8x16 Gable Storage Shed Plan

The full 70-page plan is $19.99: buy the 8×16 gable shed plan. To see the drawing style first, open the free 8×16 gable shed plan PDF.

8×16 shed plans: the numbers for a site check

Square the corner stakes to matching 17′ 10 11/16″ diagonals before you dig. The ridge runs the 16 ft length, so the front and back walls carry the eaves and the 8 ft side walls carry the gables. Mark the roof footprint, not just the walls, when you check the yard. With its frame, the dig is 18′ 11″ x 10′ 11″, and the landing in front of the door runs 7′ 1″ out from the front wall to the outside of its frame. The plan also asks for 9′ 6″ clear and level measured from the wall if you want to line up a tractor square.

How the 8×16 shed plans go together

The plan’s time table has no separate line for the ground anchors or the ramp, so allow extra time for those two steps.

Every skid and rim, and the front and back wall plates, is one 16 ft board (the side wall plates come from 8 ft boards), and the ridge and the eave fascia are spliced from shorter pieces (7′ 0″ + 9′ 8″), so no board on the list is longer than 16 ft. Parts that use a whole board keep its factory ends, so pick those boards with square, clean ends. The nailed floor frame weighs about 290 lb and racks out of square if you lift it, so the plan has you build it in place on the skids, square it to the same 17′ 10 11/16″ diagonals and only then fasten it down.

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 back wall goes up first, so it gets the whole deck to itself.

• Hinge it. Drive two or three nails partly through the bottom plate into the deck at the edge it tips on, so the wall pivots instead of sliding. Two stop blocks on the rim keep the plate from kicking out over the edge.
• Front wall, framed the other way. With the back wall standing, only 7′ 8 1/2″ of deck is free in front of it, too little to frame the front wall flat at its own edge. The plan frames it facing the other way, tips it up beside the back wall, then two people walk it upright across the deck on its bottom plate to the front edge.
• Brace from outside. 12 ft 2×4 braces run to stakes about 5 ft out, keeping the deck clear for the next wall. The list has 12 of them for the walls, marked for reuse.
• Side walls drop in. Their plates are 1/4″ shorter than the gap between the front and back walls, so plumb those two first.
• Corners from inside. The corner stud bays are too tight to swing a hammer, so the plan uses 3″ exterior screws every 12″, driven from inside the shed.
• Siding. A 4×8 sheet of 5/8″ T1-11 weighs about 60 lb. 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 while you tack the top corners.

What is on the 8×16 shed materials list

The shopping list is split into eleven sections, so you can buy the foundation and floor first and the roof later, in the stock lengths that waste the least. A lumber yard order then adds every section up.

The two longest totals in the lumber yard order are 63 2×4 x 8 ft (5 of them must be full 96″ boards, not 92 5/8″ precut studs) and 32 2×4 x 12 ft, which includes the temporary braces. The plan suggests 2 or 3 spare studs for bad boards on top of that order.

The plan does not price the list, since costs change by region. Take it to your local yard for a quote.

What you can fit in an 8×16 shed

The plan includes a to-scale drawing of one way to fill the floor, inside 15′ 5″ wide and 7′ 5″ deep:

• A 42 inch deck mower. With both leaves open the door is about 5′ 11 1/2″ clear. A 42 in deck mower, 4′ 7 3/16″ x 5′ 10″, parks nose in with 8 1/8″ to spare on each side; a 48 in deck fits with its deflector raised, and a 54 in deck does not.
• Wheelbarrow and bikes. The drawing puts a wheelbarrow on one side of the mower and two bikes with their handlebars staggered on the other, with a 1′ 6″ cross aisle behind the mower’s tail.
• Shelves. 12″ deep shelves run along the back wall, split at the mower’s nose.
• A small lip, not a step. The floor sits 9 3/4″ up, and the ramp top ends about 13/16″ below the deck, over an aluminum threshold cap. There is no threshold board in the door, and two hook-and-eyes let you unhook the ramp and lift it away.
• Headroom. Clear height from the deck to the underside of the top plates is 7′ 7 1/2″. The door leaves swing out, and hold-open hooks keep them from slamming in wind.
• Daylight. Each window sits near the front of its side wall, with the sill 3′ 6″ above the bottom plate. The back wall has no window, so the shelves have the whole wall.

Stick-framed rafters on the 8×16 gable roof

The plan frames the roof with 26 2×4 rafters 16″ on center against a 2×6 ridge board, plus 4 fly rafters on the rakes, so two people can build it one pair at a time with no truss jig.

