6x6 Gable Storage Shed Plan

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6×6 gable shed plan: the numbers for a site check

On a 6 x 6 ft footprint the walls are full height, so this shed stands much taller than it is wide. If an HOA or a neighbor’s view is a concern, check the peak height first. Mark the roof footprint and the gravel pad on your lot, not just the 6 by 6 ft walls. The door swings out and the ramp reaches out from it, so the plan asks you to keep 5′ 11″ clear in front of the wall, and the open leaf reaches 2′ 2 1/2″ past the left corner, so keep that side clear too.

How the 6×6 gable shed plan goes together

The steps run in build order: layout and pad (step 9), skids (10), floor frame (11), decking (12), back, front, left and right walls (13 to 16), joining the walls (17), the door (18), the pattern rafter (19), ridge, rafters and gable ends (20), roof sheathing (21), gable siding, fascia and soffit (22), drip edge and felt (23), shingles (24), anchoring the shed (25), trim and windows (26) and the ramp (27). A build checklist at the back has a “date done” and “checked by” column for each stage.

6×6 gable vs 6×6 lean-to vs 6×4 gable

Three of our smallest plans, and each one suits a different spot.

Pick the 6×6 gable when you want the most headroom and wall height in a 6 ft square. Pick the lean-to when the height of the peak matters more than the look of a gable.

Site layout and gravel pad

Stake the corners 6′ 0″ along the front and 6′ 0″ along the sides, then move one stake until both diagonals read 8′ 5 13/16″. Strip sod and roots 4″ deep over an 8′ 11″ x 8′ 11″ area, plus the landing area in front of the door, then reset the stakes and check the diagonals again, since digging moves them.

The pad sits inside a frame of pressure-treated 4x6s laid flat, pinned with 18 rebar stakes and joined at the corners with 16 timber spikes. Inside the frame the pad is 8′ 0″ x 8′ 0″, 12″ past the shed on every side, and its diagonals must both read 11′ 3 3/4″. A 6′ 3″ wide landing reaches 4′ 5 1/2″ past the front of the pad for the ramp. Spread 4″ of 3/4″ crushed stone, compact it in two layers with a hand tamper and check it with a long straight board and a level. The three skids are cut to 6′ 0″, lie across the pad parallel to the front wall, 2′ 10 1/4″ on center, crown up, and are leveled along their length and to each other.

Floor frame and walls

The floor frame is two 6 ft rims and six 5′ 9″ joists, marked on both rims at once, evenly spread about 14 3/8″. It weighs about 100 lb once nailed and racks out of square if you lift it, so you build it in place on top of the skids and square it to 8′ 5 13/16″ on both diagonals. A framing angle goes at every place a joist crosses a skid, 18 in all. Two sheets of 3/4″ tongue and groove plywood cover the deck: one 6′ 0″ x 4′ 0″ piece, then a 2′ 0 1/2″ last row cut end to end from one strip, with flat 2×4 blocks under the seam.

Each wall is framed flat on the deck, checked by its diagonals and raised as a bare frame by two people. Siding goes on after all four stand.

• Start on the ground. On this small floor a wall laid flat hangs 2′ 0 1/2″ to 2′ 6 1/2″ past the deck, so the lifters start on the ground, 9 3/4″ below the deck, and step up as it rises. Stop blocks nailed to the rim keep the bottom plate from kicking out.
• Walk the second wall. The front and right walls do not fit at their own edge, so the plan has you frame them facing the other way, tip them up beside the standing wall and walk them across the deck, sliding the bottom plate. A third person on the deck makes it easier.
• Brace at once. Never leave a raised wall unbraced, even for a minute, and never raise one in gusty wind.
• Tight corners. Two corner bays are too narrow for a drill, so those corners take 5″ structural screws driven from outside before the siding goes on.
• Siding last. Screw a straight 2×4 ledger to the floor frame at the siding’s bottom line, stand each sheet on it, and have a helper hold it plumb. A 4×8 sheet of T1-11 weighs about 60 lb, and each wall takes two.

