Modifying Little House -> building a 10x12 'shed' as a practice run

[duncanshannon]

Hi-

I ordered the little house plans with the intent of using them to create a 10x12 shed for my backyard. Prob. overkill for a shed but its a 'training' exercise with dreams of a 20x30 some day.

I have very little construction experience.

I have the plans in front of me, and have studied them a bit. I see there are 3 different size plans here.  I'm not sure if I'm missing something or if I just need to do some more work, but I dont see plans to cover everything.

1) I know I need to modify the 10x14 down to 10x12. How do you suggest people modify the plans to downscale things? Take 1' off of each end? What about changing the drawings etc.

2) I'd like to use the gabled ends on this, but I dont see drawings for the 10x14 gabled roof - only shed roof. Even then, I dont see much detail for the gable roofs... I was expecting detailed drawings that had details like how long the rafters are, what the angles of the cuts are etc.  Am I missing something?

3) Last question for now... Page 6 talks about lofts.  I dont see mention of anything else in the plans re lofts - like how to build them.  Are those somewhere else?

Thanks.... hope these are all reasonable questions.

thanks

[John Raabe]

Duncan:

If you have not built anything building size before, it will be helpful to have a basic carpentry book such as the Wagner book here:
http://www.countryplans.com/books.html

1) I know I need to modify the 10x14 down to 10x12. How do you suggest people modify the plans to downscale things? Take 1' off of each end? What about changing the drawings etc.

- Sheet 1 "Foundation and Floor Framing" Change the 14' length to 12' NTS (not to scale) and do the same thing with the 1' end spans on the beams.

2) I'd like to use the gabled ends on this, but I dont see drawings for the 10x14 gabled roof - only shed roof. Even then, I don't see much detail for the gable roofs... I was expecting detailed drawings that had details like how long the rafters are, what the angles of the cuts are etc.

- For a gable roof on the 10' shed use the Cross Section drawing on sheet 3 which has all the information needed to build this roof. Note the "see detail" circle which refers to the details on sheet 5 where you will decide how you want to build the eaves. When you do angles for a roof cut you do not use a protractor you use a framing square (much easier). The only information you need is the pitch shown on the drawing as X/12. In this case 12/12 (12 in12 slope) - which is 45º. You can change this if you don't want a steep roof.

Your number 3 question is already answered if you see the larger framing details on sheet 5 (top of page). Note that you do not have much of a loft in a 10' wide building. That's why most smaller sheds have a "shed" roof.

PS - rafter length. When you have the walls up and squared on the subfloor deck - snap out (chaulkline) a full sized layout of the rafters using the actual dimensions of your building and lumber. Then test cut and fit your first rafter pair to use as a template for the rest (more in Wagner). You don't want to cut to a number calculated on a drawing as your actual built dimensions are likely to be somewhat different.

[duncanshannon]

Hi John-

I'm all about the books.  Thru your links (i believe) i ordered the Ultimate Guide to House Framing, and The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling.  I also found Housebuilding: A Do-It-Yourself Guide, Revised & Expanded and Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results which both seem good. I really like the "Housebuilding..." book. Its a good read, i'd consider adding it to your list.   I anticipate owning a copy of "Working Alone" at some point too!

1) OK!

2) Ok... Good tip on the angles.  When I look at the Floor Plan and Foundation/Floor Plan on page 1, I see measurements like 10' so I know I need 10' 2x6 for framing up the floor and a 4x6 beam that is 14' for the beams.  I see "2x6 or 2x8" for the rafters but nothing about length... how do you know what length to get? Do the math or am I missing it on the plans?    Also... is that a choice 2x6 or 2x8 and either is ok?

thanks!!

[John Raabe]

Scaling the rafter length on the cross section (for a 10' width) it looks like you will be able to use an 8' long rafter. Yes, 2x6 is plenty strong enough especially at a 10' width. 2x8 has room for better insulation.

Here's the materials list for the Little House plans that will help. The gable roof is not worked up for the 10' width but you can interpolate from the 12' width list.
http://www.jshow.com/y2k/materials/materials.html

Thanks for the lead on the Housebuilding book.
http://www.amazon.com/Housebuilding-Do-Yourself-Revised-Expanded/dp/1402743165/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297119130&sr=8-1

[duncanshannon]

thanks much!