Building a Firewood Shed to Store 3-4 Face Cords

Over the summer of 2018, I built this new firewood shed for a more convenient spot to access some of my wood during the coldest winter days. Inspired by many designs I saw online, this is my version of an 8'x4' firewood shed.
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[@oldguysrock2170]

Great looking wood shed. Has airflow from all sides and underneath. One of the best ones I have seen on KZbin.

[@williamcrawford4]

As a Chief Building Inspector, I can easily say well done.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you William

[@robertcurrie8909]

I used your design and the design of another as the base for of a shed I recently constructed. Helped me out with what I wanted. Thanks

[@gailsoor1015]

We built your shed last weekend on the Oregon coast lot we have. Took us three days, working only about 5 hours each day. The materials here in southern Oregon cost $414.43. It looks so good on our land and we love it! thanks for your help.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

That's awesome! I'd love to see pictures if you're willing to share? If so, you can email [e-mail]

[@drevil3456]

Awesome job....I was thinking something like this but couldnt picture it in my head....your video greatly helped fill in those gaps.....THANKYOU!!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks, glad my video was helpful!

[@SmooveBee1]

It is excellent, the aesthetics are very nice; I have been looking for a design like this with the details you have provided, for some time; my ideas always led me back to custom sawmill pieces for that aesthetic, and your unsanded pickets are exactly what your design needed. Great work!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks, I appreciate your comment. I'm glad the video was helpful!

[@angryburrito7411]

Fence pickets was a great idea, thanks

[@nyoing]

Excellent presentation. I really prefer your approach to one in which I have to watch somebody rip and cut boards for 20 minutes. The photos were great. And the storage shed looks like a winner

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you Jeffrey!

[@alort5358]

Thank you for posting this video of the wood shed, just move my rv to this park and needed all my wood store somewhere and this is perfect will post some pictures when is done thank you!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Great, thanks Al. I look forward to seeing them! Feel free to share them to the Great Lakes Prepping facebook page!

[@geraldb8856]

I think you did a great job. No disclaimer needed. I think I might begin after the hot summer weather is over. I like this design because it's simple and straightforward, no bs joinery and such. Good job

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Gerald. Yea it's still holding up great.

[@OurNewLand]

Looks great! We need to build two firewood sheds, and I am going to use some of your ideas. Thanks for posting!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Great, you're welcome!

[@SnowHarp]

That shed looks really good - nice job and thanks for sharing. I might give this a try myself.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks friend

[@BradyRay_333]

That's a nice looking shed.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks friend

[@johnmccormick9042]

This is exactly what I am looking for. It is practical and looks nice. Thanks for posting this.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks John, glad you like it!

[@bearsgarage272]

I really like this design. Simple and nice looking. I will probably make one 3 bays wide so i can stored at least 4 cords at any given time. Good job

[@sofouli]

interesting points ,if anyone else is searching for shed building plans try Letza Amazing Shed Lessons (just google it ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my m8 got amazing results with it.

[@drakeaschliman3173]

Just finished building using your video. Thanks!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Awesome, I'm glad my video was useful!

[@CraigArndt]

Nice shed. Like how you can move dry wood to one side, keeping green wood on one side.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you Craig

[@bl9531]

Great job - thx for posting - I like the idea of making this as a temporary structure - in a harsh Northern environment where I live I am going spend some time creating a more solid base - digging down a few inches and filling in with stone dust and gravel, then placing the the foundation stones on top

[@vv6292]

Good job on this man. Starting my wood shed this week

[@mercylopez5181]

Not certain about the points made but ,if anyone else wants to discover build your own wooden shed try Letza Amazing Shed Lessons ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my co-worker got amazing results with it.

[@independentnature295]

I like the 'L' corners. Maximizes the floor space vs. 4x4 posts.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks, yea I really liked that method when I saw someone else do a similar thing. Definitely makes it look cleaner and, like yous aid, maximize the floor space.

[@paulhease1007]

yeah maybe 2 by 6 a bit overkill for that roof. I will use 2x 4 L shapes

[@renovatingamidcenturyhome3181]

This is perfect, thanks for sharing!

[@epowerbyfrank8901]

Nice looking, I like it! Thanks for posting your work. I’m in, my next project!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Frank!

[@alexniakanirealestatebroke9988]

Good job man. Looks great 👍

[@danconnors8961]

I love the look of this. I am building one about eh same size and will copy as much as I can. Tks so much!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

You're welcome, Dan. My shed is still holding strong, though it could probably use a nice coat of Thompson's water seal or stain.

