For more information and images for the Weekend Handyman episode 107 -- "Backyard Retreat" -- search for WKH-107. Materials for Complete Project: 8' x10' backyard retreat kit
Two ladders (one 6' and one 8')
A cordless screw gun
Hammer (or a power nailer and compressor)
Wood shims (to level the floor)
Heavy work gloves
Level
An area that is at least 1' larger than the building on all sides
Shovel
Ten 4" x 6" timbers around the perimeter
Circular saw
Pre-drilled pilot holes (drove in spikes to tie the timbers together)
Landscape fabric
Utility knife
Pea gravel
Steel rake
Pallet or lumber
Tarp
Solid concrete blocks (4" x 8" x 16")
Measuring tape
8 penny nails
16 penny galvanized nails
Hammer taker
Gasketed screws
Magnetized bit driver in the screw gun Note: Before you get started on a project like this one, you'll need to make sure the work site is properly prepared: - Choose a site that is nice and level and has good drainage to make sure the water flows away from the foundation.
- Pick a site that's close to a road because the gravel and the kit itself have to be delivered by a large truck.
- Be sure to check with local building authorities to see if you'll need a building permit.
- Choose an area that is 1' larger all the way around than the building itself. For our 8' x 10' building, we leveled an area 10' x 12'.
- Make sure the plot of land is level to within 6" from one end to the other, and you can use a shovel to move the dirt around.
- Lay 4" x 6" timbers around the perimeter of the bed. Each leg of the perimeter is longer than the 8' timber, so we used a circular saw to cut the pieces we needed to extend the sides.
- Pre-drill pilot holes into the corner pieces of timber and use spikes to hold them together.
- After the timbers are hammered into place, cover the entire area with landscape fabric. This will prevent weeds from growing, yet allow water to escape. The oversize fabric will also keep gravel from getting all over the place.
- For this size area, you'll need to have 2 to 3 yards (approximately $30 to 50$ per yard) of pea gravel -- sometimes called buckshot -- delivered to the site. Dump it onto the 10' x 12' square and the gravel will allow water to drain away from the building and help prevent the foundation from rotting. You can use pea-stone, river-stone or crushed rock -- it really doesn't matter.
- Spread a layer of gravel about 4" deep using a steel rake to give the bed a nice, smooth surface.
- Gather tools.
- After the kit is delivered, place it on lumber or pallets and cover with tarp.
- Place concrete blocks onto gravel.
- Lay out all the pieces of the kit in a logical order.
- Lay a 4 x 4 center skid, front to back on two of the cement blocks.
- Lay out the two 4 x 6 side skids, also front to back.
- Measure the width of your foundation, which is 10' and 10" -- that tells us the center line for the center skids needs to be at 5' and 5".
- We don't want to see these blocks so we set them back about 6" from the front and back of the skids.
- Then, measure from the center skid out to the side skids. The shed is 8' wide and the side skids sit in from the sides about 6". So, for the center skid, we measure out to the center of the side skids 3', 6" and make our adjustment.
- Next, move the blocks in 6" from the front and back of the side skids. These measurements don't have to be perfect, just close.
- Using a 6' level, adjust the skids up or down by either adding or taking away gravel.
- Set the first platform flush with the rear of the skids.
- It should be centered along the length of the center stud.
- This will leave 6" of the platform to extend over the side skids.
- Once the base is in position, toenail it into place using 16 penny galvanized nails.
- The rest of the base platforms go on in the same manner.
- There are four main base platforms and once the first one is in place, the rest should line up. Toenail the pieces together to draw them tight.
- Once the platform is complete, put up the first wall section. The planks of the siding overlap the wall plates.
- The second wall sets in at the corner with a half lap joint in the top frame to connect the two sections together.
- The rear wall is next.
- The rest of the wall sections go in the same way.
- Then the first front wall gable end section.
- Then the last wall section -- it overlaps at the corner just like the rest.
- Then the front gable end that fits over the doorway.
- Next secure the walls by pounding nails through the sole plates into the base platforms. Also, nail through the lap joints.
- On the exterior, hold the joints tight together and then nail through the bottom of the sheathing into the platforms.
- Next, put the first roof section up and the 2 by 4 framing slides in behind the header over the door and gets hammered into place.
- The second section goes up the same way and lays against the first.
- Both sections then get nailed into place.
- Nail both through the top and the sides to secure the sections.
- The first triangular section sits on edge to create half of the gable peak. Nail the two sections together through the 2 by 4 framing and that's enough to temporarily hold the gable section.
- The opposite gable section goes up the same way.
- On the reverse side of the panel are braces that set right into the gable frame. Nail the section into place using eight penny nails.
- Continue to put up the roof sections one by one.
- On the opposite side of the shed, install a panel with a louver in it that will provide some extra ventilation -- it fits snugly and gets hammered into place.
- Start the porch overhang by setting the post on the center point and then toe nailing it in place with 16 penny nails. Four nails will hold it till you get the roof sections up.
- The next step is to put up the first porch roof section. The beam rests on the hemlock post. Then nail the frame into the wall. The power nailer really saves a lot of time.
- The opposite porch roof section goes up the same way.
- Once both sections are up, nail them to each other at the peak and then toenail the roof to the post.
- Put up trim pieces and corner trim.
- The first step to the roof is to put up lightweight aluminum flashing. Nail it into place in all three gable valleys. (You can use a hammer tacker for this thin material.)
- Let the flashing extend a couple of inches over the edge to carry water away from the sides.
- Next comes the pre-cut and pre-drilled roof deck materials. We put translucent fiberglass panels over the porch to let light come through.
- Fasten the corrugated panels with the gasketed screws using a magnetized bit driver in the screw gun.
- Tuck the first steel panel under the fiberglass.
- The rest of the roof panels go in the same fashion, using the gasketed screws to fasten the panels to the slats of the roof decking.
- The steel ridge cap goes on top of the panels.
- Put in the window.
- Treat wood or paint it with Linseed oil.
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