Shed questions

I just bought a new shed for storage of typical outdoor equipment, holiday decorations, etc. It is made with Duratemp siding on the outside, framed with 2 x 4 inside.

My questions: Does anyone bother with an interior finish?

I made a bed of stone and the shed sits on 4 x 4s so there is a gap on the ends. Cover with screening? I just want to avoid skunks or raccoons taking up residence under it.

This is a pre-fab that is dropped in place. They are built in Amish country in PA and shipped to the local dealer. They set it in place in less than an hour. It looks well built. Far better than the stuff we saw at the big box stores. Framing is 16" OC, plywood and not OSB, pressure treated floor, etc. I got a gambrel roof because it has a loft on the end for more storage space than a typical "A" frame roof. I'm adding additional shelving on the other side and back.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski
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Definitely yes on the screening, and extend it down several inches into the ground/foundation rocks so digging will not allow critters to go under the screening.

Reply to
hrhofmann

I didn't.

Definitely block any potential entrance to the area under the shed - that may even end up including digging up a perimeter and burying enough of whatever screening you use to prevent the critters from digging around surface screening. It's very important to keep them out to begin with. Once they nest, their descendants will be nesting there, too.

Critters recognize what a wonderful home you've built for them and are anxious to move in. Even after I did the chicken-wire treatment an oppossum and family still managed to dig their way into the space under the shed. They found the one area where I couldn't get the screen tacked securely. I had no idea they were living under there until a light snow fell and I saw all these tracks leading to the shed.

Sounds interesting. Who's the dealer?

One important note - if you don't use the shed very often, you can end up with critters living inside it - namely bees, wasps and other social insects. I went into the shed and saw a mud-colored flowerpot that wasn't a flowerpot at all. It was a giant wasp's nest. My neighbor had termites eat up all the cardboard boxes he used for storage.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Bought it from these guys

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there are many other dealers around. What made my choice was the fact that they knew what they were talking about. I visited a couple of other dealers and builders. When I described where it had to go, (had to be turned 90 degrees from transport mode) one told me it could not be done. "You'll have to figure something out". Well, I did, I figured I'd go elsewhere.

Another place brings a KD shed and assembles on site. They did not offer a gambrel roof though and that was a big factor for me.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Yes.

Those with ADD.

Also especially those that invite their relatives and neighbors over for social gatherings. It would be unacceptably gauche to submit visitors to an unfinished area.

What would the drop-ins think?

Shudder!

Reply to
HeyBub

I'd advise against it-- the wood will breath better if left unfinished on the inside.

I'll repeat someone else's thought-- bury the screen [I'd use galvanized hardware cloth] to prevent, er . . discourage diggers. [I'd go a foot-- but my shed is on sand.]

I keep a can of wasp/hornet spray on a shelf right next to the light switch-- was happy to have it there a few times.

My BIL got one a few years ago. Well built, about the same price as the materials to build it- and slid off the truck right where he wanted it.

[This is where he got it in Schenectady, NY
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Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

if you want no critteres under your shed get a poured concrete floor. its more durabe, will likely outlast the shed, and is the best choice i made my shed is 16 by 20

Reply to
bob haller

With the exception of making a kids playhouse sort of thing I have never seen one finished inside.

Those Amish built units are well built and so much better than the big box versions.

Reply to
George

Depends on how taxing works in your area. If we place them on a poured slab it becomes taxable property and for some reason the taxes are higher than you would think. The usual deal around here is to place them on a crushed stone bed as Ed described.

Reply to
George

clipped

My son's mower is the birthing center for local mice, which makes the shed a nice home for cats. Back side a bit rotted out, so most critters are welcome. The groundhog under the shed keeps the weeds cut :o)

Reply to
Norminn

Thought about it but rather costly. The concrete would have been hundreds more and then I need a different permit, taxes, etc. You have to draw the line somewhere. This is 10 x 16.

This shed should last 20 to 25 years. I don't think I will.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

If I understand correctly, can you mortar or grout the voids?

Reply to
Doug

The openings are 3 1/2" by a total of 9' on each side. Picture the shed (or a big box) sitting on four 4 x 4 beams.

An easy way is to block them with wood sheathing cut to strips, but I'm not sure that blocking with no air circulation is a good idea.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Got it. My first thought is small wire mesh or vinyl screening. Not sure if either is a permanent fix but I think if attached and buried well, it should work. Not sure tho if the summer sun will affect the vinyl screening where you are.

My other thought for longevity is to use concrete block instead of 4x4 wood beams for the support. I'm not a fan of wood buried or in contact with the soil tho I know it's done often.

Reply to
Doug

A few years ago I bought a 10x16 shed and it was set up on one concrete block on one end and several on the othe as the land slopes. That way no wood was directly on the ground. The bottom of the shed is on runners that are 4x4s of treated wood.

I did not finish the inside of the shed walls. The exposed studs give me a place to drive some nails and hooks in to hang things. I did put up a panel or two of the boards that have lots of holes in them and used the hangers for them for some tools. I do not want an insulated or heated building as it is just for storage. Mainly of lawn equipment. I do not intend to be in it much when it is too cold for the grass to grow.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

If you had no idea they were living under there, then what's the problem? I've had skunks living under my deck for 10 or 15 years. They don't bother me and I don't bother them. I've also got a shed on pier blocks and 4 x 4 stringers. I have no idea whether anyone is living under there, but I have no problem sharing. I did kick the raccoons out of the attic, though.

