How to Build a Shed From the Ground Up

Select an area in your yard that is relatively flat. Prepare the ground by using a pick and shovel to move the soil until the area is level. Use a hand tamper or gas-operated compacter to compact the soil so that there will be no settling once the shed is complete.

Place the 4-by-6 pressure -treated beams on the ground to serve as skids for the shed's foundation. The beams should be placed parallel with the longest side of your shed and 36 inches apart on center. Use a carpenter's level across these beams to recheck that they are level. Remove or add soil underneath the beams as needed.

Make top and bottom plates for your walls. Cut two 2-by-4s to a length that is the same as the planned side length on which you are working. Cut the studs for the wall from more 2-by-4 lumber. These should be a length of the planned height of your shed walls. Nail the studs to the top and bottom plates, spacing the studs 16 inches apart on center. Repeat this process for all four walls. Frame out the openings for any doors or windows.

Raise the walls one at a time. Attach the bottom plates of the walls to the floor by screwing heavy-duty 3-inch screws down through the bottom plate in to the floor. Use a 2-by-4 piece of lumber temporarily nailed to the wall and extending to the ground as a brace. Plumb and square the walls and then nail them together.

Make another set of top plates that are identical to those made in Step 4. Measure and mark on the plates every 24 inches on center. These will act as guides for where to put the roof trusses. Nail the top plates directly onto the others on top of the wall.

Nail the end trusses to the top plates, making sure they are flush with the side of the wall. Nail the rest of the trusses to the top plates also. They should be placed on the marks on the top plates you made earlier, so that they are 24 inches on center. Cover the trusses with sheets of 5/8-inch plywood in a manner similar to that of the floor decking and nail it down.

Roof the shed. Use asphalt paper to cover the plywood and fasten it with roofing tacks. Install metal drip edges on the eaves of the roof by nailing them to the plywood, under the asphalt paper. This will allow any water to run cleanly off the edge of the roof. On the overhangs, nail the drip edge over the asphalt paper. Add roofing shingles.

Nail 5/8-inch channel siding to the outside walls. Leave 1 inch of the siding hanging below the bottom plate of each wall. Place any windows and doors into the rough openings you have framed in the walls. Trim the shed and paint it to your preference.