Door, windows and ramp: sizes and positions

The door opening is 3′ 6″ wide and 6′ 4 1/2″ tall, from 1′ 3″ to 4′ 9″ measured from the left corner of the front wall, so it sits centered. It has a header of two 2x6s at 3′ 9″ with 1/2″ plywood between them. Once the bottom plate is cut out of the opening it is 6′ 6″ framed, and 6′ 5 1/4″ clear under the head stop.

The leaf comes from one new T1-11 sheet, since the cut-out piece is too short. It is 3′ 5 1/2″ wide and 6′ 5 1/4″ tall, with a glued and screwed 1×4 frame (two stiles and three rails) and two Z braces. Three T-strap hinges hang it on the left, seen from outside, with carriage bolts whose nuts sit inside so nobody can unscrew the door from outside. It swings out, a brush sweep seals the bottom, and an aluminum threshold cap crosses the opening. Fully open, the leaf reaches about 2′ 2 1/2″ past the left corner, so a hook and eye on the side-wall corner trim, about 39″ above the deck, holds it open in wind.

Both windows are prefabricated units for 18″ x 27″ rough openings under doubled 2×6 headers, one in each side wall, with their sills 4′ 0″ above the bottom plate. The right-wall window sits from 8″ to 2′ 2″ from the front end of the plate, and the left-wall window from 3′ 2 3/4″ to 4′ 8 3/4″ from the back end of the plate. Each opening is wrapped with flashing tape before the unit goes in, and a drip cap goes over every head casing. The back wall has no opening, so its full 6 ft stays free for shelves.

The ramp is detachable pressure-treated lumber, 4′ 3″ wide and 2′ 4″ out at a 1:4 slope (14 degrees), on six tapered 2×10 stringers 9 7/8″ on center under five 2×6 boards. Wheels roll on at a beveled toe and meet a 7/8″ lip at the door, the door leaf swings over it with 1 1/4″ to spare, and two hook-and-eye latches hold it to its ledger. Unhook it to lift it away when you level or move the shed. Set a mower deck to its highest cut before you push it up.

What is on the 6×6 shed material list

The shopping list is split by stage, so you can buy the floor first and the roof later. Lumber is listed in the stock length that wastes the least for each part.

The list also counts the temporary pieces: 12 wall braces, 4 braces for the center gable studs, stakes and deck cleats, all reused later. In all the lumber yard order comes to 42 2x4s at 8 ft, 6 at 10 ft, 14 at 12 ft and 11 at 14 ft, plus 10 sheets of T1-11. Add 2 or 3 spare studs for bad boards. The longest pieces are the three 16 ft treated 4x6s for the pad frame and two 16 ft 1x4s, then the 14 ft 2x4s, 1x4s, 1×6 and treated 2x6s, so plan the haul.

What you can fit in a 6×6 shed

The plan’s “What fits inside” drawing shows the room as 5′ 5″ wide and 5′ 5″ deep inside, with 7′ 7 1/2″ of clear height to the underside of the top plates. This is a tool and garden shed:

• A wheelbarrow and a push mower. The wheelbarrow is 2′ 2″ x 5′ 0″ and the mower, handle folded and nose in, is 1′ 10″ x 3′ 2″. The door is 3′ 5 1/4″ clear, so they go in one at a time. Roll the wheelbarrow in wheel first toward the back left corner, then swing the handles left.
• A back-wall shelf. The back wall has no opening, and the drawing puts 12″ deep shelves there with a 1′ 3″ wide aisle from the door. Shelves are yours to add and are not on the shopping list.
• What does not fit. A 42 in deck rider is 5′ 10″ long and the room is 5′ 5″ deep, so it does not fit, and neither does a bike parked front to back.

