Getting close to starting my build

I am planning to start construction of my SS shed the week of 1 July, when I am on vacation.
I ordered my lumber yesterday from Medway Lumber. They will deliver it next Friday. The lumberyard recommended using 3/4 ply for the floor instead of 5/8, since I won't be putting a finish floor on top of it. When putting together my material list I discovered that the Sonoma Shanty plans call for 12 rafters, but the way I read the plans they require 16 rafters. I'll confirm that later during my build.

I am just about finished leveling out the concrete blocks for my shed's foundation. I need to buy a few more concrete pavers to level out the last 2 concrete blocks. I plan to run a 2x6 down the middle blocks to add support to the floor joists.


I need to edit some of the measurements on my plans, since my SS will 1 foot shorter in height and only 14 feet long. I have printed them out and plan to write the new measurements on the drawings. This should minimize me making mistakes with measurements during my build.
I also need to plan the framing for the endwall which will have the door because this will be not to plans due to the shorter height of my SS.

My old small house

I'm new to the tiny house movement, but I have a lot of experience with small houses. My wife and I lived in a 16' x 24' farm house for 20 years. It was 2 stories, so we had a total living area of 768 sq ft. We had a living room, kitchen and 3/4 bath on the 1st floor and 2 bedrooms on the 2nd floor. The house was built in 1810.


Kitchen: - our kitchen was small. The only other counter space was a 3 foot section to the right of the stove. We had a 2' x 3' table across from the stove, which we used both for preparing meals and sitting down to eat. There was a broken dishwasher behind the pink curtain when we bought the house; we removed it and built shelves underneath the counter for more storage. The little pink microwave was a perfect fit!


Bedroom: The 2nd floor had curved ceilings which were really neat. The house only had 1 closet, so I built 2 additional closets, 1 on each side of the window.


The wide pine floors were beautiful.

Shed approved

I received the approval letter today from my Home Owner's Association. Yay! The HOA has to approve all fences and sheds in my neighborhood. They had no problem with my proposed T1-11 siding as long as I paint it white to match the house. I was worried they would make me use vinyl siding to match what is on my house. This would have added to my cost and I am trying to build this shed at minimal cost.

While I was waiting for the approval, I started creating a Bill of Material for my shed. I started with the list contained in the SS plans, but then I created my own list because of the differences with my build. I still need to tweak it a bit, but here is my draft BOM.

I need to call a local lumber company and see if they will deliver my materials. If they do, it will be much easier. Otherwise I would have to rent a truck from HD on an hourly basis to get my materials.

Next step will be to lay out the area where my shed will live. I'll pick up the concrete blocks, some landscape fabric and some gravel. I'll put the blocks down first on bare soil, level and square them up. Then I'll put down some landscape fabric and cover it with gravel to prevent plant growth underneath.

I've been reading up on Timberlock Connectors which are used to join the SS roof panels together and to connect the roof to the top plates. They are really neat. These 6 inch long screws have the strength of a 3/8 lag bolt and can be screwed into framing members without a pilot hole. They are available nationally, but I found out the manufacturer is less than an hour from me.