building a storage shed

blk90s13

I am thinking about building a storage shed in my back yard ( it will share a wall with the back of my garage )

I will make it 10 ft wide x 15 ft long to be big enough for all landscaping equipment and tools etc

The question is how many cinderblocks should I put in the ground ? would 2 ontop of each other be ok one being in the ground and one above grade ?

something that would look like that



Another question is what should I use for the floor ? should I lay down plywood ? it will have a riding mower maybe my 8 foot plow etc I can leave it dirt but not sure if I should do that

Scuba_Dave

Is your garage attached to the house & does it have a foundation down past the frost line?

blk90s13

the garage is not attatched to the house and it have what looks like 3 or more blocks I can see 2 blocks at low grade and non at high grade


the shed would go in the back of the garage in my back yard maybe I should post a picture of the actual location ?

Scuba_Dave

If it was attached to the house you match the house foundation depth
Since its not just match the depth of the garage "foundation"
That way the 2 structures should move the same in cold weather

blk90s13

So I should dig till I reach the lowest block and start there I would also bond the new wall to the old foundation ? blocks cemented together right ?

And also do I lay down a layer of cement below the first block in the ground or just ontop ?

Scuba_Dave

Have you run this by the building dept 1st?
Many areas have setbacks that are required to be met

blk90s13

I asked about building a storage shed in the back yard they said it must be 10 feet away from property line thats all

But I will check back with them to make sure its ok I guess

Scuba_Dave

That's actually the main reason I asked
I saw the property line (fence) & it looked somewhat close
Here we have 15' set back

I would dig down & determine how deep the garage foundation/slab/block goes down & match that
For my shed (free standing) addition I poured a 12" deep "foundation"
My main reason was to keep mice out
2nd was to contain fill which will allow me to put blocks in as a floor

concretemasonry

At 150 sf, that may be over the "magic" 120 sf that many areas have to avoid codes. This usually applies to unattached structures. This is in addition to the setback zoning requirements. - My son built a 120 sf unattached shed on grade with 10' high walls to avoid the local sf requirements. It was a great storage building because you got multiple levels of storage (dead and current) that fit into the seasonal situation.

It it is attached to an existing structure, that increases the concern for frost and differential movement from frost and temperatures.

If you go to sell in the future, you may have to remove the illegal structure if it is attached and is over the "magic" local sf limit, no matter how long it was there.

Dick

blk90s13

Thanks for the reply I will walk in the township and ask whats the magic number around here


If it comes down to taking the structure down when its time to sell that can be done too I need to gain back all my garage space I have an automotive project coming up soon and all the lawn equipment need to get out

Scuba_Dave

If you are adding onto a structure then they may count the whole finished product as far as a permit goes

blk90s13

I went into the township office today ( saw a couple of things that does not meet code ) asked about the magic number for a permit and its 100 st ft now thats inside space right ?

They need a land survey with a mark on it as to where the shed will go and I am good to go

Scuba_Dave

100 sq ft = outside measurements

jomama45

That 100 sq. feet max probably applies to a detatched shed. I would imagine you could go bigger if attatching to the existing garage, assuming you do similar (to the garage) frost footings.

Storage_Sheds

For extra large storage sheds like you guys are talking about I found a site with a lot of them for sale at http://www.shedsforlessdirect.com/

Hope that's some help.