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10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

List of Materials:

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12 - 1x4x8' door trim

Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

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8 - 1x4x10' corner boards

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4 - 1x6x8' barge boards

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40 - 2x4x8' studs, door, roof

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18 - 2x4x8' for trusses

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2 - 2x6x10' truss plates

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10 - 2x6x10' joists if main floor is wood

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2 - 2x6x10' box joists if main floor is wood

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10 - 2x8x10' joists

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2 - 2x8x10' box joists

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Half sheet of ½" plywood for gussets

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13 sheets 4x8x3/8" OSB for walls

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6 sheets 4x8x½" OSB for roof

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4 sheets 4x8x5/8" tongue and groove sheathing for loft floor, 4 for main

floor if main floor is wood

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3 tubes construction adhesive for each floor

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5 pounds 3" common bright nails

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2 pounds 3¼" common bright nails for trusses to 2x6 plate

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2 pounds 2" common bright nails for floor, plus 4 lbs for roof and trusses

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50 - 1½"x #8 flat head wood screws for hinges, etc.

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5- 3" galvanized hinges 3 for lower door, 2 for loft door

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2 - padbolts or 6" hasps

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180 square feet of asphalt shingles or equivalent roofing materials

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5 pounds 1¼" galvanized roofing nails

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Instructions:

The Foundation

There are three kinds of foundations that are practical for this type of shed—a

concrete slab on grade, a concrete block on a concrete strip footing or a wooden

floor supported on pressure treated 6x6s. The easiest and most mobile is the

wood foundation. Once concrete is poured it is permanent.

Note:These plans are for a storage shed that is 10' wide and 10' long, but its

length is totally up to you. If you need a shed that is longer than the side

elevation, just add more studs and trusses and revise the foundation and floor

accordingly.

Concrete Slab:

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

See the foundation drawing. Place the anchor bolts on 4 foot centers or less

around the outside perimeter. Make sure they are in the center of the 2x4

when placed flush on the edge and are at least 2" high. These bolts are usually

placed after the concrete is poured. Depending on where you live and how cold

the winters are, the perimeter of the slab should be built up in thickness, 12"

being the minimum thickness and 12" in from the edge as well. Typical with any

concrete slab or footing, make sure all top soil is removed and provide a base of

well compacted sand, gravel or undisturbed non-organic soil under it.

Concrete Block:

To support a row of concrete blocks, you need a concrete footing. The blocks

are 8x8x16" long. The footing is 6" thick by 16" wide, poured over well

compacted gravel. The forms are made of 2x6s on each side nailed on the top

with 1x3 cleats and fastened on the side with 1x3 pegs. After leveling the

concrete, scratch out a 'key' for the blocks to make a good bond with the

mortar and concrete. The next day, at least, after pouring the footing, the

blocks can be laid. Use regular blocks with the web in the middle, one row is

sufficient. Place some concrete in the web and insert anchor bolts every 4' or

so. After the concrete is setup for about a day, bolt a 2x6 sill plate onto the top

of the blocks, running their length. The box and floor joists are nailed onto this

plate.

Wooden Floor:

See the foundation drawing. The wood floor is typically 5/8" tongue and groove

plywood on 2x6s at 16" centers on 6x6s, pressure treated to last for 40 years.

Put these 6x6s on a bed of about 6" deep compacted gravel to help in drainage.

Make sure the center one is level and true with the edge ones. The 6x6s are 10'

long and placed 10' apart to the outside with a center 6x6 to support the mid

span of the floor joists. Cut 2 - 2x6s 10'-0" and lay them both out together for

the box joists. Start at the left end, measure 15¼" and place a mark with an X

to the right of the mark. Now move the tape to this mark and continue to mark

and place an X in the same manner at every 16" mark on your tape, until you run

off the 2x6. When you nail the joists onto this box joist the left edge of the

joist will be on the mark covering up the X. After nailing on all the joists you

should be able to place your tape on the edge of any joist, except the first one,

and read a multiple of 16". This will enable the plywood to end on the center of

the joist. When the joists are all nailed on, measure their diagonals to be sure

the floor is square. Bump one 6x6 to the left or right until the diagonals are the

same and the floor is square. Go ahead and nail the plywood on. When using 5/8"