1. One pattern. Cut one rafter (board 5′ 8″, top edge 5′ 6 1/4″) with a 2 1/2″ seat and a 1 1/4″ heel. That notch is 32% of the depth, under the one-third limit the plan keeps to. Test it on both sides with a ridge-thick block, then trace the rest. Two rafters come out of each 12 ft board if you flip the pattern end for end.
2. Ridge on the gable studs. A 1′ 8 13/16″ center stud on each gable wall, braced plumb both ways, carries the 16′ 8″ ridge. The ridge is longer than a 16 ft board, so it is cut as 7′ 0″ + 9′ 8″, with the joint on a rafter pair and a 2 ft cleat under it, held up by a temporary post while you set the end pairs and the pair at the joint. The other 10 pairs follow. The rafters rise 2′ 2 5/16″ from the top of the walls to the top of the ridge.
3. Ties. A 2×4 rafter tie sits on the plates beside each of the 11 interior pairs to stop the walls spreading, and 6 collar ties go on every other pair to hold the rafters together at the ridge in wind, their tops 1′ 5 1/2″ above the plates. Two gable plate ties per gable wall, flat 2x4s from its top plate under the first 2 rafter ties (2′ 9 3/4″ on the left, 2′ 6 3/4″ on the right), stiffen the end walls.
4. Connectors. Each rafter gets a hurricane tie at the plate, except the 4 end rafters at the corners, where the side wall covers the inside face, so those get framing angles.
5. Rake. Lookout blocks carry the fly rafters 4″ out on each rake.
6. Venting. Air comes in at a 1/4″ soffit gap and 6 screened soffit vents, 3 per eave, passes a 1″ screened slot over each beveled frieze block and leaves through an 8″ x 8″ louvered vent in each gable. The plan works that out to 35.2 sq in high plus 97.5 sq in low, 132.7 sq in of net free area, against a common rule of thumb of 123 sq in. The high vents alone fall 26.2 sq in short of their half, because that is the largest louver that fits under this ridge.

In heavy snow or high wind areas the plan says you may need closer or larger rafters, so check your local permit office for the loads at your address.

Free 8×16 shed plan PDF vs the full plan

The free preview PDF walks through the five stages (foundation, floor, walls, roof, trim) with views of the same shed and a framing preview, so you can see the drawing style. It has no material list, no cut list and no measurements. The full 70-page plan adds the shopping list, the lumber yard order, the cut list, the cutting plan, every wall drawn stud by stud with a position table, the floor, roof and siding sheet maps, the door leaf and brace cuts, the rafter pattern, the ramp’s cut sizes and all 19 build steps with every dimension. It also has a printable build checklist, a list of the 109 checks the plan went through and a glossary.

Before you build an 8×16 gable shed

• Permits. At 128 sq ft and almost 11 ft tall, this shed can still run into size, height or setback limits, and rules vary by town and HOA. Call 811 before you dig, and check your local permit office before you buy lumber.
• The pad. The 3.4 cu yd of 3/4″ stone fills the pad and landing, 4″ deep, inside a frame of pressure-treated 4x6s laid flat and pinned with 30 rebar stakes. Square the frame until both pad diagonals read 20′ 7 1/8″.
• Skids. Use ground-contact rated pressure-treated 4x4s (UC4A or higher), set each one crown up, and raise a low skid with more gravel or treated shims, never untreated wood.
• Anchors. The plan works out that the empty shed on loose skids can slide in gusts near 55 mph, which is why 6 ground anchors, 3 along each outside skid, are on the list. Check your local permit office for what your area asks.
• Keep it dry. Leave 6″ or more between the siding and the soil or mulch, and check the roof, caulk and paint every spring.
• Ladders. Set the ridge and first rafters with a helper. Set an extension ladder 1 ft out at the foot for every 4 ft of height (OSHA ladder safety), and keep ladders and sheets at least 10 ft from any overhead power line.
• 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).

Related plans

• 2 ft shorter: the 8×14 gable shed plan. 4 ft longer: the 8×20 gable shed plan.
• 2 ft deeper with the same 16 ft front: the 10×16 gable shed plan.
• The same size with another roof: the 8×16 lean-to shed plan or the 8×16 hip roof shed plan.
• Choosing a base first? Read the shed foundation guide.
• Every gable shed plan in one place.