DIY 10x16 Hip Roof Storage Shed Plan

The full plan is $19.99: buy the 10×16 hip roof shed plan. To see the drawing style first, open the free 10×16 hip roof shed plan PDF.

10×16 hip roof shed plan: the numbers for a site check

With a hip roof the overhang runs on all four sides, so mark the 18′ 1 1/2″ by 12′ 1 1/2″ roof outline on your lot, not just the walls, and leave room to walk around it with a ladder. The gravel pad is 2 ft bigger than the walls each way, so square the 18′ x 12′ pad to matching 21′ 7 5/8″ diagonals.

How the 10×16 hip roof shed goes together

How the walls go up

Each wall is framed flat on the deck and raised as a bare frame, and the siding goes on after all four stand. Every wall is a two-person lift.

• Stop blocks. Nail 12″ 2×4 offcuts to the outside of the rim so the bottom plate tips against them and cannot kick out over the deck edge. Pull them before the siding goes on.
• Where to stand. The lifters stand at the top plate, one near each end and one in the middle of a long wall, and nobody stands on the ground in front of a wall while it goes up.
• Brace first. Pick a calm day, have the braces and nails at hand, and never leave a raised wall unbraced, even for a minute.

The nailed floor frame weighs about 350 lb and racks if you lift it, so the plan has you build it in place on the skids.

What is on the 10×16 hip roof shed material list

The shopping list is split by section, in the stock lengths that waste the least:

• Foundation and floor: 4 pressure-treated 4×4 skids at 16 ft, 2 pressure-treated 2×6 rims and 13 joists, 6 sheets of tongue and groove plywood and the 4×6 pad frame with 30 rebar stakes.
• Walls: 2×4 studs and plates, a doubled 2×8 door header, two doubled 2×6 window headers and 13 sheets of 4×8 T1-11.
• Roof framing: 14 commons, 4 hips, 24 jacks and 8 short tail jacks, the ridge, 6 rafter ties, 2 king tie pieces, 2 temporary ridge posts and their braces.
• Roof covering: 13 sheets of OSB (12 plus 1 spare), 1 roll of 15 lb felt, 8 pieces of drip edge, 12 bundles of shingles including the hip and ridge caps and 2 static roof vents.
• Fascia, door, windows and trim: 1×6 fascia, 4 sheets of soffit plywood, 2 new T1-11 sheets for the door leaves, 6 T-strap hinges, a handle and latch, 2 barrel bolts, 2 prefabricated windows and 1×4 casing and corner trim.
• Ramp: 2 pressure-treated 2×10 for the stringers, 4 pressure-treated 2×6 for the 8 deck boards, a 2×4 ledger, 2 hook-and-eye latches and grit tape.
• Hardware: nails by the pound, 42 hurricane ties (skewable ones at the 4 hip corners), 4 strap ties, 6 ground anchors with straps, adhesive, flashing tape, roofing cement and 5 gallons of paint.

The list also counts the temporary braces, stakes and deck cleats. The cut list gives the length and count of every part, and the cutting plan shows which board each comes from.

What you can fit in a 10×16 hip roof shed

The plan’s “What fits inside” page draws the room from above, 15′ 5″ by 9′ 5″ inside, with 7′ 7 1/2″ of clear height under the top plates.

• A 42 inch deck rider. It is drawn nose in, 4′ 7 3/16″ x 5′ 10″. With both leaves open the door is about 5′ 11 1/2″ clear, so a 42 inch deck clears each side by 8 1/8″. A 48 inch deck fits with its deflector raised, and a 54 inch deck does not.
• Bikes and a wheelbarrow. The drawing places a wheelbarrow (2′ 2″ x 5′ 0″) and two bikes with staggered handlebars (2′ 6″ x 5′ 10″).
• Shelves. There is room for 12″ deep shelves in 2 ft runs on the back wall, on either side of the mower. Park the mower’s nose about 1″ off the back wall and about 3′ 6″ of cross aisle is left behind its tail.
• A bench with daylight. Each end wall has a 36″ x 36″ window, so set a workbench or potting table under one and keep shelves on the solid walls.
• A step up, then a ramp. The deck sits 9 3/4″ above the gravel. The ramp is 6′ 9″ wide and 3′ 6″ out at 1:6, and its top sits about 13/16″ below the deck at the door. The plan asks for 9′ 6″ clear and level, measured from the wall, to line a tractor up square.
• Headroom. All four walls are the same height on a hip roof. Six rafter ties cross the shed at the top of the walls, so stand long items against a wall.

