Better Barns shed plans

[Scott Schwake]

Has anyone bought shed plans from Better Barns (http://www.betterbarns.com/BarnPlans.asp)? The finished sheds look nice, just wondering if the plans are worth the $30 price.

THanks,
Scott

[Dave Houseal]

I just built a chicken coup this spring. No plans necessary.

Framing the roof is the hardest part, but there is plenty of good information online about how to handle that. There is a little bit of math involved....but it isn't difficult and there are even calculators online that tell ya what to do.

Same thing with the rest of the framing. If you have a garage that doesn't have finished walls, just take a look at how that is built. It's way simpler than you might think.

[Dick Thomas]

Just one caution, whether you buy plans or wing it: CHECK FOR SNOW LOADING! Depending on where you live, roof pitch and max usable span of rafters depends heavily on what snowfall you might have to support.

Consider wind loading too!

[Stephan Larson]

Scott,
Being from MN you might even want to talk to your local lumber yard about trusses, for the time savings, the ease to make the roof and the cost involved, it's an option. Instead of using 2x8's 16" on center and setting the slope and then cutting a bird's mouth, the truses will have all of the engineering figured out so you could be ready to just place them on your walls.

Stephan

[Larry Frank]

A couple of years ago, I built a Gambrel style roof on a 12 x 20 shed on a concrete slab. I looked around at a bunch of them and then drew the plans. I ended up making the roof trusses in my garage where I had made a large jig to assemble them. I made one roof truss to make certain I liked the design and then cut all the pieces for the trusses and then assembled them. It worked well for me.

There are a lot of places that sell sheds such as the big box stores and it is useful to look at them and decide what you like and do not like. I have a hard time just looking at the plans and deciding if I like it or not.

Also consider what type of doors you might like on the shed. I spent a lot of time looking at the options and then ended up putting up 6 ft wide by 6 ft 6 in tall roll up doors on each end. The doors are pretty secure and work very well.

I also used the pvc trim boards for the first time and they are great as there is no warping, splitting or other issues. I took any shorts and glued them together end to end to make longer boards with super glue to save money.

[Scott Schwake]

A couple of years ago, I built a Gambrel style roof on a 12 x 20 shed on a concrete slab.

Have any pictures, Larry? That sounds about like what I'm after.

Scott

[Bruce Kaatz]

Built a 28 x 60 "yard shed" a few years ago. Used the truss plans from http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/c...ctionplans.htm. Think it was the 5626 plan, but they have alot of options. Local inspector was fine with my trusses based on their plans. Good luck with the process and know it will never be big enough.
Bruce

[michael harris pa]

Fyi, I've put up some shed designs here if you want to take a look and see if it's right for you.