12x24 Hip Roof Shed Plan

The full plan is $19.99: buy the 12×24 hip roof shed plan. To see the drawing style first, open the free 12×24 hip roof shed plan PDF.

12×24 hip roof shed plan: the numbers for a site check

With a hip roof the overhang runs on all four sides, so mark the 26′ 1 1/2″ by 14′ 1 1/2″ roof outline on your lot, not just the walls, and leave room to walk around it with a ladder. Stake the shed corners to matching 26′ 10″ diagonals, square the 26′ x 14′ pad frame to matching 29′ 6 3/8″ diagonals, then square the floor frame to matching 26′ 10″ diagonals.

Why a 12×24 hip roof shed

A 12×24 shed gives you room for a riding mower, a long workbench, bikes and shelves of garden gear at once, and it is still only 12 ft deep, so it fits along a side yard or a back fence where a square shed would not. The hip roof slopes down on all four sides, so every wall has an eave over it, every wall is the same height and there is no tall gable end to side or paint. On this long shape the ridge runs 12′ 1 1/2″, so the front and back slopes are long trapezoids and the two end slopes are short triangles. 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.

Both sides of this shed are a multiple of 16 in, so the floor joists land on an even 16 in layout from the left end: the floor has 18 equal bays. Along the front and back walls the commons run 16 in apart from 6′ 0″ to 18′ 0″, and the 6′ 0″ from each corner to the first common is split into five equal jack bays of about 14 3/8″, so the jacks are spaced the same at all four corners.

How the 12×24 hip roof shed goes together

At 24 ft, the skids and rims are longer than a 16 ft board, so the plan splices them. Each 4×4 skid is 24′ 0″ overall: skids 1 and 3 (counting from the front) are 8′ 0″ + 16′ 0″ from the left end, and skids 2 and 4 are 16′ 0″ + 8′ 0″, so neighboring joints sit 8 ft apart. Every joint is butted on the gravel, centered under a floor joist, and scabbed with a 3 ft pressure-treated 2×4 on both sides, top flush, six nails per scab. Each 2×6 rim is cut as 11′ 11 1/4″ + 12′ 0 3/4″, and both break at 11′ 11 1/4″ from the left end over a doubled joist, so each rim end gets three nails into a full joist. The floor frame weighs about 620 lb once it is nailed and racks if you lift it, so the plan has you build it in place on the skids, square it by the diagonals and then fix it down with a framing angle at every joist-to-skid crossing (80 in all).

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 24 ft front and back walls are framed and raised in 2 sections each, so two people can raise most lifts and three raise the long front section, and the two joint studs are clamped flush and nailed together once the second section stands.

• Second top plate in 2 pieces. On the front and back walls the second top plate is 23′ 5″ overall, cut as 7′ 8 1/2″ + 15′ 8 1/2″ and started 3 1/2″ in from the corner. Its joint lands on a stud 8′ 0″ from the corner, away from the section joint, and it laps each section joint by at least 4′ 0″, so each layer covers the other’s joint and ties the two sections together.
• Stop blocks. Nail 12″ 2×4 offcuts to the outside of the rim, two for each section near its ends, so the bottom plate tips against them and cannot kick out over the deck edge. Pull them before the siding goes on.
• Where to stand. The lifters stand at the top plate, one near each end, and nobody stands on the ground in front of a wall while it goes up.
• Brace first. Pick a calm day, have the braces and nails at hand, and never leave a raised wall unbraced, even for a minute. Each section keeps its tacked diagonal brace until its wall is sided.
• Square every frame. The plan prints both diagonals for each section: 14′ 4 1/16″ and 14′ 2 13/16″ for the back wall sections, 17′ 8 11/16″ and 11′ 2 3/16″ for the front wall sections and 13′ 9 3/8″ for the end walls.

