Mother's Add-On Garden Toolshed
(Page 2 of 3)
September/October 1985
By the Mother Earth News staff
Keeping those parameters in mind, we attached a 4' 6"-long 2 X 4 roof nailer flush across the top of the wall beneath the eaves, using three equally spaced 6" molly bolts to secure the board to the block. Then we built the floor frame—basically a box—for the shed, using a 5'-long 2 X 4 for each front and back nailer, and five 2' 3-1/2"-long 2 X 4s, spaced 16" on center, for the joists.
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With the floor box completed, we attached it to the wall, again using 6" molly bolts to secure the inside nailer to the block. Then we dug a 6"-deep posthole at each outside front corner. While one person held the front of the floor frame, we used a level to plumb the right corner post-a 7' treated 2 X 4.
After checking to be sure the upright was perpendicular, we held a 2 X 4 in place between the outside of the top nailer and the inside of the upright, scribed a line where the 2 X 4 extended past the post, and cut the board there to form the first rafter (it measured 2' 4-3/4"). Then we used that rafter as a template to cut three more roof supports. With that done, we again held the floor and corner post so they were level and plumb, backfilled the post, nailed the floor and upright together, and toenailed the outer rafter in position between the nailer and upright.
We repeated the process to erect the left corner post and rafter, and then we nailed a 5'-long 2 X 4 header across the outside ends of the rafters. Next, we installed the remaining two rafters, spacing one 24" from the left rafter and the other 24" from the right. Then on each side we put a shorter (2' 1-1/4") 2 X 4, with one end butted against the corner post and the other end affixed to the outside of the top nailer.
At that point, the shed was pretty much framed in. We installed a 30" X 60" piece of 3/4" plywood for the floor, and enclosed the end walls (plus the first six inches on either side of the shed's front) with 3/4" rough-sawn white pine siding milled from trees on the Eco-Village property. Then, after securing 1 X 4 fascia board across the header and on each side, we nailed down the roof—a 32" X 60" sheet of 1/2" plywood—and covered it with asphalt roll roofing. A metal drip edge attached to the fascia on all three sides further protects the shed.