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

tongue and groove (T & G), start with the tongue flush with the outside of the

floor and the groove towards the inside of the floor. Notice the stamp on the

plywood, it usually says place this side down (the tongue is thicker on the

bottom). Nail on your first two sheets end to end, snug the end joints up. Just

use a few nails to keep the plywood in place and mark where the joists are. Keep

them back from the groove side by at least 6" to allow the next sheet to slip

into the groove easier. Cut the third sheet in half - 4'x4' and start on the left,

the way you laid out the joists. Place the tongue up to the existing groove get

your helper to stand on the tongue and groove together while you hammer lightly

with a sledge hammer against a 2x4 against the groove side of the third sheet.

The sheet should slip into the groove of the one nailed on. Now install the

fourth sheet (full size) next to the half sheet. Then install the other half to get

to the end of the floor. This is called staggering your sheets so the joints are

not in the same line the same way brick layers build a brick wall. Continue the

next row with a full sheet and the last row by staggering your sheets again. Nail

or screw on the plywood securely: nails spaced 6" apart on all joints and 12"

apart in the middle.

The Walls

After the foundation is made, start on the side walls. Lay them out in place, for

an 8' ceiling use pre-cut 2x4 studs (92¼") or you can make it any ceiling height

you want. It tends to look too top heavy if the ceiling is too high. Use a single

plate on the bottom and top and double plate on the top. For a concrete slab,

start with the bottom plate and drill holes for the anchor bolts so that the

plate will lay on the slab flush with the outside of the concrete. Don't fasten

the bottom plate to the concrete yet. Now place the top plate next to the

bottom plates and lay them both out together.

First, lay the studs out on 16" centers. If you are using plywood or OSB for

sheathing, pay particular attention to the start of the first stud so that the 4'

sheet will end on the center of the stud. I usually lay out the long walls first,

with the ends of the plates flush with the outside of the slab or floor, just like

the sides of the plates. I then go to the shorter walls and lay them out with the

plates against the plate of the longer walls. Now watch these walls for the stud

layout; remember the sheathing will start at the edge of the intersecting wall

plate so add 3½" plus the thickness of sheathing, probably 3/8" = 3 7/8". What

I do is just stick my tape measure out past the end of the plate by 3 7/8" then

mark on 15¼" (¾" back from the center of the stud). Now place the end of the

tape on this point and continue laying out the studs on 16" centers. These points

are the sides of the studs, so mark an X where the stud lies. Lay out the studs

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

right through the doors and windows for now.

Now layout rough sizes of the door and windows, that is allow for the thickness

of the door and window jambs plus ¼" on each side for shims (to allow for

settling and shrinkage). It is important to get the correct rough opening for the

selected windows. Get these from where you are buying your windows. The rough

openings vary depending on where the windows are made. On each side of the

window or door is a double 2x4 consisting of the cripple and the stud. The

cripple is nailed together with the stud but is shorter allowing room for a beam

or header (also called lintel) to be placed on top of the cripple. The size of the

header depends on the span of the opening. Today most builders just use a 2x10

header over all the window and door openings. They put it tight to the underside

of the top plate, thereby eliminating any window studs on top of the header.

This also gives the right height to have the window installed. Please note that

for a window narrower than 24", there is no header required. Once happy with

the layout, let's build some walls.

Start with one of the long walls. Go to each end of the wall and on the concrete

or wood floor, snap a line in 3½" from the edge. This line is the inside of the

plate line. Turn the plates up on their edges with the bottom plate in position

along the line, roughly. Separate the top and bottom plate about the distance of

a stud. Now nail the studs in position on both plates. Cut your cripples to fit the

header and nail them together with their stud. Choose straight boards here.

Nail in the header, doubled. Since the header's thickness is 3" and the wall is

3½", nail the header flush with the outside of the wall, in other words lift the

header up flush to the top of the studs and plate when the wall is laid down on

the slab. Where you marked the studs through the window will be your window

stud positions. Measure from the header down along the cripple the depth of

the rough opening and add 1½" for the plate. Get the length of this plate by

measuring between the cripples on one of the plates. After cutting the plate to

size, lay it down on one of the plates, between the cripples and mark off the

positions of the studs onto this plate. Nail a window stud against each cripple

and on each stud mark, then nail the plate onto the window studs. There is your

window rough opening. The door opening is the same procedure, except you may

need extra 'wood' below the header to make up the correct height and, of

course, no studs in the door opening such as the window. Now cut and nail the

double plate to the walls. Make sure to overlap the double plate onto the

intersecting wall. There should be at least 4' between joints of the top and

double plates. Layout the floor joist on top of the double plate starting at the

same end as the studs were laid out, on 16" centers. (Easier now than when the

walls are standing up.)