What is on the 12×24 hip roof shed material list

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

• Foundation and floor: 8 pressure-treated 4x4s (4 at 16 ft and 4 at 8 ft) for the 4 spliced skids, 2 ground-contact 2x4s for the 8 splice scabs, 4 pressure-treated 2×6 rim pieces, 20 joists, 9 sheets of tongue and groove plywood, 3 1×4 boards for the back filler strip, 80 framing angles 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: 22 commons, 4 hips, 32 jacks and 8 short tail jacks, the ridge, 10 rafter ties, 2 king tie pieces with a flat strap for their splice, 2 temporary ridge posts and their 4 braces.
• Roof covering: 17 sheets of OSB (16 plus 1 spare), 2 rolls of 15 lb felt, 10 pieces of drip edge, 18 bundles of shingles including the starter and the hip and ridge caps and 3 static roof vents.
• Fascia, door, windows and trim: 1×6 fascia (the front and back runs are 26′ 1 1/2″, each in 2 pieces joined with a scarf over a rafter tail), 4 sheets of 1/2″ soffit plywood, 2 new T1-11 sheets for the door leaves, 6 T-strap hinges, 2 barrel bolts, 2 prefabricated windows, drip cap and 1×4 casing and corner trim.
• Ramp: 2 pressure-treated 2×10 for the 8 stringers, 4 pressure-treated 2×6 for the 8 deck boards, a 2×4 ledger, a 2×4 ledger filler notched over the front skid’s splice scab and the structural screws.
• Hardware: nails by the pound, 58 hurricane ties (skewable ones at the 4 hip corners), 4 strap ties across the corners under the hips, 10 ground anchors with straps, flashing tape, roofing cement and 6 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, with each splice shown, and the cutting plan shows which board each comes from.

What you can fit in a 12×24 hip roof shed

The plan’s “What fits inside” page draws the room from above, 23′ 5″ by 11′ 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.
• 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. Shelves 24″ deep run along the back wall, and shelves 16″ deep run along the back 6 ft of each side wall. Behind the mower there is a 3′ 6″ aisle to the back shelves.
• A bench with daylight. A bench 20″ deep sits under the right window. Each end wall has a 36″ x 36″ window near the front.
• 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 in front of the wall, the ramp plus one mower length, to line a tractor up square.
• Headroom. All four walls are the same height on a hip roof. Ten rafter ties cross the shed at the top of the walls, so stand long items against a wall.

How the 12×24 hip roof is framed: ridge, commons, hips and jacks

The plan frames the roof in a fixed order and says who stands where:

1. Ridge on posts. The 2×6 ridge, 12′ 1 1/2″ long, sits on two temporary 2×4 posts, 10′ 7 5/16″ long, each about 12″ in from a ridge end and braced to the floor both ways. Its ends are 5′ 11 1/4″ in from each end wall and its top is 3′ 2 5/16″ above the top plates. Two people set it, each on an 8 ft step ladder on the deck beside a post, no higher than the third step from the top. The ridge weighs about 24 lb.
2. Commons in pairs. Cut one pattern 2×4 common (board 7′ 10 13/16″), with a 2 1/2″ seat. That notch is 32% of the depth, under the one-third limit, so do not deepen it. Cut 22: 20 for the front and back walls, centered every 1′ 4″ from 6′ 0″ to 18′ 0″, and 2 king commons that butt the ridge ends. Set the pairs at both ridge ends first and check the ridge for level and center. For each pair, one person on the step ladder beside the ridge nails the top while the other, on a second step ladder at the wall, sets the seat on the plate and nails it. The plate is 7′ 10 1/2″ above the deck, past a standing reach, so the seat is never nailed from the deck.
3. Rafter ties and a king tie. A 12 ft rafter tie goes on the plates beside every common pair, 10 in all. A 2×4 king tie in two pieces, 10′ 8 1/4″ and 11′ 9 1/4″, runs from king to king on top of the rafter ties and butts over the middle tie 11′ 5 1/2″ from the left corner, its splice held by a flat strap, so the end walls cannot spread.
4. Four hips. Each 2×6 hip (board 10′ 6 13/16″) runs at 45 degrees in plan from a wall corner to the ridge end, sloping 19.5 degrees. Its heel is cut 3 7/16″ deep, 59% of its depth, because it sits right over the corner on the lapped plates and carries no bending there. A strap tie across the plates, a skewable hurricane tie and toe-nails hold it. Do not cut it deeper than drawn. Each hip weighs about 21 lb and goes up with two people.
5. Jacks last. 32 jacks in four lengths (boards 2′ 6 7/8″, 3′ 11 1/16″, 5′ 3 1/8″ and 6′ 7 1/4″), centered 1′ 2 3/8″, 2′ 4 13/16″, 3′ 7 3/16″ and 4′ 9 5/8″ from each corner, plus 8 short tail jacks (board 1′ 2 13/16″), each with a 45 degree side cut. They come in two hands, so cut half of each length each way, and nail them in pairs on both sides of a hip so it stays straight. Then take out the posts.

