Making my shed larger

In 2020, a little situation called COVID-19 kept a lot of humans cooped up inside their homes. With nothing better to do, we focused on our homes, mainly by improving and adding on to what was there. This drove up lumber prices to astronomical levels and prevented building contractors from sleeping very much.

I joined in, enthusiastically. My building plan had already been developed, and luckily I'd bought all my materials before plywood became precious, but quarantine gave me the opportunity to get it done sooner.

The previous owners of our property were horse lovers. They enjoyed their draft horses so much that they built a 25x40 pole building just for storing hay. The building was constructed into the face of a grade and included a 3-sided lean-to. Horses could eat hay under the shelter of the lean-to, which had floor built 4 feet lower than the main level of the shed. The main shed was outfitted with 3 sliding doors on the lean-to side of the building. The hay could simply be pushed out the sliding doors and it would drop down to the hungry horses.

I spent quite some time pondering how to make the lean-to space usable. I'd rapidly filled up the main area of the shed with toys and junk (who wouldn't?) and was looking for more room. The 15x40 lean-to seemed to make the most sense for expansion. Only problem was the floor. I could enclose the area, but the 4-foot difference in elevation made the space less usable.

My solution? Raise the floor. But how? Concrete would be an ideal surface, but probably expensive to integrate into the existing structure. I decided to build a raised plywood floor, understanding its many limitations. I had no plans to park a skid loader on that floor, but I wanted it built solid enough that my daughter could perform backflips without disturbing the dust on the workbench.

Below is the design I came up with.

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making things bigger

Building Stuff in Quarantine

when bankers try to be carpenters

The Lean-To (east side)

For the horseys .

North Side

South Side

Goodbye Doors

Working alone, these doors were heavy and awkward. Using a little of my dad's ingenuity, I lowered them with help from tie-downs.

Anyone Need Some Doors?

Moving these is about as much as one person can handle. During the months I left them here, I was shocked to see them blown upside down on more than one occasion. Apparently they work well as sails, too.

Getting Started

I covered the door openings with plywood, then got to work on the post anchors. This was December and I wanted to get some heat in here while I worked.

Tarped Up and Lit Up

About a year before, apparently I'd been bored enough to install lights in the lean-to. This worked out well for the project. I bought some large, heavy tarps to enclose the space.

Posts and Beams

Yeah, I did it this way. I liked the idea of having storage space under the floor. The horizontals gave me some extra clearance, versus 2x12's.

Nobody But Me Will Know, Right?

The concrete floor was sloped slightly. The wood floor was to be flat. That was harder than I thought it would be. Let's just say there was some shimming involved.

Hello Mr. Nail Gun

My parents gave this to me for Christmas. I put it to good use. The 16-ft joists were not fun to work with, especially doing all of this by myself. Should have paired up shorter 2x12's for each span.

Man, That Was a Lot of Joists

It just was. Especially when I realized I'd measured the post heights too long for one row of posts, after I'd already attached the horizontal beams. So I router'ed out the beams so the joists would attach level. I'd always wanted a router anyway.

The Dog Likes To Help

Mostly by chewing on treated lumber.

Flooring It

I used two layers of 3/4" plywood. The first layer was treated, tongue-in-groove. Second layer was standard sheets. The tongue-in-groove was difficult to join together, sometimes on account of Menards quality.

Half My Net Worth in Plywood

In 2021, I could have unscrewed this, sold it and put my kids through college. I was so proud that I was able to get the floor down with one less piece of plywood than expected, on both layers.

Impromptu Workbench

With leftover plywood and some recycled lumber I built a "cutting" bench. This is where I put my radial arm saw and chop saw. Always wanted a bench like this, with lots of room around it.

Making Use of Scraps

One can never have enough shelves.

Then the Girls Took Over

When my daughters saw this area taking shape, they immediately moved in.

Quarantine Space

Before I knew it, I was hanging a hammock and whatever that blue thing is.

Then My Wife Took Over

Between the two of us, we learned how to stream virtual Zumba classes. The new space became a Zumba studio (bike added for awesomeness).

Storage Underneath

It's semi-usable for something.

Fully Enclosed

I'd never worked with metal siding, so I watched YouTube videos and became an expert. And of course, bought a couple of new cutting tools.

Siding

Michelle helped me put up the siding. The two vertical 6x6 roof supports were not exactly squared up to the rest of the building, so I had to improvise to make the wall straight.

Forgive Me, Alma Mater

My stolen sign fit nicely in the space.

Indispensable

Awesome tool. Also awesome: Kyle Stumpenhorst at rrbuildings.com. I learned a lot about trim by watching his many YouTube videos. And he lives not too far from us.

In Conclusion