I'm going to be building an 8x12 shed. Besides storage, I am hoping to use it as a place to do all of my painting and finishing so I can get all the chemicals out of the house. To do that, I'd like to try and find a small wood stove that I can use to heat it warm enough to paint and epoxy in the winter.

I know basically what I need to do, but I've got some questions that I'm sure a bunch of you may know the anwers to.

The town said I don't need to pour footers for a shed that size but I am going to pour one for each corner anyways. The bottom is basically going to be pressure treated 2X8's, with 8' joists 16" on center, with 2 12' long 2x8's going the long way. Is the 12' span too long, do I need another footer in the middle to break it into 2 6' spans ?

Ok, once the floor joists are put together, I was going to lay 5/8 plywood on that as the floor.

The sides are just going to be framed 2X4's 16" on center. I would like to put in 3 large rectangular windows but I am not sure where to look for those. They don't need to be fancy double pane or anything like that, just large basic windows. Any suggestions on where to look for them besides the HD or lowes ?

I do not know what to do for siding. I'd like to have a rough sawn cedar look, Board and batten, T&G, ?? and if I could do that without also having to put in plywood sheathing on the sides that would save some money but I don't know if that's ok to do or not. I know that if I do it without the plywood and I do boar and batten I need to run horizontal supports between the 2x4's..

Does anyone have a good source for rough cedar siding is SE mass? The shed is in the woods so I'm trying to stay away from pine as I'm afraid of bugs.

Last questions are about the roof. I have a pallet of asphalt shingles so I'm going to use them. First question is about the rafters. Do I need 2X6 and if so how far apart are they on center ? Some places I read said 24", and that just seemed funny with the floor and walls being 16" on center. Also, how thick does the plywood need to be for the roof, is 1/2" ok ??

your floor insulation has to be good to keep the cold off your feet...

spraying inside with a wood stove sounds dangerous to me..:eek5:
(anyone else chime in on that)...because you have flame.
a shed that size you could have the wood stove but i'd use
a couple of those oil filled electric space heaters during spraying time. and use the wood stove for all other activities except spraying

a cheap souce of windows is old double pane sliding glass doors that nobody wants any more when they change them out

for the roof consider the snow load and if your going to use 1/2 inch ply wood you'd be better off with tighter spacing...

definately add a center cement foundation instead of spanning the 12 feet...just throw in a 12 inch sauna tube down to four feet.
i'd go 16 on center for the roof rafters to break the plywood better than wide 24" spacing.

One suggestion...Go as big as you can.
My 24x16 is way too small. Lawnmower and snowblower need a new home, been outside all winter.....

with 2 12' long 2x8's going the long way.
Make sure you double up on the outside boards, gives it a lot more strength. I used cinder blocks to support mine, been good for 10+ years.

I got sample windows from a window company, they gave them to me. Some times they'll sell you stuff that got ordered wrong, or never picked up...Cheap.

Last questions are about the roof. I have a pallet of asphalt shingles so I'm going to use them. First question is about the rafters. Do I need 2X6 and if so how far apart are they on center ? Some places I read said 24", and that just seemed funny with the floor and walls being 16" on center. Also, how thick does the plywood need to be for the roof, is 1/2" ok ??
I used 2x4's 16" on center and 3/8 plywood. Doubled up a 2x10 for the center beam.

Dave, 8x12 is small if you plan to store anything in there. Better check with the town before you put a wood stove in there. You are still in the early stages so ask the town how big you can go. I would say you won't be happy with anything less than 12 x 12 or 12 x 16. I know this may sound big but floor space fills up very quickly.

The shed is to be suspended on posts with a crawl space below? You won't get approval for a wood stove in there not to mention the size of the space....you will cook in there like an Easter ham! 5/8 inch plywood for the floor will not adequately support any wood stove of size not to mention you will require some protection for it like brick or sheetmetal on the floors and walls below and behind the stove and the stove is required to sit 3 feet from the wall. My garage is twice the size you are planning and I wish I had more space.:huh:

I'd suggest a oil fired space heater, you'll have to run a wood stove for too long to make it worthwhile to work out there in cold weather. A direct fired heater has the advantage of giving you 100% of the BTUs but the disadvantage of some fumes. It will be warm in an hour as opposed to a day.
They have some interesting manufactured panels now that look like T-1-11 and seem to hold up for inexpensive siding.
If you go with vertical boarding, use good corner bracing, studs 2' o.c. and horiziontal blocking 2' o.c. it should work fine, at least it does up here and we usually have bigger snow loads. The vertical boarding counts in reality but not in engineering calculations.

Thanks Guys, I've got lots to think about.

Stupid thing about the windows is I replaced 5 on the house last year as the sills were rotting and they were kind of drafty. I could have just taken them apart and had 10 free windows for the shed.:wall:

I'd go bigger but I can't make it fit. The lot the house is on is the side of a hill that rises like 40', theres a plateau where my house is, and valley above my small back yard and the rest is steep woods.

