How to Build an 8×16 Lean to Shed in a Week or Less?

Have you always watched professional shed builders in awe while they are crafting those beautiful sheds? Wondering if you’d ever be able to build one for yourself or you simply don’t want to pay thousands to get one built for yourself? Well, if you are either of the two, this might be your lucky day!

Welcome to 3DSHEDPLANS – where our professional woodworkers build sheds and document the entire for you to follow. Whether you are a newbie to woodworking or a pro, you can follow our plans and build your very own shed in less than week!

So, without much ado, let’s dive right in!

Step # 1: Get to Know Any Legal Shed Building Permits

First and the foremost, you need to find out the permits or requirements you need to adhere to when building or repairing a shed in your neighborhood, city or state. Once you get to know the legalities, only then can you decide on the following aspects of your shed:

• Type of Shed to Build

• Size of Shed to Build

Step # 2: Deciding on the Type & Size of Shed to Build

Types and sizes might go hand in hand when it comes to building a shed. Here is a brief summary of each type of shed you can available and the best sizes they can be built in:

1. Lean-to Sheds: As the name implies, these sheds lean to a wall of your garden of house. Lean-to sheds are usually small sheds, best suited for storing supplies.

2. Gable Sheds: Gable sheds are the most popular type of sheds. They can be built in small, medium and large size, and they look gorgeous.

3. Hip Roof Sheds: Hip roof sheds are the most exquisite type of shed you can build. The hip roofs are best suited for medium to large sized sheds. Also, since the hip roof is a little complex, it might be best suited for experienced woodworkers.

Step # 3: Collecting the Required Tools & Materials

In this shed plan, we will be building an 8×16 lean to shed. You will be requiring simple materials such as pressure treated timber, galvanized nails, rafters and trusses, tongue and groove plywood, asphalt shingles for roofing, and the like.

Step # 4: Understanding the 8×16 Lean-To Shed Dimensions & Style

Having a lean to shed can add to the beauty and worth of your property. To start with, this 8×16 lean to shed will provide you enough space to keep your tools & supplies. The shed comes with a huge 5 feet & 7 inches door on the front wall. The overall width of the shed from the bottom is 8 feet and 8 feet 7 inches from the top. Each side is 16 feet in depth and 16 feet and 1 inch from the top.

Step # 5: Building the Foundation & Laying the Flooring

As with any other shed, we recommend building from the bottom up. You will start with building the foundation of your shed, which would be 16 feet in length and 8 feet in width. You will use pressure treated timber for the foundation and ¾ inch tongue and groove plywood for the flooring. Once done, you will use 3.5 inch galvanized nails to attach the flooring to the foundation:

A Few Pointers:

1. Build the foundation on the area where you desire the shed to be. This way, you will not have to relocate the shed later on.

2. Remove any vegetation or clutter from the area to make sure the foundation is steady and even on the ground.

Step # 6: Building & Setting up the Walls

Once the foundation has been built, the next step is to work on the walls of your shed.

1. Start with building the right and left wall. Follow the instructions in your shed plan starting with the frame.

2. Next, building the front wall and carefully cut out area for the door.

3. Once the frames are built, use galvanized nails to fix the T1-11 siding to the wall structures.

4. Now that the walls have been built, you can easily erect them on the foundation as instructed in your shed plan using temporary support until they are permanently fixed.

5. Remove the temporary support once the walls have been erected firmly.

Step # 7: Start Working on the Roof

For many, building a shed roof seems like a daunting task, but it’s not. If you carefully follow the instructions in either of our shed plans (free or premium), you will be able to build your shed roof in no time. For starters, here are a few steps:

1. The overall width of the roof of this shed should be 8 feet and 7 inches.

2. Start with building the roof rafters and then installing the gussets on both sides. Remember, each rafter should gussets on one side.

3. You can now nail the rafters down one by one on the top plate of the walls. With this done, your roof’s skeleton is ready.

4. Next, install the OSB sheathing and felt on the roof skeleton.

Step # 8: Adding Shingles to the Roof

1. Start adding shingles to the roof. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on adding the shingles in pattern.

2. We recommend asphalt shingles, since they are durable and weather resistant, but you can use any shingles you like.

Step # 9: Installing Trims, Fascia Boards & Soffits

With the shingles installed, you can now install the trims, fascia boards and soffits.

1. Install the trims following the instructions in your shed plan. Make sure the trims sit flush with the shed roof.

2. Next, install fascia boards for the right and left side of the shed. Use galvanized nails to install the boards and nail them to the edges of the roof.

3. After installing the fascia boards, you can now install the soffits, which will be installed on the shed eves using 2 inch galvanized nails.

Step # 10: Finishing Your Shed

Your shed is almost ready! Let’s add some finishing touches to make it more presentable.

1. Treat the shed exterior with a coating of paint or wood stain to keep it safe from extreme weather conditions.

2. You can use plasterboards to make internal walls to make cabins or separate areas.

3. If you are adding electrical cables, make sure they are properly insulated and fire-rated to avoid any accidents.

That’s it! Your 8×16 Lean-to Shed is ready! However, these are just the basic tips. If you want to get in-depth knowledge of building the shed, download either our FREE SHED PLANS or PREMIUM SHED PLANS.

Through years of experience, we know that building a shed is not rocket science. Anyone with little to no woodworking experience can get the job done. Therefore, here at 3DSHEDPLANS, we offer two types of shed plans that you can opt for:

• FREE PLANS: These plans come with basic guidance and steps on how to build a shed.

• Paid Plans: We always recommend buying our paid plans since they come with the following features:

  • Complete list of tools and materials required to build sheds

  • Step by step detailed instructions with pro tips of each and every step of the process

  • 3D images of every step of the process for you to get a visual reference of how your shed should look after completing each step.