16x16 Lean-To Storage Shed Plan

The full plan is $19.99: buy the 16×16 lean-to shed plan. To see the drawing style first, open the free 16×16 lean-to shed plan PDF.

16×16 lean-to shed plan: the numbers for a site check

Square the stakes to matching 22′ 7 1/2″ diagonals before any digging. All 16 ft of roof drains to the back edge, so leave room to reach it and plan where the water runs.

How the 16×16 lean-to shed goes together

The plan has 28 numbered sections, 19 of them build steps. Steps 9 to 27 run from preparation and ground breaking to the ramp, and a printable checklist lists all 19. Section 8, “Key joints up close”, has 11 close-ups: the floor corner, door, window, wall corner, both rafter seats, the sloped side wall, the rake, the eave corner, the ramp and the floor on the skids.

One length of stock for the floor

A 16 ft square shed lines up with 16 ft lumber, so the foundation and floor need no splices at all:

• Skids. Five pressure-treated 4x4s, each a whole 16 ft board with its factory ends kept, laid left to right parallel to the front wall. They sit 3′ 11 1/8″ on center, which leaves 3′ 7 5/8″ clear between neighbors.
• Rims. The front and back rims are whole 16 ft pressure-treated 2x6s, clamped together so the joist marks go on both at once.
• Joists. 13 joists at 15′ 9″ (16′ 0″ less the two rim thicknesses), each from its own 16 ft board.
• Where splits remain. Only the front wall plates (split at its section joint) and the eave fascia (7′ 0″ + 9′ 8″, the joint centered on a rafter tail) come in two pieces.

The nailed floor frame weighs about 520 lb, so the plan has you build it in place on the skids and square it there to matching 22′ 7 1/2″ diagonals. A framing angle goes at every place a joist crosses a skid, 65 in all, with 8 connector nails each.

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. Only the tall front wall goes up in sections; the low back wall is light enough to raise in one piece.

• Stop blocks. Two 12″ 2×4 offcuts nailed to the outside of the rim, tops 2″ above the deck, keep a bottom plate from kicking out as the wall tips up.
• Join the sections. The front wall breaks 11′ 11 1/4″ from the left corner, between two joint studs that are nailed together once both sections stand. The second top plate goes on in one 16 ft piece and bridges the joint by at least 4 ft on each side.
• Stop posts and low braces on the tall wall. Three 4 ft stop posts screwed to the rim stop the 9′ 10 1/8″ front wall at plumb, and its braces go on about 7 ft up, where you reach them from the deck.
• Side walls drop in. Their plates are 1/4″ shorter than the gap, so they tip up between the front and back walls. Plumb those two first, push each side wall tight to the front, and shim the small gap at the back corners.
• Twist straps. A lean-to side wall has no level plate to lap, so a metal strap ties each of the four corners.
• Wind. The plan says to pick a calm day: a bare frame catches wind like a sail.

The front wall has 13 studs at 9′ 5 5/8″ and the back wall 14 at 5′ 6 1/2″. Each side wall has 13 studs from 5′ 8 3/8″ to 9′ 6 3/16″, with 14.0 degree beveled tops under the sloped plate. Studs over 7′ 8 5/8″ must come from full 96 in boards, not the 92 5/8 in precuts many stores sell as “8 ft studs”.

Site, gravel pad and floor deck

The plan starts with the ground, because a level pad is what makes the door hang square later.

