Building the Shelter

Materials

To start, we drew a plan of the shelter, then we calculated the type and amount of materials we needed.

Our materials for a 12'x10' shelter were:

• 2-4"x6"x10', pressure treated, for the front posts
• 3-4"x4"x8', pressure treated, for the back posts
• 2-2"x10"x12', for the ridge beams
• 5-2"x8"x12', for the rafters
• 2-2"x6"x12', for the rafter seat and plate
• 1-2"x4"x12', pressure treated, for the back girts (ground level)
• 1-2"x4"x12', for the back girts
• 2-2"x4"x10', pressure treated, for the side girts (ground level)
• 4-2"x4"x10', for the side girts
• 2-1"x6"x6' for the gussets
• 6-4'x8'x15/32", OSB, for the roof
• 8-4'x8' grooved plywood siding panels
• 4-packs of asphalt shingles
• 8-bags of concrete
• 3-10" wide concrete cylinders
• 3-4"x4" anchors
• 2-4"x6" anchors
• 1-30' roll of tar paper
• 1-box of 2-1/2" wood screws
• 10-Anchor Bolts
• 1-box of 1/2" pancake head nails

Tools

The tools we used:

1. Ladders (10' or more)
2. Drill
3. Hand Saw
4. Table Saw
5. Miter Saw
6. Measuring Tape
7. Chalk Line
8. Hammer
9. Tractor
10. Stakes and String
11. Level

Methods

Our step by step process of building the shelter went like this:

Step 1 Dig the holes for the posts
This involved the use of my neighbor's tractor with an eight inch diameter bore attached. Although the tractor helped significantly, we still had to do a lot of hand digging due to the adobe soil. We dug five 3' deep holes for the posts-two in the front and three in the back. This step took an entire weekend and included measuring to all the centers of the posts and making sure everything was going to be level.

Step 2 Pouring the concrete
We cut the concrete cylinders to 3' lengths and put them in the post holes. After that, we mixed the concrete and poured it into the cylinders. Then we put the anchors on top of the concrete. Once again, this took a whole weekend (the concrete had to set before we continued) and included measuring to the middle of the posts and checking the level of the anchors.

Step 3 Attaching the posts and framing
Once the concrete was set, we attached the posts to the anchors. Next we started adding the framing and the top plates. Finally, we attached the ridge beams and rafters. This was difficult, as we had to frame everything in place instead of framing on the ground and tilting walls up. It required 2 ladders and a lot of patience.

Step 4 The roof and siding
This was the heavy lifting and balancing act portion of the process. We cut, lifted and slid into place the OSB panels on top of the beams and rafters. The tar paper was placed on top, and the roof shingles after that. And, drum roll please, the siding was attached to 3 sides of the shelter. Done (well almost)!