Toolshed

Last year I started building a tool shed in my garden. I needed a storage place for my lumber, wastecontainers, lawnmower and other stuff like that. After some planning and drawing (in google sketchup) I came up with a typical Dutch design called a 'kapschuur' that features a little overhang. I made it in stages and hopefully this instructable with give you the rough idea on how to do this without any help.

Step 1: Foundation and Support Pillars

For the skeleton of the shed I used FRC wood from a local store. It is pressure treated wood so it's not prone to rot anytime soon. To be on the safe side I coated the ends of support pillars with anti-rot-stuff. (The end that will disappear into the ground) Per pillar I used half a bag of quick drying concrete. (thats 25kg per bag, so about 12,5kg per pillar) Everytime a pillar went into the ground I checked if the pillar was aligned and level. I braced the pillars with bricks so when I pored in the cement the pillars couldn't move.

Step 2: Support Beams and Trusses

And now the real reason I'm making a shed: now I'm allowed to buy a new powertool! Yeah! Check out my new circle saw! Okay just kidding, but this tool does make light work of things.

To make the ring of beams ontop of the pillars I tried to interlock the beams by cutting U-shaped notches into the beams so they fit neatly into eachother. I traced out te exact spot with a pencil and then I made a dozen small cuts at the right depth with my circle saw. These little slabs where pretty easy to chisle out. There is probably a fancy name for it or some other beter method but this worked for me.

Besides stainless steel screws I also used woodglue since that realy makes for a strong connection. Notice that I made the 'ring beams' stick out a bit to make for a little overhang.

To make the trusses (those triangle shapes) I just freehanded the first one and then copied that 5 times. This involved a bit of diagonal cutting and didn't go right in the first go. But eventually it came out rather nice. You just gotta take your time. I also did a mockup on my garage floor and since the floor is perfectly level this worked pretty good.

Step 3: Roofing

For the roofing I used tiles that are very common in Holland. Back when my house was being build the contractor was about to jug 400+ tiles into the garbage skip because he had ordered to much. Geuss who payed for that? Yeah me, so I saved them and now they come in handy.

Before the tiles went on I needed to install the battens to hold the tiles in place. I eyeballed where I wanted the tiles to be and then marked the spot where the battens needed to be screwed down. Then it was just a matter of putting on the tiles. These tiles are not fixed in place because they are heavy enough and interlock in eachother to form 1 single roof.

Step 4: Walls and Trimming

For the walls I also ordered pressure treated wood. These are pre-made planks that interlock so water cannot get in the inside. I don't know the english word for it. For the trimming I used the same wood. To get the top waterproof I installed a PVC L-profile that any hardware store has. For the overhang I also used the same planks and while I was bussy I put in 2 LED spotlights. Now Mr. Binky the bunny is not only dry but he also can see what he eats at night!

Step 5: Doors and Pull-mechanism

Okay this is where it gets a bit MacGyver. I wanted to be able to use that storage space on the 'first floor' so to speak. That is the space in the top part of the shed. But I couldn't get any long shaped lumber in or out there. It was a closed off space, only reachable from the inside. Thats why I made the front facade of the shed on a few hinges so it could open up. It's a bit of a weird shape but it works just perfectly. You can see in the pictures it opens up to one side and up. It's much like a piano opening up. I made it so that I can open it by pulling a cord on the inside of the shed. The cord handle can be fixed in a holder so the facadedoor stays open. Hopefully the pictures explain what I cannot.

For the door I just used the same wood and made a crossbeam on the inside for strenght. A piece of scrap wood makes for a handle and lock.