Shed Foundation Issues

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MilkMan

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Mar 29, 2018
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Hi everyone,
I just bought a place, and it has a shed that has seen better days. I was curious what your opinions would be on how to go about fixing the issue. I just got done redoing the roof that was falling in and later on down the road I plan on residing it with steel siding. Of course, before doing so, I need to address this issue! It looks as though the previous owners had stuff inside leaning against the side of the wall.

I've attached some pictures to show the problem; I'm not the best carpenter so layman's terms would be helpful!
Thanks!
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It looks like a concrete curb, hold up the roof and knock down the walls and build new ones. One at a time to maintain some stability.
 
How honest do you want us to be?
Post a picture of the outside in this area please.
From what I can tell this was built as a pole barn and someone added a bottom plate to the slab with unpressure treated wood or sill seal under it, a big no no.
And the to few studs they did add have came detached from the plate.
Just a guess but from it looks like rot and water stains I'd guess the outside is too close to grade and or water off the roof because of no gutters is causing splashback.
How good do you want this to look inside and out and be water, wind, and critter free?
 
How honest do you want us to be?
Post a picture of the outside in this area please.
From what I can tell this was built as a pole barn and someone added a bottom plate to the slab with unpressure treated wood or sill seal under it, a big no no.
And the to few studs they did add have came detached from the plate.
Just a guess but from it looks like rot and water stains I'd guess the outside is too close to grade and or water off the roof because of no gutters is causing splashback.
How good do you want this to look inside and out and be water, wind, and critter free?
Be honest? Lol it was an old chicken coupe shed is what I heard. Just want to get it fixed up a little bit and throw steel sides and roof on eventually.
Thanks for the reply!
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Joe was right about the dirt level outside, I would replace that wall but start with a row or two of CMU to get above the dirt level by 4 to 6 inches. 8" would be the best.
By the size of the shed it is well worth saving and making it so the new siding not a waste of money.
 
Thanks for the reply. I take it you're talking about adding another layer of CMU on top of the current foundation and putting a plate on top and starting new? I was thinking after I get it done going around the building with some rock and putting up some gutters.
 
It was common back in the day to build out building like that. Someone building a chicken coop back around 1940 wasn’t worrying about the building condition in 2018. just like they now tell you a pole barn will last 40 years and I’m 62. What do I care when I’m 102 how its doing.


I had a “garage” owner built like that I thought about tearing down in 1980, but I didn’t have the money to build a new one. I also didn’t want to invest a lot of money in the thing. It was all rotted at the ground like yours and I took a chalk line and snapped a line up the side and cut all the lower siding boards off. I patched in what was bad on the inside sill and then put a Z flashing under the old siding and over a new PT 2 X 10 at the soil line. It’s still standing.
 
I did the same as Bud and used PT boards on the horizontal. I also pushed/pulled the studs back in over the plate and added a new PT sill and fastened the studs to that. I didn't worry about getting everything level and square, just getting the soundly fastened together again. Of course you could pull all the board siding off and redo it but that's a lot more work.
Dave Mason
 
Dave @mabloodhound makes a good point. Old homes and garages and sheds are better most of the time left with the quirky charm old building acquire over a century. I do better leaving the level in the truck and not trying to correct a century worth of change in a day.


I feel most of the time stabilizing is a better word than correcting. So correct where you can like pulling the wall back in place but don’t worry to much about everything being perfect. When you move one thing five others will react.


My dad used to have a few sayings. One was when a car comes down our road at 60 MPH and looks over from 500 feet away it will look perfect. Or he would say it’s good enough for the girls we go with.
 
Thanks for the replies! I'm a little swamped at work these next couple of weeks, but I plan on having this little foundation project done by the end of the summer. I'll reply with some more questions once I get started!

Thanks again.
 
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