Building a better shed

One of the most challenging things about a small cottage is the utter lack of storage space combined with the need for an unbelievable amount of stuff. I am amazed at how this city boy now owns a wheelbarrow, a chainsaw, a weed eater with a brush cutter attachment (basically a circular saw on the end of a stick), the making of a small woodshop - the list goes on and on. 

The cottage came with one of those old tin 6x7 sheds that your grandfather used to own. It wouldn't have been so bad except that the screened in porch has these big winterizing frames to keep the snow out (not sure they actually are worth it) that, when stored in the shed, take up half the space. Clearly a new shed was a priority. 

Perhaps not the finest shed 

I rather misguidedly figured I could build a shed from scratch over a four day extended labour day weekend last August (Sheila calls me the master under-estimator). 7 weeks later I finished the painting and I still have the stairs to do but in the end the Tajma shed is looking pretty good. We based the design on a shed in a Taunton Fine Homebuilding shed book. If you haven't seen these, look for them at Home Depot. They are awesome.

The one really great find was the LP Products SmartSide reverse board and batten panel for the exterior. It comes with a 50 year guarantee, eliminates the need to skin the shed in ply and doesn't cost much more than the ply you would use under any other siding product. It is pre-primed to boot. I got mine at the Home Depot in Carleton Place at somewhere around $25 a 4x8 sheet. The Home Hardware in Perth quoted me somewhere around $40 so shopping around is worth it.

The other thing we learned is that if your angles for your rafters are greater than 45 degrees (which they are for the 10 in 12 roof pitch) then don't try screwing around with your mitre saw. Draw the line and cut it with your circular saw. Much easier and way more accurate.

The window was made in the woodshop at home using half lap joinery - pretty easy actually and much cheaper than ordering something. Some pine and a couple sheets of clear acrylic.

The outer dimensions of the shed are 9 x roughly 11 3/4 to make sure the total area came in under the 108 foot maximum for building without permits. The next step will be to build the stairs and to outfit the interior with benches/shelving etc to try to keep the thing organized.