Measure your own machine against the door width before you count on it. The short ramp is already part of the plan for the 9 3/4″ step.

How the 6×6 gable roof is framed

Twelve 2×4 rafters in 6 pairs, about 14 3/8″ on center, and 4 fly rafters meet a 2×6 ridge board 6′ 8″ long. The rafter board is 4′ 6 9/16″ long, the rafters rise 1′ 8 5/16″ from the top of the walls to the top of the ridge, and three come out of each 14 ft 2×4 if you flip the pattern end for end.

• Ridge support. A center gable stud on each end wall, braced plumb both ways, holds the ridge while you set the end pairs, so you need no temporary posts.
• Ties. Four 2×4 rafter ties, 6′ 0″ long, stop the walls spreading, and 2 collar ties hold the pairs together at the ridge. The rafter ties are not a loft, so keep anything you set on them light.
• Gable plate ties. Four flat 2x4s sit under the rafter ties, 2′ 0″ and 4′ 0″ from the front corner of each gable wall, and are fixed with framing angles to stiffen the top of those walls against wind.
• Hurricane ties. Eight hurricane ties hold the interior rafters to the plates, and 4 framing angles hold the end rafters at the corners.
• Sheathing. Each roof side is one 6′ 8″ x 4′ 0″ piece and a narrow 4 11/16″ top strip, with an H-clip in every bay, 10 in all. Each side takes 11 courses of shingles at 5″ exposure, and 17 cap pieces finish the ridge.

Ventilation: soffit vents and a screened gap

This gable is too low for a louvered vent, so the plan does not have one. Air comes in at the soffit through one 16 x 8 in screened vent per eave, centered in its rafter bay, and at the screened slots over the frieze blocks. It leaves through a 1″ screened gap under the end rafters on all 4 rakes.

The plan prints the sum: about 60 sq in high at the rake gaps and 34.2 sq in low over both eaves, 94.2 sq in in all. A common attic rule of thumb, not a shed requirement, asks for the floor area divided by 150, which is about 35 sq in for 36 sq ft, about half low and half high, so the total, low and high are all met.

Free preview vs the full 6×6 plan

Use the free PDF to judge the drawings. It is an 8-page streamlined version: it walks through the five stages with 3D views and a framing preview of one wall. It has no material list, no cut list and no measurements in the steps.

The full 70-page plan adds all 28 sections, each wall drawn stud by stud with a position table, the decking and sheathing maps, the pattern rafter, the gable stud table, the shopping list, the cut list and a cutting plan that says which board each part comes from. Before it went on sale every measurement was cross-checked with 106 checks on the walls and openings, the floor, the roof framing, the sheets and shingles and the lists, and all of them pass. Checkout emails it to you, and a 30-day money-back guarantee covers it.

Before you build a 6×6 shed

• Permits. Size, height and setback rules for sheds vary by town and HOA. This one is 36 sq ft and 10′ 5 5/16″ tall, so check your local permit office.
• Foundation. Skids on gravel suit a small shed; our shed foundation guide covers the alternatives.
• Anchors. A tall shed on a small footprint catches wind. Empty, it slides at about 13 psf and tips at about 15 psf, so the plan adds 4 screw-in ground anchors with steel straps, two along each outside skid, right after the roof goes on.
• Snow and wind. The plan uses common small-shed framing. In heavy snow or high-wind areas, ask about rafter size, spacing and anchors before you build.
• Wood and sheets. Keep lumber dry and off the ground until you build, because wood that stays wet decays faster (USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook). The APA stamp on each OSB sheet shows its span rating (APA: OSB).

Related plans

• A bit bigger with a gable roof: the 6×8 gable shed plan (60 inch double door) or the 8×8 gable shed plan.
• Smaller: the 6×4 gable shed plan, 6 ft wide and 4 ft deep.
• The same 6 ft square with a single-slope roof: the 6×6 lean-to shed plan.
• Every size on the gable shed plans page.