Felicia Adaniels

Is it the best in terms of durability and cost? Or should we look at other options?

Our shed will be 200 square feet and fully insulated. We need a floor that's non toxic and will hold up to high traffic, especially cats. Thanks in advance!

Thank you!

That's true. And that's a great suggestion. Thanks for all your help!

Yeah that's exactly what we're going with. I was hoping it would be strong enough to not need cdx or anything under it. We do get several tornado warnings each year though. That makes me nervous.

Yeah, sorry, the pen roof won't need to be insulated. I was thinking of something else when I was typing. But it will need to be roofed completely for the elements and we hate the idea of adding wire to the roof but the thought of only having panels on the roof makes us nervous. If there's any damage to a panel then there won't be anything between them and a way out. So, we figured adding cdx to the roof before the panels would eliminate a need for wire but provide a barrier between the cats and the panels just in case. Maybe that makes sense.

It would definitely be cheaper to skip the cdx over the pen but we're wanting to insulate everything.

Are there any special precautions we need to take if we decide to do a straw bale roof?

Great, then my thinking is right for everything so far. For the pen, we had already factored in putting support beams at the 10 & 20 foot marks for the roof. We'd love to not have to roof the whole pen but they need 24/7 access to the pen even during bad weather. So, we figure for the shed and pen roofs, we'll create at least a 2 foot overhang on every side to protect the lime plaster and the roof itself will be corrugated panels over cdx.
Hopefully this all works out to be pretty close to the plan.

Also, how much of a slope would you recommend for the roof of the pen we'll be attaching to the shed? Picture a chicken coop with an attached run. Our structures will be set up like this where the shed is in the back and the pen is attached to the front of the shed and runs off of it. The pen will be 20x30.

If we build the front of the shed with an 8' wall, will we be able to attach the pen there and slope down to a 6' wall if the length is 30 feet. Will a 2' drop be sufficient?
Hopefully that makes sense.

Mike Jay wrote:Hi Felicia, I'm guessing that roof slope would be ok for Alabama.  It won't shed any snow so be sure to have strong enough rafters and walls to handle the weight of all the snow that could fall on it in the worst case.  Flatter roofs don't usually work well for shingles since the water isn't running off of them as fast.  So you may want to check which roofing materials you can use for your slope.

Roof slope is generally described as the "rise over the run".  In your shed roof that would be a rise of 1 foot and a run of 10 feet if the walls are the height you proposed.  For construction purposes, roof slopes are usually in units of 12 feet.  Many residential roofs are somewhere in the 3:12 to 4:12 arena.  So for every 12 feet of run, the roof rises 3-4 feet.  Your proposed shed roof would calculate out to a 1.2:12 pitch.

Are people going to spend any time in this shed?  I'm 6'3" and I would be disappointed to have to work in that shed

No people in the shed. We're building it as a house for our outside cats. The only time people will be in there is when we go inside to handle their food, water, love on them, etc each day.

Would a front wall height of 8' and a back wall height of 6' work? We get about 1.6" of snowfall each year and about 56" of rainfall. For the rafters, we plan to use 2x6 lumber, 16" on center and then running 2x6 lumber in the opposite direction between the rafters for added support. Will this be strong enough?
For the wall frames (we'll be doing a post beam straw bale shed), should we use 2x6s or will be 2x4s be strong enough?

thomas rubino wrote:Well only if you are 3.5' tall... lol   Rear wall is the set height . Your in Alabama, how much snow do you get??? I would think you can pitch your roof however steep you like.   front wall 8.5' tall rear wall 6' or make it tall front 12' then down to 6' in the rear , put in a 6' ceiling and use the upper area as storage.

lol that makes sense😆 We get about 1.6" of annual snowfall.