Blue Corp

The corner of your garage is not a good place to store all your important "stuff", like tools. But, you can't just get rid of it. A better solution is to build a wooden shed in your backyard. And the best part - it can be easily done in a matter of only two day (assuming you already have all the materials purchased from the local supply store.) Here's how:

The corner of your garage is not a good place to store all your important "stuff", like tools. But, you can't just get rid of it. A better solution is to build a wooden shed in your backyard. And the best part - it can be easily done in a matter of only two day (assuming you already have all the materials purchased from the local supply store.) Here's how:

Day 1 - A Solid Foundation and Framework

The first thing you'll need to do is prepare the site. It doesn't have to be level, in fact its better if the ground is slightly pitched down towards the back of the shed for water runoff. Remove any large rocks and/or debris. Because this is a one weekend project, you'll have to build the shed with a wood floor instead of a concrete one. If you really want to have a concrete foundation, this will stretch the project into another week to allow for drying. But building a wood (or skid) floor is not only faster, its easier, less expensive and even somewhat portable. For this shed, use cinder (or patio) blocks to set the floor on. Make sure the blocks are level.

Now you can begin work on the actual building. Measure and cut your first floor joist and use this as a template for the rest of the joists - this saves time and effort. Another tip, using deck screws instead of nails adds strength to your structure. By using a power drill, you can make very quick work of your project. When you are finished with the frame, make sure its square by measuring the two opposing corners diagonally. The measurements should be equal. If they aren't, take one of the corners with the longer measurement and push in towards the opposite corner until they measure the same. Now nail the plywood subfloor onto the frame making sure to stagger the pieces (in a brick pattern). This prevents four corners of plywood meeting in the center of the floor making a weak spot.

Using the same process for the frame of the floor, start building the walls. Now is a good time to frame in any windows you want to include. For siding, use T1-11 plywood. It is cut with vertical grooves which gives it the appearance of tongue and groove siding, but has a huge time advantage by coming in sheets instead of individual boards. On top of one of the wall frames, place a piece of T1-11 with the outside facing up. Using the method to square the floor, you now make the wall frame square. Nail the siding to the frame starting on one side and working your way to the other. To make the siding even with the outside of the frame, use a router. Once all the walls are put together, attach them to the floor and use temporary braces of 2x4s to hold up the wall until they have been firmly screwed together. Now make sure the walls are plumb (vertically) by using a level. Now you can rest for the night and start fresh in the morning.

Day 2 - Roof, Door, Windows and Trim

You'll start today off by building the trusses. Simply follow the plans and assemble all the pieces of the first truss. Don't nail this together yet. If the pieces all fit correctly together, take each piece and use as a template for each of the corresponding pieces of the remaining trusses. Now you can screw (or nail) the trusses together and attach them to the top of the shed walls. Next, cut and nail plywood sheets for the roof. Just like a house, for installing asphalt shingles, you will first have to put down tar paper (roofing felt). Make sure you start from the bottom and overlap each row going up. For the top ridge, use a couple of layers for strength. To apply the shingles, offset the seams and work from the bottom up like you did with the tar paper. For the ridge cap, cut down a length of shingle (they come in a line of three) into a single shingle and nail them along the top. Don't forget to overlap these as well.

Another huge time-saver is to use a prefabricated door for your shed. Simply attach it with hinges. Finally, finish off the door and window with trim.

As you can tell, there are a few details that have been omitted from this short article but the intent is to show you how possible it is to have a wooden shed built in only a couple of days.