• Mark and square. Stake the corners 16′ 0″ each way and move one stake until both diagonals read 22′ 7 1/2″.
• Dig. Strip the sod and dig 4 in deep over an 18′ 11″ x 18′ 11″ area, plus the landing in front of the door. That depth takes a thin stone bed and the 4×6 frame laid flat, so the frame and the stone finish level with the lawn.
• Frame the pad. Pressure-treated 4x6s, ground contact rated, make an 18′ 0″ x 18′ 0″ pad inside, with a landing 8′ 9″ wide that reaches 5′ 7 1/2″ past the front of the pad for the ramp. The pieces come from three 10 ft and four 16 ft boards, the cutting plan names every cut, and the corners are joined with 16 galvanized spikes.
• Pin and square it. The pad’s inside diagonals must both be 25′ 5 1/2″. Then 34 rebar stakes go down through the frame, about every 4 ft and near each end of every piece.
• Fill it. 4 in of 3/4 in crushed stone, about 5.6 cu yd loose, compacted in two layers and raked level with the top of the frame.
• Sloped yard. A few inches of fall is taken up with deeper stone on the low side. More than that, the plan has you dig the high side down or set solid blocks on compacted stone under the skids.
• Decking. Eight sheets of 3/4 in tongue and groove plywood, glued and screwed. Four rows cover 15′ 10″ of the 16′ 0″ frame, so a 2″ strip ripped from a 1×4 fills the last bit along the back rim, under the wall’s bottom plate.

What fits in a 16×16 lean-to shed

The plan’s “What fits inside” drawing shows the room seen from above and to scale. Inside, the shed is 15′ 5″ wide and 15′ 5″ deep.

• Riding mower. A 42 in deck is 4′ 7 3/16″ x 5′ 10″, nose in. The door clear width is about 5′ 11 1/2″ with both leaves open, so a 42 in deck clears each side by 8 1/8″. A 48 in deck fits with its deflector raised. A 54 in deck does not.
• Wheelbarrow. 2′ 2″ x 5′ 0″.
• Two bikes. Handlebars staggered, 2′ 6″ x 5′ 10″.
• Shelves. 24 in deep on the back wall, and 16 in deep along the back 6 ft of each side wall. Keep the back shelves below the window sill, which is 2′ 2 1/2″ above the deck.
• Aisle. There is a 7′ 6″ aisle behind the mower to the back shelves.
• Lining up. The plan says to keep 9′ 6″ clear and level, measured from the wall (the ramp and one mower length), to line a tractor up square.
• Door swing. The leaves swing out, so keep room in front of them.

Door, window and ramp: sizes and positions

• Door. The opening is 6′ 0″ wide, from 5′ 0″ to 11′ 0″ measured from the left corner, so it sits centered in the front wall under a doubled 2×8 header. Each leaf is T1-11 cut from a new sheet, 2′ 11 5/8″ wide and 6′ 5 1/4″ tall, with a 1×4 frame and two Z braces cut at 36 degrees on the miter saw. Three T-strap hinges per leaf are bolted through with carriage bolts, nuts inside. The fixed leaf is held closed by two barrel bolts and a 1×2 astragal.
• Door details. An aluminum threshold cap covers the deck edge with no threshold board, and brush sweeps close the gap under the leaves. Two 10 in hook-and-eyes, 36 in above the deck, hold the open leaves in wind.
• Window. A prefabricated window in a 3′ 0″ x 3′ 0″ rough opening in the back wall, 6′ 6″ to 9′ 6″ from the right corner, under a doubled 2×6 header, with its sill 2′ 1″ above the bottom plate. Flashing tape goes around the opening first.
• Ramp. A detachable pressure-treated ramp, 6′ 9″ wide and 3′ 6″ out at 1:6, with 8 stringers 11 3/8″ on center under 8 2×6 boards. The stringers are ripped two at a time from four short 2×10 blanks. Its top sits about 13/16″ below the deck, and two hook-and-eyes hold it to a 2×4 ledger so you can unhook it and lift it away. Set a mower deck to its highest cut before you roll it up.