I'm not planning to really do any work in the shed and the house has a garage underneath so the lawn mower and snow blower are staying in the garage. I'm really just looking to paint & epoxy there if I can get it warm enough. My folks used to have a tiny potbelly stove that heated our kitchen, I was thinking I could do the same thing out there as I've got all these trees for free wood. Sounds like I'll have to rethink that.

just so you can get an idea what i'm were this thing is going... Its taken me 2 weeks to get this cleaned out, leveled and the retaining wall built.. And the clocks ticking, I gotta start fishing in 2weeks. Ugh!

lots to think about.

And the clocks ticking, I gotta start fishing in 2weeks. Ugh!


what i was thinkin...:read:

And the clocks ticking, I gotta start fishing in 2weeks. Ugh!

F$#@! that...I built mine in the winter..In the snow..I was younger then though.:hihi:

Go with T-111 siding and make sure you double layer the floor if you plan on putting alot of weight on it and on the roof I'd go with 2x8 16' on center with 1/2" ply. Make sure you put in a couple of collar joists or beams in the celling.

Go with T-111 siding and make sure you double layer the floor if you plan on putting alot of weight on it and on the roof I'd go with 2x8 16' on center with 1/2" ply. Make sure you put in a couple of collar joists or beams in the celling.
Yes..I did T-111 and used 3/4 tongue and groove for the floor.

T- 111 sucks in my opinion....it warps really fast! I used T & G on my garage!:huh:

Larry, was the T&G you used pine, cedar, something else ?

Pine. I loved it....went up easy and looks great! Worth every penny in my opinion. Just prime after you put it up with the gold Zinseer cover stain to kill the knots and the pitch bleed through!:btu:

I'm going to be building an 8x12 shed. Besides storage, I am hoping to use it as a place to do all of my painting and finishing so I can get all the chemicals out of the house. To do that, I'd like to try and find a small wood stove that I can use to heat it warm enough to paint and epoxy in the winter.

I know basically what I need to do, but I've got some questions that I'm sure a bunch of you may know the anwers to.

The town said I don't need to pour footers for a shed that size but I am going to pour one for each corner anyways. The bottom is basically going to be pressure treated 2X8's, with 8' joists 16" on center, with 2 12' long 2x8's going the long way. Is the 12' span too long, do I need another footer in the middle to break it into 2 6' spans ?

Yes, put another footing at 6 ft. on each of those doubled 2x8's.

Ok, once the floor joists are put together, I was going to lay 5/8 plywood on that as the floor.

use P.T. if you can

The sides are just going to be framed 2X4's 16" on center. I would like to put in 3 large rectangular windows but I am not sure where to look for those. They don't need to be fancy double pane or anything like that, just large basic windows. Any suggestions on where to look for them besides the HD or lowes ?

Window company smaple windows are a great choice especially if they are free. I have some free transom windows if you want them.

I do not know what to do for siding. I'd like to have a rough sawn cedar look, Board and batten, T&G, ?? and if I could do that without also having to put in plywood sheathing on the sides that would save some money but I don't know if that's ok to do or not. I know that if I do it without the plywood and I do boar and batten I need to run horizontal supports between the 2x4's..

you live in Plymouth, I'd go with the 1/2" plywood, maybe stain it this year for now with a dark brown solid stain, then when you have time and more dough, put on white cedar shingles, it's a small shed so it shouldn't take long.

Does anyone have a good source for rough cedar siding is SE mass? The shed is in the woods so I'm trying to stay away from pine as I'm afraid of bugs.

maybe try grossmans bargain outlet or that place in Assonet

Last questions are about the roof. I have a pallet of asphalt shingles so I'm going to use them. First question is about the rafters. Do I need 2X6 and if so how far apart are they on center ? Some places I read said 24", and that just seemed funny with the floor and walls being 16" on center. Also, how thick does the plywood need to be for the roof, is 1/2" ok ??

1/2" ply is fine but your roofing nails will come thru, but that shouldn't be a problem since you most likely will toss some insulation up there. I'd go 16" on center with minimum of 2x6



IMO even if you are just going to do painting and epoxying out there, I'd consider going up to a 12x12 or 10x12 minimum.
Maybe you can heat with a propane fired wall unit heater of some kind.
good luck

For heat , wall mount propane, Try www.rinnai.us. I have two of their medium sized units heating a full Cape very comfortably in Truro for 8 months of the year.

thanks guys, I'll look into that..

Slip's comments are right on. You can also add bridging between joists to stiffen floor from sagging span. I would sheath walls and roof with 5/8 ply, then just housewrap until you decide on finish. You might want to check for local sawmill. Their first cuts are often discarded and that is the outer round, which can be used to make it look like a log cabin.

Oh yeah, bigger if you can. It is cheaper now.