[@gregoutdoors7]

You did a good job friend, thanks for the ideas 👍🏻😎

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you!

[@dallashill23]

Thanks for posting this, I will build this exact thing

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks, glad you like it! I'm really happy with how it came out.

[@Alwayslivinggood]

Looks great brother

[@brianbaker359]

Excellent decision to build 2 bays for both safety and convenience of starting next year’s pile once the first bay is empty or near empty.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Brian. It's definitely come in handy.

[@RecieSaunders]

Thanks for the video. Followed your video. Used metal roof instead. Made a few mistake but love it now. Thanks

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Awesome! Would you be interested in sharing a photo of your project to the Great Lakes Prepping facebook page?

[@RecieSaunders]

Great Lakes Prepping yes how can I send them?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

@@RecieSaunders You may be able to go to the Great Lakes Prepping page and post directly to that page. If not, you can just tag Great Lakes Prepping in a regular post to your page. Or if you prefer, you could email to [e-mail]

[@dundeeecroc]

Nice work, should have had the opening of your new wood shed facing inside your back yard by opening the back yard fence adjacent to the house.

[@markgeorge9725]

nice looking shed, congratulations!

[@mykasiurka]

Just wonderful, been searching for "flat roof shed plans" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you heard people talk about - Jimily Heycarlett Guide - (do a search on google )? It is an awesome one of a kind product for building excellent sheds and mastering woodworking minus the headache. Ive heard some decent things about it and my cousin got great results with it.

[@justincapp9027]

Good job and tutorial .

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Justin

[@ph7346]

Thanks for the information

[@daveb235]

Great video, thanks for posting. Looking forward to tackling mine.

[@xawi117]

Winner of a video, I been tryin to find out about "do metal sheds need a base?" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Jimily Heycarlett Guide - (just google it )? It is a good one of a kind product for building excellent sheds and mastering woodworking without the hard work. Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my buddy got great results with it.

[@lisahartley4102]

Fantastic !

[@JJamJ]

Great build👍. Will build but will add hardcore then sand, spirit level and finally concrete the deck blocks in place.

[@PatrickGuerrisi]

Nice build. I did one recently out of spare wooden pallets. I am trying to find someone with unwanted wood varnish to protect it longer Even if you're does sync. It doesnt matter it just holding firewood

[@thatDIYlife]

great video, thanks

[@jamesoncross7494]

Looks great. All you need is a piece of gutter on the front to keep water off your head. :)

[@servihomestead4324]

It looks nice. Seems plenty strong enough.

[@survivaljulia9861]

I love this!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you Julia!

[@ChannelOne-1]

Very Nice! Only suggestion I would have to viewers is to caution against storing wood next to your house. Wood storage is notorious for attracting termites & carpenter ants, and with it being so close to your house you are at risk of those buggers making the short trip over to the house. I've built these a few times & they are always out a way from the house. Again, nice build.

[@christhompson1708]

Looks smashing that kid UK

[@JaneThorson-dm3ev]

I am trying to figure out how to make a pretty shed like this with solar panels on top.

[@KaylynnStrain]

looks great !!!!!!!!!!

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you Kaylynn!

[@chewbaka6394]

You should of put the slope on the roof the other way because when it rains you don’t get wet and also you have more head height apart from that nice job 👍

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

You may be right, but I wanted the water to run away from the house. I reckon if I have to retrieve wood while it's raining at some point, I'm going to get wet anyway.

[@chewbaka6394]

Haha 😂

[@roberta.k4213]

Ha ha!!!! I knew you were gonna say you hated roofing as soon as you mentioned it,,, we all hate roofing

[@joelgomez7368]

The weed control fabric and pea gravel was a good idea. How is this rack holding up?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Joel. The shed is still holding up great. I do get some weeds popping up around the edges, but nothing the weed-whacker can't hit.

[@CHARISSAJACOBSON]

This is exactly what I hoped to find. Does the rain drip in on your firewood? I've only ever seen it slanted back. Ours will be next to the house too.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I've never had any issue with rain dripping on the wood. The roof overhangs covers enough that it just drips to the ground. This could certainly be made to slant back instead of forward, but I haven't really observed any downsides with the way I did it.

