Handbook · Complete builds

How to build an 8 × 8 ft shed with a shed roof

An 8 by 8 ft shed on four piers: a timber floor, 2×4 walls, one slope of 2×6 rafters falling from the doors to the back, and a pair of doors. Every picture, size and count here is HausCrafter’s, from the shed as it is drawn.

The whole guide as a PDF

Step 1 of 7 · Foundations

Lay it out, and set the piers

1. Stake the shed’s four corners, 8 ft apart each way, and string lines between them. It is square when both diagonals measure the same, 11 ft 3 3/4 in.
2. Dig a hole at each corner below your frost line, pour a footing in it, and set a pier on each: 4 footings and 4 piers.
3. Bring the piers’ tops level with each other. A string and a line level across each pair will do it; the floor is only as flat as they are.

Piece	How much
footing	4 pieces
pier	4 pieces

Step 2 of 7 · Floors

Frame the floor

1. Lay a beam across each pair of piers, and the floor across the beams: a rim of 4 boards round the outside, and 5 joists between them 16 in on centre, each nailed through the rim.
2. Measure the frame’s diagonals as you did the strings, and rack it till they match before the subfloor goes on.
3. Glue and screw the subfloor to the joists, its long edges across them.

Cut	Piece	Size	Length
2	floor rim	2×10	8 ft
2	floor rim	2×10	7 ft 9 in
5	floor joist	2×10	7 ft 9 in
6	beam ply	2×10	8 ft

Step 3 of 7 · Walls

Frame the walls and stand them up

1. Frame each wall flat on the floor: a sole plate, a top plate, and studs 16 in on centre between them, 43 studs in all. Stand it, plumb it and nail its sole plate down through the subfloor.
2. The east wall is the high one. It stands 1 ft 10 1/4 in higher than the west, on a short wall framed over its plate, and the two end walls are framed up to the slope between them.
3. Frame the doors’ opening 5 ft wide: a jack stud each side under a header, 2 jacks and 3 header pieces.
4. Nail a second top plate over the first, lapping it over the corners to tie the walls together.

Cut	Piece	Size	Length
43	stud	2×4	5 13/16 in to 7 ft 9 1/2 in
3	sole plate	2×4	7 ft 7 in
1	sole plate	2×4	1 ft 5 1/4 in
1	sole plate	2×4	1 ft 1 3/4 in
8	top plate	2×4	7 ft 7 in
2	top plate	2×4	7 ft 5 1/4 in
1	top plate	2×4	7 ft 3 1/2 in
2	jack stud	2×4	6 ft 7 in
2	header	2×4	5 ft 3 in
1	header	1/2 × 3 1/2 in	5 ft 3 in

Step 4 of 7 · Roofs

Set the rafters

1. Cut 5 rafters to the length below, notch each over both top plates, and nail them 24 in on centre from the low wall to the high one, running on 6 in past each.
2. Close their ends with a sub-fascia at each eave, and run a barge rafter up each side on 8 lookouts.

Cut	Piece	Size	Length
5	rafter	2×6	9 ft 9/16 in
2	barge rafter	2×6	9 ft 9/16 in
4	corner rafter	2×6	1 ft 11 5/16 in
2	sub-fascia	2×6	8 ft 8 7/8 in
8	lookout	2×6	1 ft 1 1/2 in

Step 5 of 7 · Siding & roofing

Sheathe, wrap and side the walls

1. Nail the sheathing to the studs in 4 × 8 ft sheets, standing up, each edge on a stud, and cut round the doors’ opening. The pieces below are what the sheets are cut to.
2. Staple the house wrap over it, each course lapping the one under it, and hang the siding over the wrap from the bottom up.

Piece	How much
siding	6 pieces
house wrap	6 pieces
sheathing	16 pieces
gable sheathing	3 pieces
gable cladding	3 pieces

Step 6 of 7 · Siding & roofing

Deck and roof it

1. Nail the roof decking across the rafters, its joints staggered, and the fascia over the sub-fascia and barge rafters.
2. At 3 in 12, a shingle roof wants a double layer of underlayment under it. Your shingles’ maker says the least pitch they are good for, and what they ask under them.
3. Shingle from the low eave up, each course lapping the one under it.

Piece	How much
roof decking	31 pieces
fascia	4 pieces
soffit	4 pieces
shingles	0.83 squares

Step 7 of 7 · Doors & windows

Hang the doors

1. Hang a pair of doors 2 ft 6 in wide and 6 ft 8 in tall in the opening, each on three hinges, with an even gap round them and between them.
2. Nail the brickmould round the opening outside, over the siding’s edge, and caulk it.

Piece	How much
brickmould	3 pieces

Built and counted close enough to plan the shed and buy for it. Your local code, a span table and your permit office settle what each footing and board has to be.