What is on the 16×16 shed materials list

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

• Foundation and floor: five 16 ft pressure-treated 4×4 skids, 15 pressure-treated 2×6 x 16 ft for the 2 rims and 13 joists, 8 sheets of 3/4″ tongue and groove plywood and two 1x4s for the filler strip.
• Pad: three 10 ft and four 16 ft pressure-treated 4x6s for the frame, 34 rebar stakes, 16 timber spikes and 5.6 cu yd of crushed stone.
• Walls: studs and plates, a doubled 2×8 door header and a doubled 2×6 window header with 1/2 in plywood fillers, plus 16 sheets of 5/8″ T1-11 in 4×8, 4×9 and 4×10 sizes.
• Roof: 15 2×10 x 20 ft boards for 13 rafters and 2 fly rafters, two 2×10 x 14 ft for blocking, 11 sheets of 7/16″ OSB, 2 rolls of 15 lb felt, 11 bundles of shingles and 8 pieces of drip edge.
• Door, window, ramp and trim: 2 new T1-11 sheets for the door leaves, 6 T-strap hinges, a handle and latch, 2 barrel bolts, the threshold cap, the prefabricated window, the ramp lumber, 1×12 fascia, 1×4 casing and corner trim.
• Hardware: about 28 lb of framing nails, 22 hurricane ties, 65 floor framing angles, 4 end-rafter framing angles, 4 twist straps, 6 ground anchors with straps, adhesive, flashing tape, drip cap, insect screen and 6 gallons of paint.

The rafters and rake fascia come from 20 ft boards, the longest on the list, so check your delivery before you order. The 4×9 and 4×10 siding sheets are often special order, and the front wall needs the full 120 in with no joint, so order those first.

How the 16×16 lean-to roof is framed

A single-slope roof has no ridge and pushes nothing outward, so no rafter ties cross the shed. Hurricane ties hold the rafters down in wind, with a framing angle at each of the 4 corners where the end rafters sit.

• Why 2×10. The plan sizes the rafters as 2×10 for a 15′ 5″ clear span at 16″ on center, in #2 spruce-pine-fir or Douglas fir-larch at about 30 psf of ground snow. Check the size with your local permit office before you buy.
• Two birdsmouths. Each rafter hooks over both walls with a 3 1/2″ level seat and a 7/8″ plumb heel, a notch only 9 percent of the rafter’s depth. Never cut deeper than one third of the rafter.
• Check the walls first. The heels sit 15′ 8 1/2″ apart, so the plan has you measure that, level across the shed, at both ends and in the middle before you cut more than one.
• Pattern first. Cut one pattern rafter from a straight 20 ft 2×10 (board 18′ 4 13/16″, top edge 18′ 2 1/2″ tail to tail), test it on both walls at each end of the shed, keep it as the first rafter, then cut 12 more and 2 fly rafters.
• Feed them through the door. Each board weighs about 60 lb and is longer than the room, so two people feed it in through the open door, low end first, and lift it onto the walls. A ledge you build across the door trimmers in the step before the first rafter holds the high end while the front person climbs.
• End rafters. They sit on the sloped side wall plates and are nailed up through them every 16 in. The 2 fly rafters hang 2 1/2″ outside them on 20 short lookout blocks.
• Blocking. 2×10 blocks, ripped to 8 5/8″ tall, fill the bays over each wall: 20 at 1′ 2 1/2″ and 4 at 1′ 1 3/4″.
• Low pitch, double felt. At 3/12 the shingle makers ask for two layers: a 19″ starter strip, then 36″ courses lapping 19″ (Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association). The shingles are 3-tab at 5″ exposure, 44 courses and about 276 shingles in all, which is 11 bundles with the starter.

Fascia, soffit and the vented rafter bays

The roof deck is 16′ 8″ long and 18′ 2 1/2″ up the slope, covered by 11 OSB sheets cut from a lettered map so every end joint lands on a rafter.

• Eave fascia. 1×12 on the tail plumb cuts, top edge flush with the tails. Each eave is 16′ 8″ in two pieces, 7′ 0″ and 9′ 8″, butted on the rafter tail 6′ 8″ from the left corner.
• Rake fascia. 1×12 on the fly rafters, 18′ 4 1/16″ along either edge, cut from a 20 ft board with both ends plumb so it laps the eave fascia: no open corner.
• Soffit. Strips of 1/2 in plywood ripped 9 3/8″ wide, 7′ 0″, 8′ 0″ and 1′ 8″ per eave, nailed under the tails with every joint on a tail. They stop 1/4 in off the siding, and insect screen goes behind that gap.
• Venting. Each block over the walls gets three 1″ vent holes. Air comes in at the soffit gap along the low back wall, rises up the rafter bays under the sheathing and leaves through the holes and the soffit gap at the high front wall.
• Drip edge. Under the felt at the low eave, over the felt on the rakes and along the high front edge, where the last shingle course is trimmed flush and sealed.