[@theoracle2877]

That won’t move anywhere... it’s over supported if anything .👍🏻

[@catherinerivera6646]

There are a few tips for building sheds Start With a Sound Foundation a shed wont last long if it's set on a weak base Allow for Air Circulation to prevent damp Build a Weather-Resistant Floor Frame Use Low Maintenance Materials so you won't have to keep re-painting it (Reference: Adota Blueprint Pack website )

[@rlowe511]

Can you share the material list you used? I want to build this exact woodshed next weekend.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I'm afraid I don't have an exact list. It's been a long time since I built this and I don't think I have any of my specs or plans anymore. This design is pretty adaptable to the size you want, though. I built it with the standard lumber lengths in mind (8 foot long). If you base all your measurements on a footprint of 8ft x 4ft for the floor, you should be able to figure the rest out fairly easily.

[@daddarrian3227]

Roof should flow rain away from entrance, other than that good looking shed

[@clarkkent4991]

I like it...I like it a lot. 😆

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Clark, it's served me well!

[@mrnoodle43]

Ouch. Cut the nail ends off under the roof. I’d hate to have one stick in ones head while reaching inside for wood. Good job tho. Happy building and be safe

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Yea those still bug me. I haven't ever gotten poked by one while retrieving wood, but still.

[@kyle2kmaxima]

does the sides let rain in at all? wouldn't that wet the wood?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Not really. If rain is blowing sideways, any open shed is gonna allow some water in. Getting a little damp every once in awhile won't hurt the firewood. But really, it stays bone dry 99% of the time.

[@frederickbibeau2730]

Very Nice, I will build one the next week-end! What are the heights of the back and front wall (so the slope of the roof )?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Frederick. If I recall correctly, the back posts are 6ft tall and the front posts are 5ft tall.

[@DaTruth3454]

Love this wood shed. Simple and breathable, I love it. What size screws did you use for the post, 3” or 4” ?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thanks Daniel. If I remember correctly, I think I used a lot of 3.5" and 4" screws for this project. To attach the posts to the frame/floor, I also used some bigger lag bolts.

[@DaTruth3454]

@@GreatLakesPrepping appreciate it, thank you

[@carolsydney6905]

I live in Montana and have never heard of something called a face cord. In our wood stove we burn 5 cords a winter unless it's really cold. Our winter lasts 6 months-we're up by the Canadian border at 4K ft. I burn wood every month except for 6 weeks in July/August. So, is a face cord a lot bigger than a cord? Thanks

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Hi Carol, a face cord is smaller. It's sort of like if you had a cord, and just took the first "row" of wood. It's about 1/3 of a full cord.

[@carolsydney6905]

@@GreatLakesPrepping Thanks. Perfecting explanation. I guess when I buy my cords I'll stick to the largest amount I can get. At 20 or 30 below it goes fast. Be warm. :-)

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

@@carolsydney6905 Yes, you surely need to stock up a bit! Thanks Carol.

[@mikkelandreasen9152]

Shed still strong in foundation? :-)

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Have had no problems so far! No sinking, shifting, leaning, or anything else.

[@mikkelandreasen9152]

@@GreatLakesPrepping Nice! Thanks for the response :-)

[@duncanvincent9106]

Curious,....did you consider pitching the roof slope to the back so you don’t get dripped on?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Not really, I guess for 2 reasons. One, I'd rather have the water run further away from the house. And two, I like the way this looks better. Hasn't been a problem so far though. If I'm out there in the rain, I'll be wet anyhow.

[@jesushatesyoutoo]

I agree with you Ducan, plus the majority of the of the photos he showed up of other shed had the rood slopping back. Structurally, I found a lot of things wrong with the build. No lag screws were used, no joist hangers, his corner posts should have been 4x4 running from the foundation blocks and the deck framed to them. That wood is heavier than it looks. It looks nice now but it won't last too many seasons.

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

@@jesushatesyoutoo Thanks for the feedback, Jesus. I'll have to do a follow-up video in a few years to show how it's holding up.

[@nikprenga2796]

What's the reason for sloping the roof on the front and not sloping to the rear as I've noticed on all the video projects...just thinking it will be less wet at the front to pick up the logs

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Others have asked this as well. You're right, most similar sheds seem to slope back. I think mine was partially oversight. When I drew up the plans for it, I just made it this way mostly without thinking about which way it sloped. But I ended up glad I did it that way. Since this shed is pretty close to my house, I'd rather the water run a bit further away from it. And it generally isn't raining when I go out there to get wood. If it was, I'd be wet anyway!

