Pole Shed

I've spent the last few days building a pole barn. I have a lot of salvaged wood, windows, and doors sitting in the living room and first guest bedroom. I need to get these rooms cleared out so I can begin working on them. The pole barn will house all of my salvaged material.

I found a level spot in the back yard for it and cleared it out. The barn will be 8x12 in size so I guess it's more of a pole shed than a barn. The inside ceiling height will be close to 9'.

I began by laying out the footprint with string tied to stakes. I made sure it was square by using a drywall square and a 4' level then checked it with the 3-4-5 string method. To do this you make a mark on one of the strings 3' from the corner, and 4' down on the other string then you measure between both marks. The measurement has to be exactly 5' for the corner to be square.

With that done I marked out the locations of the posts and began digging the holes.


I dont know about you but digging post holes by hand in 102 degree weather is not fun.

after all the holes were dug I cemented the poles in place making sure each was perfectly level on both sides.


The next step was to install the headers. These are what the roof trusses will sit on.


After installing the headers I began building the roof trusses. These were fairly simple to build. I used spiked metal mending plates on each side to hold the trusses together. I then installed the trusses on the header roughly 2' on center using hurricane straps.

Next I installed the purlins across the roof trusses. these tie the trusses together and gives you something to screw the tin to.


Next came the tin for the roof. The tin is galvanized, I'll probably paint it green or red. I screwed it to the purlins with steel screws with neoprene washers so it wont leak.



Left to do is the ridge cap for the roof, the face boards on the truss ends, a few windows, a door, and the walls. I'll be using the windows and doors that I have on hand. The plywood for the walls is going to be the most expensive part, costing from $150 to $250. I guess I should mention that I've only spent less than $200 so far.