Anchoring the shed

The plan says an empty 16×16 on loose skids slides at about 13 psf of wind (gusts near 65 mph) and tips at about 36 psf, so it has you anchor it once the roof is on, before you fill it. It uses 6 screw-in auger anchors, 30″ or longer, galvanized, each with a steel strap: 3 along each of the two outside skids, at 1′ 0″, 8′ 0″ and 15′ 0″ from the left end. Each strap runs up the skid and onto the rim joist and is fastened with 1 1/2″ structural screws, 4 into the skid and 2 into the rim. The front anchor in front of the door sits behind the ramp, and the ramp ledger screws on beside its strap. Check your local permit office for what your area asks.

What is inside the 71-page plan

The full PDF opens with the overview, four elevations, the fit drawing and a side section, then the spec table. After that come the shopping list by section, a lumber yard order that adds every section up, the cut list with every part and length, and a cutting plan that says which board each part comes from and what the offcut is.

Every wall is drawn stud by stud with a position table measured from a named corner, and each siding wall has its own lettered sheet map. The side walls get two marking columns, one for the bottom plate and one for the sloped plate, because the marks spread out along the slope. The rafter page gives the pattern marks from the front tail, and the sheathing, decking and plywood rip maps give each piece its size. The plan closes with the build checklist, a page on how its 89 measurement checks were run, and a glossary.

Free 16×16 lean-to plan PDF vs the full plan

The free PDF is an 8-page streamlined version that shows the drawing style, the five stages and the finished shed from the front and the back. The full plan adds all 19 build steps, the key joint close-ups, the stud position tables, the stepped stud lengths for the sloped walls, the rafter marks, the decking, siding and sheathing piece maps, the door leaf with its brace cuts, the ramp, and the shopping, cut and cutting lists.

Before you build a 16×16 lean-to shed

• Permits. At 256 sq ft and 11′ 8 11/16″ at the high edge, this is a big shed for many towns, and the plan itself says most towns ask for a permit at this size, since 256 sq ft is over the common 120 and 200 sq ft exemptions. Size, height and setback rules vary by town and HOA. Check your local permit office before you buy lumber.
• Call before you dig. The plan has you call 811 a few working days ahead so buried power, gas and water lines are marked.
• Snow and wind. Snow sits longer on a 3/12 roof. Heavy snow areas or high-wind zones may need closer rafter spacing or larger rafters. Your local permit office knows the loads for your address.
• Skids. Use ground-contact rated pressure-treated 4x4s (UC4A or higher), set crown up, and raise a low skid with gravel or treated shims only.
• Keep it dry. Leave 6″ or more between the siding and the soil or mulch.
• 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, drill/driver and framing hammer, the list adds a miter saw for the door braces and trim, a reciprocating saw for flush cuts, a 3 lb sledge for the pad frame’s spikes and stakes, two 24″ bar clamps for marking the rims, a hand tamper for the pad and a steel bar for turning the ground anchors. Two 8 ft step ladders cover the walls and rafters, since the front plates sit 9′ 10 1/8″ above the deck and a 6 ft ladder falls short; a rolling scaffold tower is the better choice for the front fascia and the high ends of the rakes. A 20 ft extension ladder handles roof work, set up at the low back eave once the roof is on.

Related plans

• 4 ft wider: the 16×20 lean-to shed plan.
• 2 ft shallower: the 14×16 lean-to shed plan.
• Same footprint with a gable roof: the 16×16 gable shed plan.
• Choosing a base first? Read the shed foundation guide.
• Every size on the lean-to shed plans page.