Reply to
Smitty Two

I'm sure your Amish shed is better built than mine, which I bought from HD, but since I got for less than half price on an "open box discount" I was able to buy extra material to build it to higher standards than the kit called for.

I originally bought enough 2 x 4's and plywood to build a roughly 4 x

6 lean-to shed which was all I was looking for. I spent about $250. I went back into the store for something I had forgotten and while going out a different door I saw a handwritten sign that read "Open Box Shed Kits - See Manager"

I found a manager and ended up with the kit for this shed for the same $250, instead of the $599 list price.

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I needed to buy roofing material and PT plywood for the floor, but that never came with the kit anyway. That's how they keep the price down. They also keep it "cheap" by not using sill plates for the walls and not using a full studded wall for the back wall. I bought extra studs and built *real* walls and also upgraded a few other items. When it was done, I still spent less than the original price of $599, including the roofing and flooring. I'm pretty happy.

BTW...that reminds me of something I saw in HD last night. When I bought the roofing material for the shed, I bought a bunch of open- pack shingles from Lowes for $10 a bundle. Last night I was pricing shingles at HD for a couple of dog houses I'm building and went looking for some open bundles. Instead of marking down the open bundles, they are now selling "single shingles" for $2.02 a piece. Maybe they've been doing it for a while, but I wasn't looking before. That's a lot more expensive than the $10 a bundle I paid a few years ago.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I had a coon making nightly visits to my garbage can so I built a trap from 2x4's and hardware cloth. I heard the trap door snap shut as I was getting in bed. I went out and checked and there was the coon in the trap. I decided to deal with him in the morning. Bad decision. During the night he literally ripped a big enough hole in the hardware cloth to get out. He left a lot of hair and hide behind doing it though. He never came back. My new trap has hog wire instead of hardware cloth.

Reply to
Red

Maybe cut 4 x 4 to fit, the gaps. Or, more stone.

I may have woodchuck living under my trailer. Sadly, I've got nosy neighbors. The trailer park has a waiting list for the live trap, they drive them out and release them some where. Which is about as effective as bailing water from one side the boat, and pour it out at the other side of the boat. I doubt I could kill them, someone would be sure to be offended.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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.

My questions: Does anyone bother with an interior finish?

I made a bed of stone and the shed sits on 4 x 4s so there is a gap on the ends. Cover with screening? I just want to avoid skunks or raccoons taking up residence under it.

This is a pre-fab that is dropped in place. They are built in Amish country in PA and shipped to the local dealer. They set it in place in less than an hour. It looks well built. Far better than the stuff we saw at the big box stores. Framing is 16" OC, plywood and not OSB, pressure treated floor, etc. I got a gambrel roof because it has a loft on the end for more storage space than a typical "A" frame roof. I'm adding additional shelving on the other side and back.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

It was a pre-emptive strike, part of the new diplomacy. They could be refining uranium under there for all I know. (-: There are acres of parkland bordering my lot. Moving in this close to humans probably means they are dependent on humans for food and that's probably not good for them, at least based on some doco I saw about Aussie pelicans that became dependent on human handouts.

I once had my car professionally tossed by a family of raccoons. They tore up the upholstery and emptied the glove compartment, whizzing and leaving raccoon turds here and there. It stank of raccoon whenever it was hot and humid. The last raccoon family in residence tossed the neighborhood garbage cans the night before garbage collection like clockwork. With those prehensile little claws, they can make a monumental mess in a very short time, especially when they work in gangs. And they like to spread things out over a wide area, too.

Now there's a possum that seems to have gotten taken up residence, but it's been years since I did a full inspection of the shed (that's today) so there's likely a hole in the wire. The possum draws the neighbor's illegal pit bull, which he lets run around leashless at 3AM because he knows Animal Control doesn't work those hours. I suspect it's also because the dog's not likely to play with or maul the neighborhood kids at 3AM. He keeps the poor dog cooped up all day to avoid getting the dog confiscated. All that commotion outside makes *my* dog go nuts at 3AM, too. That cuts into my world in a negative way.

I'm all for live and let live, until whatever the critters do affects what I do. I also have a neighbor that has at least three huge bird feeders and buys seed in immense bags. That upset the natural order of things a long, long time ago. Squirrels set off my motion detectors at least 3 times a day. It's only been less lately because I've had 5 big trees removed in the last year. But it's picking up again because they've got access to an almost unlimited food source. I don't mind the visiting birds. Last month I got to watch the local bluejays try to run off a huge hawk that was sitting in the branches. Pretty brazen little birds, those bluejays.

I once had a squirrel locked in my house for a week - he slipped in when I was loading up the car for a week long business trip - the damage from that incident would have been in the $1,000's had I hired someone to do the cleanup. I had to repair half a dozen chewed-on window sills, door sills and other various items it destroyed. I still find "fossilized" squirrel pellets on the tops of bookcases and ductwork. Now I do my best to make sure the local squirrel gene pool consists of squirrels that don't come near houses. I'll be setting up a couple of Hav-a-harts today to catch that possum.

Fortunately we don't have many skunks here, and while I appreciate that they are quite beneficial, I've already had to deal with one skunk-drenched dog and one skunk-drenched car. That's enough for one lifetime. (-:

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

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