[@veritassoundsculpture]

About How tall is the back end of this one and front? Thanks! I like this way the best and look forward to building my own

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I think the front posts are 6' and the back posts are 7'. I can't remember 100% for sure, but I do recall that there is a 1-foot difference in height between front and back. You can go however tall you want, overall. I made it tall enough for me to stand in (which I really only did during construction).

[@veritassoundsculpture]

@@GreatLakesPrepping Thank you for the quick reply and for posting this.

[@michiganron]

Looks nice. What is the height, front and back?

[@tanelmottus2246]

I dont know about the snow load in your region, but if snows a lot those corner posts rely only on some screws?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

The posts are attached to the floor frame with 5/16" X 4" lag bolts, as well as several deck screws. I'm certain the posts would rot away before those bolts would fail.

[@adamtki]

Did you have to remove the entire structure to lay down the landscape fabric and gravel since it was done after most of the structure was built?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

No, I only put the fabric down around the outside. I'd already filled the area beneath with gravel, and I didn't think of doing the fabric until it was too late. I'm hoping that the gravel and lack of sunlight/rain from the structure will keep weeds from growing under there. Time will tell, but so far so good and weed season has arrived.

[@webguyz1]

Its not 3-4 cords: Since 1 cord = 128 cubit feet. Your shed is 8x4x?. Assume 6 feet high and its 192 cubic feet, which is 1.5 cords

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I said 3-4 *face* cords. A cord is roughly equal to 3 face cords.

[@MrGamer-lz6ci]

Hey how much did this cost

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I bought the materials over a few months, and I didn't keep great track of the grand total. I think it was probably in the neighborhood of $700.

[@jungletearaway]

Well done mate . It looks great. Did you just rest the base on the blocks or is it fastened in any way?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Thank you. It's not fastened to the blocks, but there are short vertical 4x4 posts that sort of nestle into an indentation in the blocks (made specifically for 4x4 posts). The horizontal structure of the shed is not actually touching the blocks.

[@Ana_crusis]

what's a face cord?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

A face cord is an informal measurement for stacked firewood, sometimes called a rick. It's generally accepted to equal about 1/3 of a cord.

[@Ana_crusis]

@@GreatLakesPrepping thanks but. i didn't even know what a cord is 😄 . I do now cos i googled it but it's not a thing we use in England. I buy firewood by the cubic metre. Like 2m³

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

@@Ana_crusis Ah, gotcha. Well you know how we like to measure everything the difficult way over here!

[@coachkohn]

Looks awesome and I'm sure it will last a LONG time. I was curious though, why didn't you just go with 6' tall 4x4s for the posts?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I used the L-shaped configuration for my posts so I could neatly attach the horizontal slats in a way that would look really clean from the outside. It was a design choice mostly.

[@coachkohn]

@@GreatLakesPrepping Thanks! It certainly did come out clean indeed! We have two sheds and stack any extra wood in "beehive" shapes. I wanted to send you a photo, but couldn't figure out how!!!

[@Alperman]

A video that is nice, useful and asking for skill. I also wait for my channel.

[@adventurerhoades]

#1.47K here new here let's go n grow our channels! Kalkaska mi here our channel is mainly outdoors and travel. Awesome shed. We are loving the fall dont mind the winter but in no hurry for it :) great video we burn our share of wood!

[@Slatari]

Good design, now just multiply it by 8 to get a shed that holds a decent amount of wood. "Face cord" is only 1/4 of a full Cord.

[@johnreynolds614]

Actually three face cords equals a full cord

[@sunshineterimoon7685]

3 face cords make a cord is what I was told

[@brianbaker359]

Obviously it depends on the length of the pieces, 12” would give 4 face cords and 16” length pieces equals 3 face cords.

[@hijrahsociety]

What's the name of that software?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

I use Adobe Illustrator. It's a vector artwork software. It's really not meant to be used in the way that I use it, and it's probably way more difficult than a proper program for this purpose. It just happens to be a software that I'm very experienced with.

[@hijrahsociety]

@@GreatLakesPrepping Thank you!

[@justintomko6075]

do you have the material list you used by chance?

[@GreatLakesPrepping]

Sorry, I don't. I had it all scrawled out on a piece of paper when I was buying the stuff, but I'm sure I don't have it anymore.

[@angiekrajewski6419]

Good beginning…..but if you need some more wood". And if there will be no more to buy…would be a good idea…to build another shed…

[@TheTed169]

nice job, looks like mine. check out my channel. tfs!