The hips are one size deeper than the commons so the jacks bear on their full face.

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 high on the back slope. Buy vents rated 60 sq in net free area or more each. They go in the bays centered 8′ 0″, 12′ 0″ and 16′ 0″ from the left end wall, each with its hole center 2′ 0″ down the slope from the top of the ridge. The bay is 1′ 2 1/2″ clear, so no rafter is cut, and a 1/4″ locator hole drilled from inside marks each center through the felt.

The plan prints the arithmetic. A common attic rule of thumb, not a shed requirement, asks for the floor area divided by 150: 288 / 150 is 1.92 sq ft, or 276 sq in, about half low and half high. Half of that, 138.2 sq in, divided by 60 sq in a vent is 2.30, so 3 vents. The three roof vents give 180 sq in high. The soffit gap runs 864 in around the walls and gives 108 sq in low after the insect screen. That is 288 sq in in all, which meets the rule of thumb in total; the low side is 30.2 sq in short and the high side is met. The low side is what a 1/4″ gap gives, and a wider gap lets in more air and more weather. This suits unheated storage; if you plan to heat or insulate the shed, ask your local permit office what it wants.

Free 12×24 hip roof shed plan PDF vs the full plan

The free PDF is an 8-page streamlined version: the build stages (site and foundation, floor, walls, roof, trim and paint) with 3D views. It has no material list, no cut list and no measurements. The full plan adds every step, the skid and rim splice layouts, each wall drawn stud by stud with its section joints, the roof framing plan with every rafter center, the hip and jack cut details, the sheathing piece map for each roof plane, the vent layout, the ramp, the “What fits inside” page and the complete shopping and cut lists. Before it went on sale every measurement was cross-checked, 111 checks in all: 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 12×24 hip roof shed

• Permits. At 288 sq ft and almost 12 ft tall, this shed is larger than many towns let you build without a permit, and size, height and setback 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, larger rafters or more anchoring; ask your local permit office for your loads. The plan has you set 10 screw-in ground anchors with straps, 5 along each outside skid and clear of the splice scabs, right after the floor deck, before the walls go up.
• Safety. Plan for a helper on every wall section raise and every roof lift. Stand each ladder on firm, flat footing, keep three points of contact, tie the extension ladder to the building, and stay 10 ft from overhead power lines.
• Skids. Use ground-contact rated pressure-treated 4x4s (UC4A or higher) for the skids and the splice scabs, 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, two bar clamps to hold the rims together while you mark them, a jigsaw and a 1/4″ bit for the roof vent holes and their locator holes, a 3 lb sledge for the pad frame stakes and a hand tamper for the pad. Two 8 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 12×24 gable shed plan, or a single slope: the 12×24 lean-to shed plan.
• 4 ft narrower: the 12×20 hip roof shed plan. 4 ft deeper: the 16×24 hip roof shed plan.
• Choosing a base first? Read the shed foundation guide.
• Every hip roof shed plan in one place.