveable you may get a different set of rules for it.

Good Luck!

rd_macgregor · Apr 28, 2015

Is the design you are considering supposed to use pre-engineered trusses or rafters with a peak gusset and/or cross-bracing? If trusses, then you might run into head room issues if you reduce the wall height. I like the idea of raising the outside ground (grade) level so the measurement of average heights is skewed, but I know this would add a lot of cost and complications.
Bob

BuilderML · Apr 29, 2015

I think you may be looking at something wrong. It just doesn't seem right. Double check the code again. The garage we just built this winter the
"MAX HEIGHT" is spec'd to the mid point of the roof which was 15'. I understand why they have a max height requirement. No one needs a second house in the back yard. I also think specing something to a mid point is also dumb but i guess someone needed to come up with something for a code. Good luck with your project.

Dougryan · May 4, 2015

It uses rafters that are built on site (by me) using two by fours with gussets at the peak (9 of them). There is also a cross brace, I think the proper name for it is a collar beam, on the odd numbers. I may add the collar beam to the other 4 rafters just to be safe. A couple of extra two by fours is pretty cheap insurance.

Looking good so far. I started on the 12x16 foundation. Using 6x6 posts in a 4' by 4' grid. Lots of holes, but taking it a few at a time.

Doug