1/2 face cord firewood shed plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Prepare the ground

   Mark two strips 60″ long and 8″ wide, 16 1/2″ apart on centre.

   Dig out the sod 4″ deep, fill with gravel and tamp it level.

   STOP. Confirm setbacks and any HOA rules with your town. Call 811 before you dig.

4. 4Build the floor

   Lay the two skids (A) on the gravel, 20″ apart outside to outside.

   Screw 10 floor slats (B) across them, 4 15/16″ apart on centre, flush with the outside faces. Two 3″ screws at each end.

   ✓ The skids are level and the diagonals match.

5. 5Stand the posts

   Front posts (C) are 62 7/8″; back posts (D) are 57″. Place 2 of each 44 1/2″ apart on centre, the end ones flush with the skid ends.

   Clamp each post to the outside face of its skid, bottoms flush. Drill and fit two 8″ carriage bolts.

   ✓ Every post is plumb.

6. 6Headers and end braces

   Set a header (E) on edge on the front post tops and one on the back post tops. Two 6″ structural screws down into each post.

   Hold an end brace (I) across the inside faces of the end posts, low at the back, high at the front. Mark, cut flush, and screw on.

   ✓ Push a corner: the frame does not lean.

7. 7Slat the back

   Screw 9 back slats (H) to the inside face of the back posts, the first 1″ above the floor, 2″ gaps. Two 3″ screws at every post.

8. 8Frame the roof

   Set 3 rafters (F) across the headers, 23 1/4″ apart on centre, 6″ past the front posts and 4″ past the back posts. Hurricane-tie each end.

   Screw 3 purlins (G) flat across the rafters, one at each end of the slope and the rest even between, 3″ past the end rafters.

9. 9Roof panels

   Cut 2 corrugated panels into 3 pieces 41″ long.

   Lay them side by side, each lapping the last by one rib, 1″ past the front and back purlins. Screw into every purlin with the sealing-washer screws, following the panel instructions.

   ✓ Stack the wood bark side up, off the back slats by an inch or two so air moves.

10. 10Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Outdoors, use an exterior finish: a penetrating deck oil or exterior stain, or primer and exterior paint. Leave cedar bare to weather silver if you like. If it holds soil for food plants, leave the inside unfinished.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.