This post will cover the construction of my shed's foundation, foundation frame and floor. See here for part I of the story.
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A Start To The Foundation -- FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2018
There's the first corner. That was the easy part; the nine remaining tiles/blocks all have to be levelled and aligned to that one.
It's a standard 4-way Dek-Block on top of a 2'x2' patio tile on top of limestone screening. The soil there is not terribly well drained, but it's been undisturbed for years. My thinking is that at 576 square inches per tile, the shed will actually bear fairly lightly on the earth, and should ride out freeze/thaw cycles without significant heaving. That's my theory, anyway, and I'm going to go with it and see what happens.
The cost and effort to bore holes four feet deep for poured concrete piers would have been outrageous. From what research I've managed to do, it seems that even piers of that depth don't absolutely guarantee against frost heaving. The method I'm using here is a reasonably sound one that should prove satisfactory for an 8'x12' shed. We'll see.
My work so far has shown me that I'll need way more limestone screening than the three sacks that I ordered. Tomorrow, I'll see how much limestone my Tucson can carry, and get on with adding tiles and Dek-Blocks.
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At Least It Looks Like Someone Is Starting To Begin To Commence Building A Shed -- SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2018
Three out of ten tiles/Dek-Blocks are now in place. It's nice work if you like heavy lifting. The tiles weigh 80 lbs., the Dek-Blocks weigh 48 lbs. and the sacks of limestone screening weigh 66 lbs.
Not only is the work physically taxing, it's intellectually taxing as well. There is much to mind as one attempts to get spacing, elevation and level to agree from one installation to the next. It's the sort of work that I call 'precision approximation'. Perfection is not going to happen -- reasonable serviceability is about all one can hope for.
A Tamper
While I was at the local Garden Supply Centre to get more limestone screenings, I spotted an array of tampers they had for sale. It dawned on me that tamping was what I hadn't done for my first tile installation, and that tamping was exactly what I should have done, so I bought a tamper.
It's an 8"x8" tamper, well made, and it looks to me like it's fairly effective at tamping down and compacting the limestone screenings. I undid my first tile/Dek-Block installation and gave its base a good tamping. Now I'm tamping all of my limestone screenings installations.
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Rear Rim Joist In Place -- SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2018
That joist in the above photo is almost but not quite level. I decided that 'almost but not quite' isn't good enough, so I got some shims and shimmed the joist to levelness.
Levelling is exacting, trying work; fraught with difficulties. The books and magazine articles have little to say about it, aside from saying that it's to be done.
Anyway, with the aid of the shims, I should be able to get a dead level floor built. It will be interesting to see how level it still is this time next year.
A Parting Thought
Gripes about difficulties aside, the work is engrossing; it's fit work for a grown man, unlike so much of what passes for 'work' these days.
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Further To Shims - - - MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018
I've been strongly cautioned not to use wooden shims; I'm told that they'll compress and rot. So, I'll switch to composite shims, like these that I got at Home Depot long ago.
Home Depot no longer has that exact type of composite shim. They now carry these from Nelson Wood Shims.
Whatever shims one chooses to use, the things are essential. It's simply not possible to get the tiles and Dek-Blocks exactly levelled to one another. Shimming is unavoidable.
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Rain -- MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018
Today's a write-off for shed work. I'll give the rocking horse a coat of tung oil, and that will be about it for the day.
The Rain Backed Off
I managed to get something done.
Two rim joists in place and fastened at the corner.
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Rim Joists Together And Levelled -- TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018
It's not quite square. I'll struggle with that tomorrow.
It's anybody's guess which side of that plywood[1][2] is the good side.
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Squared Up; All The 2" x 8" Joists In Place And Fastened -- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018, 1200 HRS
At each joint, three #10 x 3 1/2" deck screws make for a neat, strong fastening.
Next up is to add the six 2"x6" joists.
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2" x 6" Joists Installed -- 1500 HRS
I'll lay down weed barrier cloth before I install the floor.
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Weed Barrier Installed And Floor In Place -- THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2018
Floor Nailed Down And First Coat Of Grey 'Paint & Primer'[3] Applied
One soon learns to keep an eye on the weather forecasts when embarked on such a project as this. Today was a beautiful clear day, perfect for exterior painting. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for increasing cloudiness, then rain in the night. I'll give the floor a second coat of paint tomorrow morning, then the plywood should be adequately protected from the coming rain.
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Second Coat Of Paint Applied -- FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2018
I've beaten the rain that's forecast to be coming tonight. It will likely be weeks before there's a roof over that floor, so I'm hoping that my paint job will protect the floor from the elements in the meantime.
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Rained Out, And A Rainy Weekend Forecast -- SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2018
It rained overnight as per the forecast.
The paint job appears to be coping with the water just fine, so that's a relief.
The forecast is calling for a rainy weekend, so progress on the shed is unlikely. I can maybe go the Home Depot, and load up the Tucson with 2"x3"s for construction of the rear wall. Then at least I'll be ready to carry on when the weather clears on Monday.
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Shopping For 2" x 3"s
Disheartening. I went to the Pickering Home Depot, where they only carry finger-jointed 2"x3"s. The finger-jointed stuff is supposed to have the virtue of straightness, but you'd never know it from what I saw there. I picked through their stock for a while, and decided to look elsewhere for better material.
The Rona on Notion Road in Ajax carries solid 2"x3"s, so I thought I'd go there for a look-see. Their 2"x3"s were outside, minimally protected from the elements. The sign by the stack of them said "KD" (Kiln Dried, presumably), but the weight of the things suggested to me that they'd been weather wetted. I passed on those.
Tomorrow, I'll try the Lowe's in Pickering. If their stuff is unsatisfactory, I'll go to the Morningside Home Depot as a last resort and take my chances with their finger-jointed studs. It may be that I'll just have to pick and choose poor material as best I can, and cope with the complications that arise from its use.
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Twenty 2" x 3"s Acquired -- SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2018
'Went to the Lowe's in Pickering, and found that their solid 2"x3"s were reasonably good, so I bought twenty to get me started and then some on the rear wall of the shed. Here's what twenty eight-foot-long 2"x3"s in a Tucson looks like.
So, I'm set for tomorrow when the weather is forecast to have cleared. And with that, it's on to Part III.
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Notes:
[1] The plywood is nominally 5/8" thick (15.5mm actual). I think what it is is sheathing grade (SHG) plywood. It has a 'face' side, but both sides are riddled with defects. I found that the sheets tended to be concave at one side, so I put the concave side down to make for easier manipulation and positioning. It looks to me like by doing that, I've put the 'face' side down, but I don't think it matters much, if at all. There's information here about Canadian plywood specifications.
[2] Carrying sheets of 5/8" plywood is not easy; a sheet weighs about 45 lbs., and would be awkward to carry even if it were much lighter. I had help with getting the first sheet to the site, but for the next two sheets I was on my own. I found a YouTube presentation of a design for a tote that looked pretty good, so I made one. Here are views of that.
It works fairly well; it did the job for me.
[3] Paint used was Canadian Tire's Premier Active exterior paint & primer, satin finish, base 3 - 3533. The grey colour was copied from a Behr colour chip, 'Moonquake N450-4'. The colour formula for a gallon[4] is as follows:
- AGF 103
- B 2Y214
- E 23
- KX 9Y48
[4] That's a Yankee gallon, not an imperial gallon.
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