How the 10×16 hip roof is framed: ridge, commons, hips and jacks

The plan frames the roof in a fixed order and says who stands where:

1. Ridge on posts. The 2×6 ridge, 6′ 1 1/2″ long, sits on two temporary 2×4 posts braced to the floor both ways. Its top is 2′ 8 5/16″ above the top plates, and each end is 4′ 11 1/4″ in from the end walls. Two people set it, each on an 8 ft step ladder on the deck beside a post, no higher than the third step from the top. The ridge weighs about 12 lb.
2. Commons in pairs. Cut one pattern 2×4 common (board 6′ 9 7/16″), with a 2 1/2″ seat. That notch is 32% of the depth, under the one-third limit, so do not deepen it. Cut 14: 12 for the long walls and 2 king commons that butt the ridge ends. Set the end pairs first and check the ridge for level. For each pair, one person stands on a step ladder beside the ridge and nails the top while the other, on a second step ladder at the wall, sets the seat on the plate and nails it. Never set or nail a seat from the deck, and never from the ridge ladder.
3. Rafter ties and a king tie. A 10 ft rafter tie goes on the plates beside every pair, on the right face as seen from the front. After the jacks, a 2×4 king tie, in two pieces joined with a flat strap, runs on top of the rafter ties so the end walls cannot spread.
4. Four hips. Each 2×6 hip runs at 45 degrees in plan from a wall corner to the ridge end, sloping 19.5 degrees. Its heel is cut 3 7/16″ deep, 59% of its depth, because it sits right over the corner on the lapped plates and carries no bending there. A metal strap across the plates, a skewable hurricane tie and toe-nails hold it. Do not cut it deeper than drawn. Two people set each hip: one on a step ladder beside the ridge end holds the point in its corner, the other on a step ladder inside the wall corner sets the seat. Nobody works from outside the walls until the fascia step.
5. Jacks last. 24 jacks in three lengths plus 8 short tail jacks, each with a 45 degree side cut. They come in two hands, so cut half of each length each way. Nail them in pairs on both sides of a hip so it stays straight, then take out the posts.

The hips are one size deeper than the commons so the jacks bear on their full face. A hip roof generally holds up to wind better than a gable roof, according to the Building America Solution Center guide to hip vs gable roofs.

Roof vents and the soffit gap

A hip roof has no gable wall for a high vent, so the plan lets air in through a 1/4″ screened gap along the soffit on all four walls and out through two static roof vents high on the back slope. Buy vents rated 60 sq in net free area or more each. Each goes in a bay between two commons, with its hole center 1′ 9″ down the slope from the peak, so no rafter is cut.

The plan prints the arithmetic. A common attic rule of thumb, not a shed requirement, asks for the floor area divided by 150: 160 / 150 is 1.07 sq ft, or 154 sq in, about half low and half high. The two roof vents give 120 sq in high. The soffit gap gives 78 sq in low after the insect screen. That is 198 sq in in all, so the total, the low side and the high side all meet the rule of thumb. This suits unheated storage; if you plan to heat or insulate the shed, ask your local permit office what it wants.

Free 10×16 hip roof shed plan PDF vs the full plan

The free PDF is an 8-page streamlined version: the five stages (site and foundation, floor, walls, roof, trim and paint) with 3D views. It has no material list, no cut list and no measurements. The full plan adds every step, the roof framing plan with every rafter mark, the hip and jack cut details, the sheathing piece map for each roof plane, the ramp, the “What fits inside” page and the complete shopping and cut lists. The PDF also lists the 97 checks it passed before going on sale: the framing closes, the roof geometry works, sheets and shingles cover every surface, no two framing members overlap, and the drawings, tables and lists agree.

Before you build a 10×16 hip roof shed

• Permits. At 160 sq ft and about 11 1/2 ft tall, this shed can run into size, height or setback limits, and rules vary by town and HOA. Check your local permit office before you buy lumber.
• Snow and wind. The plan uses common small-shed framing. In heavy snow or high-wind areas you may need closer rafter spacing, larger rafters or more anchoring; ask your local permit office for your loads. The plan has you set 6 screw-in ground anchors with straps once the roof is on, before you fill the shed.
• Safety. Plan for a helper on every wall raise and every roof lift. Stand each ladder on firm, flat footing, keep three points of contact, tie the extension ladder to the building, and stay 10 ft from overhead power lines.
• Skids. Use ground-contact rated pressure-treated 4x4s (UC4A or higher), set crown up, and keep 6″ or more between the siding and the soil.
• Materials. Store lumber flat and covered, since wet wood decays faster (USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook). Check the stamp on each OSB sheet for its span rating (APA: OSB).

Tools and ladders the plan lists

Beyond a circular saw with a rip guide, drill/driver and framing hammer, the list adds a miter saw for the door braces and trim, a reciprocating saw for flush cuts, a jigsaw for the roof vent holes, a 3 lb sledge for the pad frame spikes and stakes and a hand tamper for the pad. Two 8 ft step ladders reach the ridge, and a 16 ft extension ladder covers roof work from the eave.

Related plans

• Same size with a simpler roof: the 10×16 gable shed plan, or a single slope, the 10×16 lean-to shed plan.
• 4 ft shorter: the 10×12 hip roof shed plan, or smaller still, the 8×12 hip roof shed plan.
• 2 ft shallower, same length: the 8×16 hip roof shed plan.
• More room under a hip roof: the 12×20 hip roof shed plan.
• Choosing a base first? Read the shed foundation guide.
• Every hip roof shed plan in one place.