Shed Building help.

[CUDA JAS]

Hi All,

Now that we are firming up the sale of our current house, and will be moving early to mid May, my mind is running wild for projects on our new place.

First project for me will be a good size shed in the backyard. The house has an attachd 10X20 garage for my hotrod, but I would like some more work space. So, I want to build a combinded space to store all of the yard equipment and kids stuff, and a workspace for me. I am thinking of building a 12 X 16 shed that is divided with at least a 12 X 10 workspace for me. I am thinking of going all out and insulating and drywalling the interior and making it really nice.

I live in Canada so we get a considerabel amount of snow etc here.

I am pretty sure I do not want to pour a concrete slab for this project, but how do I determine the proper foundation for a shed of this size.

Keep in mind I do want to be able to put a work bench in it and be able to do automotive related projects in it. Just not sure what would be best in this application.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

[brads70]

What about adding on to the rear( or front) of the existing garage?

['Cuda Hunter]

You might be bound by your local municipalities.
They might not allow you to have a shed over a certain square footage that does not have a concrete foundation.

A 12x16 shed will still cost a pretty penny and will be comparable to an addition utilizing one existing wall.

An alternative may be to get yourself two sheds.  That depending of course on if your area will allow having two or more sheds on the property.

As Brad mentioned, you would probably be better off as an addition.
But that just depends on your useable space and how you would have to attach the new building to the house.

Lots to consider here.

[Cuda Cody]

Check codes first.  There are many things you'll want to know first before you decide if you want a slab or to insulate.  Adding insulation often times changes it from non livable to livable and different codes apply.  Check with your local municipality (like Cuda hunter said)

[71gogreen]

Hi jason, first check if your allowed to build a detached garage in your neighborhood.Go to zoning and show on a blueprint the size of the new garage with any existing strutures on your property.Make sure all side and back points of your building is allowed.Check footer depth requirements and block size requirements.Always build to "code" and above.If you build a double car garage 24x24 its going to cost about the same as say a !6x20 shed.If you go 10' or 12' with a good pitch on the roof a car lift would be nice in the middle of a garage.The rafters would have to be stick framed for lift clearance.I don,t recommend windows for security reasons.

['Cuda Hunter]

.Always build to "code" and above.If you build a double car garage 24x24 its going to cost about the same as say a !6x20 shed.

 

[Topcat]

We have a company here called Tuff Shed.
A friend of mine bought one. Looked pretty well made.

They put it together for you. Like a kit.

[Moparal]

Josh, you have been to my home. I have 4 sheds and a 30x40 shop, all of them are filling up. That is why I like to DONATE so much stuff. As we get older we collect a lot of stuff. I am hoping to get a 67 gto clone bb and a 68 camero bb this week to add to my small collection of stuff.  They will have to sit outside along with the trucks, pt cruider and other vehicles.  He most propbably has to build by code, so he needs to go as big as he possibly can, and try to put it on concrete with a plastic thick mill barrier to help keep the moisture down.  Congrats on your new home.  If you can make it tall enough, a loft really comes in handy.  Also a lean to on the side. 

[jimynick]

Jason, the max size you can legally put up w/o a permit is 8X12. I believe 100 square feet is it. If you're building a detached garage/shed the max height in Cambridge is 14' 2" to the tippy top. If you attach it to the house, there's no height restriction. If it's just storage or a spot to work without the car, you might want to consider 2 sheds, side by each as they say in Newfoundland. If you're not going to put any foundation in, I wouldn't try to dry wall it, because it'll shift and move around too much, but insulating and sheathing it in 6 mil is a good idea. We built our 24X30 garage so if you have questions, just ask/call. Ian

['Cuda Hunter]

You live in a cool place Al.
We definitely gain a lot of stuff over our life times.

Not to hijack, but is the 67 a LeMans or Tempest clone?
I have a LeMans clone.  I left the "gills".

[Moparal]

Lemans Josh.  No rust, painted silver, GTO clone but roll cage and tubbed. Street driven 468 chevy tho.



It's such a shame that there has to be restrictions on sizes for your area.    Seems that an extention off the house would be best

[CUDA JAS]

Hey guys, thanks for the input.

I am not sure the wife will go for an extension on the house.  I think that is a much more difficult sell then builiding a shed.  Alos, the existign foundation for the house and garge is about 4 feet above grade (house is a backsplit), so I think it may be quite ththe task to add on to it.  ALthougth I do plan on puttign a man door on one side of the garage (if the city will let me).

The garage is big enough to work on the car and have a smallish workbench at the front of the gargae.  Now if I want to drop the rear end out or work on another compennt off of the car, forget it, just not enough room.

So my thogut was to build a workshop /storage space in the back yard that would allow me to take a peice of the car and work on it without the car in the way.  I also wanted to have a sperate room to store all of the yeard equipment as I hate having that stuff in my space.  I do not want to have a space to put the car, not enough space to get it around the back anyway.  My fear with a pad is that it will drive up the cost.too high.  If that means I do not drywall the inside, I can live with that.

The garage also has fairly  high cealings, So I may be abel to put a loft in for additonal storage (not that I need that much righ now).  The house also has a large crawl space to store all the seasonal type items.

Jason

[boydsdodge]

What size is your lot?
Here in Toronto you can have buildings cover 75% of the lot total, but just up the street in Eastyork (which totally blew me away they still have separate bylaws since we are all one big city)
I can only build on 35% of the land, after that I have to go to comity of adjustment hand over drawings and $1500.00 wait 3 months and hope I smiled at the right person.
If you have the space beside or behind garage I'd build an addition on the existing.

[jimynick]

I've been the committee of adjustment route and it's $400 here. The max size for a garage is 10% of the total property square footage. As for a door in the existing garage, why would you even ask them? As long as you're not cutting in a structural spot, just get out the Skil saw and do it. Based on what you list as requirements Jason, the 2 shed route still looks good from here; but it's your new house, so you decide. Either way, good luck. Ian

[CUDA JAS]

Thanks for all the input guys.

With 5 weeks to go untill the move, the wife and I are starting to plan the move and prioritise what needs to be done.

Number 1 on both of our lists for the outside is a shed.  We talked about an extension on the /garage and as I guessed it is a non-starter for her right now.  I am good with that.

At this point, I think we are goign to pay a little extra and have a shed built throgh the local Menonite store.  It may cost a little more in the end, but given the two kids at home, and weeked activites for both, as well as my busy schedule, this seems to be the quickest way to get the shed done.

As much as I love the idea of building it myself, i would much rather have the time with my kids or crusing in the Cuda then spending who knows how many weekends building a shed.

Looks like we will go with a 10 x 16 shed built on a skid foundation, with at least one barn style door, maybe two.  That should give me enoogh room to store all the out door tools and a nice 10X10 workshop.

Keep in mid this is not our final home, and this is 50% mor space then I have had the last 7 years, so I think it will work out quite well.

The hardest part for me is spendimg the money.  For what it will cost for the shed, I could probably do everything I want to do to the cuda right now, with the exception fo body and paint! Oh well, no fun in having it all done anyway!!

Jason