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

After all the studs, headers, window studs and double plates are nailed in,

position the wall on the snap line to get the bottom plate straight. Measure the

diagonals of the wall, making them the same, to square up the wall (this makes

the wall ends plumb when standing up). Now decide whether you want to put the

sheathing on now or later. I always put the sheathing on at this stage and get

the necessary help in raising the walls. If you want to put it on later that's fine

too, except it is more work. If using OSB make sure you leave a 1/8" space

between all sides of the board up against other sheets of OSB. Just tack a

spike between the sheets. Start sheathing at the bottom of the wall and the

edge from where you laid out the studs. On the joint, bring the stud half-way

onto the sheet. The sheets go across the studs not with them. On the next row

of sheathing stagger the sheets by 4'. As you go, mark on the sheets where the

openings are so you can snap lines easily and cut out the opening after the

sheathing is down. Stand the walls up as close to their proper position as

possible. Watch the anchor bolts. Use a crow bar to lift and move the plate over

the bolts and drop them into position. Tighten up the bolts when the wall is

straight and on the snap line. Brace this first wall with stakes driven in the

ground. For a wooden floor fasten the bottom plate to the top of the floor,

flush with its edge by nailing into the box or rim joist.

When all the walls are standing, nail the corners together on the studs and on

the sheathing. The outside corners should be plumb, so run a string from one

end of the plate to the other or eye ball it to make sure the walls are straight.

Nail braces to securely hold the walls straight while you are building the attic

floor.

The Attic Floor

Hopefully the floor joists are nicely laid out for you on top of the wall. Cut your

floor joists to length. They should be 10' less 3" for box joists. Check the

measurement out before cutting them too short. Another trick that the

framers use is to have the box joist come out flush with the wall sheathing to

eliminate the need to put a small piece of sheathing on the box joist later. So

figure this in with your joist length.

Nail the 2x8 joists in place along the box joist. Keep the crown up on the joists.

Nail the box joist into the joists and nail the joist into the double plate. (Toe

nail on each side). Nail solid bridging between all the joists in the center of the

span. Nail a 2x6 along the long side, one side for now, off the floor on top of the

floor joists and overhang the 2x6 by 2". This will form your overhang for the

roof. Nail on the sub-floor, 5/8" tongue and groove plywood, with the tongue

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

side against this 2x6. Use ring nails and construction adhesive. (This makes the

floor one unit and very strong.) Proceed with the sub-floor until you have

reached the other side. Cut the sub-floor back enough to allow the 2x6 to be

placed on this side as well. A trick to get the tongue and groove (T & G) tight

together is to start the tongue into the groove and continue by hammering a

2x4 held against the sheet (to protect it) with a sledge hammer.

The Trusses

Next layout the trusses, full size on the floor. Layout from the measurement on

the Truss Layout drawing. You should have 5 trusses with gussets nailed to both

sides and 2 trusses with gussets nailed on the inside only. Also, cut four 2x4s

with the proper plumb cuts on them at the end of the sheathing at both ends.

Snap a line for the roof where it sits on the 2x6. This line should be longer than

10'-4". Label it line #1.

Snap line #2, up 45" and parallel to line #1. Mark in the center of this layout a

point up 13 5/16" from line #2. Square a line down from this point to the bottom

line. This is the center line of the truss.

From the center line measure 39 11/16" along line #2 each way from center and

mark these points. From the center line and along line #1 in both directions

mark points at 5'-2". Connect these three points on each side of the center line.

This is the outside line of the truss. The measurements of the 2x4's shown on

the plan should be 41 7/8" and 50¼". You need 5 trusses with two trim trusses

for the overhang. That's 18 pieces of each length of 2x4 including 4 for each

length for support at the end of the sheeting. Cut the 2x4s to match the layout

lines and lay them on the layout when assembing them with the gussets.

