DIY 16x20 Hip Roof Storage Shed Plan

The full plan is $19.99: buy the 16×20 hip roof shed plan. To see the drawing style first, open the free 16×20 hip roof shed plan PDF.

16×20 hip roof shed plan: the numbers for a site check

With a hip roof the overhang runs on all four sides, so mark the 22′ 1 1/2″ by 18′ 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 1 ft bigger than the walls on every side, so its own diagonals are 28′ 5 1/8″ (inside the frame), not the shed’s 25′ 7 3/8″. Square the pad to the first and the floor frame to the second. Check that 13′ 1″ of height suits your yard before you order lumber.

How the 16×20 hip roof shed goes together

At 16 ft deep this plan steps up from the smaller 3DSHEDPLANS hip sheds: the commons and jacks are 2×6, the hips and ridge are 2×8 and the fascia is 1×8. A hip roof also takes more cuts than the same size gable, so the plan has you test each pattern before you cut the rest.

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. The two long walls go up in two sections so that two people can raise each one.

• Hinge it. Drive two or three nails partly through the bottom plate into the deck at the tipping edge so the wall pivots instead of sliding, and nail 12″ stop blocks to the rim so it cannot kick out over the deck edge.
• Brace from outside. 12 ft 2×4 braces run to stakes about 5 ft out, so the deck stays clear for the next wall. Pick a calm day and never leave a raised wall unbraced.
• Side walls drop in. Their plates are 1/4″ shorter than the gap between the front and back walls, so plumb those two first. If a side wall is tight, tap it down against a block.
• 20 ft from 16 ft stock. The front and back plates, the 4×4 skids and the 2×6 rims are all spliced, each joint on a stud, a joist or a support. The rims break over a doubled joist, and the skid joints get a 3 ft scab on both sides.

The nailed floor frame weighs about 680 lb and racks out of square if you lift it, so the plan has you build it in place on the skids and square it to the same 25′ 7 3/8″ diagonals before you nail it down.

What is on the 16×20 hip roof shed material list

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

• Foundation and floor: 4×4 skid pieces with 10 splice scabs, spliced 2×6 rims, 17 joists, 10 sheets of tongue and groove plywood, a 1×4 filler strip ripped to 2″ for the last row and the 4×6 pad frame with 36 rebar stakes.
• Walls: 2×4 studs and plates, a doubled 2×8 door header, two doubled 2×6 window headers and 18 sheets of 4×8 T1-11.
• Roof framing: 10 commons, 4 hips, 40 jacks and 8 short tail jacks, the ridge, 4 rafter ties, 2 king tie pieces, 2 temporary ridge posts and their braces.
• Roof covering: 20 sheets of OSB, 2 rolls of felt, 10 pieces of drip edge, 19 bundles of shingles including the hip and ridge caps and 3 static roof vents.
• Fascia, door, windows and trim: 1×8 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 (36 lb of 16d framing nails alone), 54 hurricane ties (skewable ones at the 4 hip corners), 4 strap ties, 8 ground anchors with straps, adhesive, flashing tape, roofing cement and 7 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. The plan does not price the list, since costs change by region and month. Take it to your local lumber yard for a quote before you build.

What you can fit in a 16×20 hip roof shed

The plan’s “What fits inside” page draws the room from above, 19′ 5″ by 15′ 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. About 7′ 6″ of aisle is left behind the mower.
• 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 and a bench. The drawing shows 24″ deep shelves on the back wall, 16″ deep shelves on the back 6 ft of each side wall and a 20″ deep bench under the right window.
• Daylight. Each 16 ft end wall has a 36″ x 36″ window, so there is light at both ends of the room.
• 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 10′ 0″ 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. Four rafter ties cross the shed at the top of the walls, so stand long items against a wall.

How the 16×20 hip roof is framed: ridge, commons, hips and jacks

The ridge on this plan is only 4′ 1 1/2″ long, so the four hips and 40 jacks make up most of the roof. The plan frames it in a fixed order and says who stands where:

1. Ridge on posts. The 2×8 ridge sits on two temporary 2×4 posts, 11′ 7 1/4″ long, braced to the floor both ways. Its top is 4′ 4″ above the top plates, and each end is 7′ 11 1/4″ in from the end walls. Two people set it, each on a 10 ft step ladder on the deck beside a post, no higher than the third step from the top. The ridge weighs about 11 lb.
2. Commons in pairs. Cut one pattern 2×6 common (board 10′ 2 11/16″) with a 3 1/2″ seat and a 1 3/4″ heel. That notch is 28% of the depth, under the one-third limit. Test it on both sides of the ridge, then cut 10: 8 for the front and back walls, at 8′ 0″, 9′ 4″, 10′ 8″ and 12′ 0″ from the left corner, and 2 king commons that butt the ridge ends. Set the end pairs first and check the ridge for level. A 16 ft 2×4 rafter tie goes on the plates beside each pair.
3. Four hips. Each 2×8 hip (board 13′ 7 7/16″) runs at 45 degrees in plan from a wall corner to the ridge end, sloping 19.5 degrees. Its heel is cut 3 9/16″ deep, 46% of its depth, because it sits right over the corner on the lapped plates and carries no bending there. A strap across the plates, a skewable hurricane tie and toe-nails hold it. Do not cut it deeper than drawn. A hip weighs about 35 lb, so two people set each one, from step ladders on the deck.
4. Jacks. 40 jacks in five lengths, centered 1′ 4″, 2′ 8″, 4′ 0″, 5′ 4″ and 6′ 8″ from each corner, 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 pull the posts.
5. King tie last. A 2×4 king tie, in two pieces joined with a flat strap, runs on top of the rafter ties from king to king so the end walls cannot spread.

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 three static roof vents on the back slope. Buy vents rated 60 sq in net free area or more. They go in the bays between the 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, and 3rd and 4th commons, 8′ 8″, 10′ 0″ and 11′ 4″ from the left end wall, so no rafter is cut. The hole centers sit 3′ 0″, 5′ 1″ and 3′ 0″ down the slope from the ridge.

The plan prints the arithmetic. A common attic rule of thumb, not a shed requirement, asks for the floor area divided by 150: 320 / 150 is 2.13 sq ft, or 307 sq in, about half low and half high. The three roof vents give 180 sq in high (3 x 60), which meets their half. The soffit gap gives 108 sq in low (864″ divided by 2 for the insect screen). That is 288 sq in in all, 19.2 sq in short of the rule of thumb, and the low side is 45.6 sq in short, since a 1/4″ gap only lets in so much. This suits unheated storage; if you plan to heat or insulate the shed, ask your local permit office what it wants.

Free 16×20 hip roof shed plan PDF vs the full plan

The free PDF shows how the plan is drawn and what the shed looks like. The full plan adds every step, the roof framing plan with every rafter center, 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 106 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 16×20 hip roof shed

• Permits. At 320 sq ft and over 13 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 or larger rafters; ask your local permit office for your loads. The plan has you set 8 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, stay off open rafters and keep 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 and brace stakes, two bar clamps for marking the rims and a hand tamper for the pad. Two 10 ft step ladders reach the ridge, and a 16 ft extension ladder covers roof work from the eave, about 8′ 8″ up.

Related plans

• Same size with a gable roof: the 16×20 gable shed plan.
• 4 ft longer: the 16×24 hip roof shed plan.
• 4 ft shallower: the 12×20 hip roof shed plan. Smaller still: the 10×16 hip roof shed plan.
• Choosing a base first? Read the shed foundation guide.
• Every hip roof shed plan in one place.