Just follow the above layout rather than using a definite pitch. Get your angles

from the full size layout, not the drawings. The actual pitches that I get from

my full size layout is closer to 5/12 and 12/4¾. Check yours out.

The framing under the front and back gables are, of course, from the sub-floor

up to the underside of the truss. Frame in whatever size door you have room for

up there. The total height of the shed is 13.5'. The headroom in the attic is 5'

less the trusses.

Putting It Together

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

Now brace up the two outside walls so they are plumb and straight. Notice the

Side Elevation drawing and the layout of the trusses to enable the plywood or

OSB ends to rest on the center of the truss.

On the top of the walls layout the trusses as shown on this drawing. Extend your

tape out 6" from the end of the wall and mark a point at 23¼". Place an "X" next

to this point so that this point represents the edge of the truss and the truss

sits on top of the X, centered on 24". From this point continue marking points

along the wall at 24" and an X where the truss will sit. The X's should be on the

same side of all the points. Remember to put a gable truss flush with the

outside of the wall at each end (with the gussets facing the inside of the

building).

To hold the trusses in place before you sheet the roof, nail a 1x4 along the

trusses near the ridge. This is where a friend comes in handy to give you a hand.

Leave the two overhang (trim) trusses on the ground for now.

To hold that first awkward truss up, brace it temporarily either to a stake

pounded into the ground or to the inside of a wall. Nail the bottom of the truss

securely into the 2x6 with 3" nails. When all the trusses are up and tied

together with a 1x4 near the ridge and braced up nice and plumb go have a

coffee.

Sheathing The Walls

Now let's finish off the back wall. With the trusses forming the shape of the

roof, just nail studs to the underside of the truss to a plate nailed on the floor.

If the shed is not going to be insulated, place these 2x4s on the flat. If

insulated place them on edge in the wall. They should be placed at 2' centers and

kept flush with the outside of the truss.

On the front end lay out the door jamb for the loft, keep it plumb and use

straight 2x4s. The header over the loft door should be as high as possible. Make

the header long enough so you can nail each end of it to the bottom edge of the

truss. It's best to put the header board up and mark its ends along the actual

sides of the truss so you are sure to get an exact fit. Make up the door as

explained for the main door.

Apply the wall sheathing when the framing is complete. The wall sheathing

should go over the trusses as well. Nail it well to the truss and to the header,

especially around the joints. This is why you didn't put gussets on the outside of

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

the truss, the sheathing takes their place.

Making The Roof

Start ripping the roof sheathing to the measurements required. Start at the

bottom, allow an extra 1" for the first row of sheathing to overhang the truss

where it sits on top of the 2x6. It isn't necesary to mitre the joints in

sheathing, butt joints are good. Keep the sheets separate from each other the

thickness of a 3" nail to allow for expansion (about 1/8").

Nail up the sheathing at about 12" center in the middle of the sheets and about

6" centers along the ends. Get your friend to help you again by holding up the

overhang trusses flush with the end of the roof sheathing, forming a 6"

overhang, with the gussets on the inside.

Install your choice of roofing. I prefer fibreglass/asphalt laminated shingles.

The Trim And Door

Now nail the 1x6 trim on the ends of the trusses at the front and back, flush

with the top of the roof sheathing.

Nail the 1x4 trim on around the door.

Nail a 1x4 on the inside of the latch-side jamb (the side opposite the jamb the

door is hinged to). Offset the 1x4 so it extends about ¾" out from the door-

opening edge of the 2x4 (all along the length of the 2x4). This makes a door

stop on the latch side of the door so the door can be securely latched close.

The door can be made of a framework of 2x4s on the flat and sheathed with

OSB to match the walls as shown in the front section drawing. Nail 1x4 trim

over the sheathing in the same locations as the 2x4s.

Attach the door to the frame with 3" galvanized strap hinges screwed to the

door trim and jamb trim with 2" screws.

For security, I'd recommend a 6" hasp and padlock or heavy duty padbolt (barrel

bolt that accepts a padlock).

Build a little ramp to the door to ride a mower in and you are all set.

Enjoy your new shed!

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Free Woodworking Plans: 10'x10' Gambrel Roof Shed with Loft Plans

Dave

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