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Learn all about how to build a floor for a shed properly in this step-by-step guide that will take you from a beginner shed builder to a pro shed builder in no time flat.

Building a high-quality shed outside your home can provide you with a lot of much-needed additional space.

At some point, you need extra space to store and organize things you don’t use daily so you can declutter your home.

No matter what your personal needs are any homeowner can benefit in one way or another from having a shed somewhere outside their homes.

Having a shed can also help you eliminate the clutter around your house and maximize the overall safety of your home.

A Shed is an ideal place to house potentially dangerous belongings and stuff you just do not want in your home or garage.

You can find many ideas on how to build a shed based on your space availability and your personal needs.

Regardless of the shed idea you opt for, your shed needs a solid shed floor where it can ultimately stand.

Building a DIY shed floor is not as difficult as people think.

Building a shed for your storage needs can be a lot easier than you may think if you are a DIY-type person.

Even if you’ve never built anything, you can build a backyard shed or a storage shed by simply following the easy-to-follow directions below.

If you’re interested in a step-by-step guide on how to build a floor for a shed, this article was made exclusively for you.

Our article will cover every aspect of shed building and many additional tips to help you build a strong and beautiful shed on your own that will last you and your family a lifetime.

Let’s dive in and explore how to build a shed floor for you D.I.Y handymen out there reading this article.

How To Build A Floor For A Shed? Let’s Dive in!

Types of Shed Foundations/Flooring

Before you start reading the ultimate guide on how to build a shed floor, we would like to explore the different types of shed flooring (shed foundations) you can choose. Your shed needs a solid foundation to maximize its overall sturdiness once it is built.

Type Of Foundation: A shed foundation has 2 types, permanent shed foundations, and on-grade shed foundations.

Permanent Shed Foundation

A permanent foundation for a shed is usually a concrete pad or a concrete slab that can’t be dismantled easily.

It costs more but it can also support more weight than the on-ground type shed floors.

A permanent shed foundation involves digging and concrete pouring, making it more stable and robust.

This kind of foundation has the following options.

• Concrete Slab Foundations are a good foundation that is most common
• Treated Wood Frame On Concrete Piers

On-Grade Shed Foundation

An on-grade shed foundation is usually made from concrete blocks, treated wood frames, or gravel.

This shed foundation is easy to dismantle when moving the shed from one place to another.

This kind of foundation is cost-effective but supports small and medium-sized sheds.

It does not require any concrete pouring or hole-digging to complete. On-grade shed foundations have the following options;

• Concrete Slab Foundation Or Paver Foundation
• Treated Wood Frame Filled With Gravel
• Treated Wood Frame on Concrete Blocks
• Treated Wood Frame on Deck Blocks

Regardless of the shed foundation you choose, it would be best if you make it stable so you can open and close windows and doors properly and save the shed from getting all lopsided looking.

Why Does Your Shed Need A Stable Floor-A Brief Overview?

When learning how to build a shed floor you may have certain questions that you need to be answered about building a shed floor.

Let us clear all your doubts and questions that you may have. Your shed can reside on the ground, but what if it rains?

It will create dampness and moisture in your shed, which will cause the shed to rot.

If you construct a shed on the ground, it may not give a uniform floor, causing the shed’s doors to stick and affecting your primary reason for having a shed in the first place.

Building a floor for your shed will lift the shed from the ground and offer an overall stable base.

It will also keep the belongings that you put inside your shed safe for many years to come.

A Step-By-Step Guide On How To Build A Floor For A Shed

Your backyard shed needs a strong and well-built level surface to prevent the wood from rotting due to soil moisture.

A shed floor plays an important role in the overall stability of the shed.

If the floor of your shed is not firm and accurately leveled, it can cause the doors and windows to stick and the wall boards to fall into their grooves.

If you want to build the floor of your new shed by yourself, our step-by-step shed floor construction will help you to complete this task more easily.

Building a sturdy shed floor involves the following steps;

Step 1: Get A Building Permit If Necessary

Before constructing your own backyard shed, you may need to get a building permit based on the local building codes of your area.

Call your local building inspector’s office to obtain a building permit and ask about the requirements to proceed.

Make sure that you get a building permit before building your own shed if you need it.

If you construct a backyard shed without a building permit, you may get fined or even have to tear down the entire shed if your local city, town, or state requires you to have a building permit before building a shed on your property.

Step -2: Source The Tools & Materials

Constructing your shed floor does not require expensive or advanced specialty-type tools.

It would be best if you get together the following tools and power tools before building a shed floor;

• Pressure Treated Plumber 2 x 6
• Pressure Treated Polywood of ¾ inches
• 2’’ Wood Screws for Polywood
• Fasteners or cable tie-downs
• Joist Hangers
• Speed Square
• Circular Saw
• Level
• Palm Nailer
• Tape Measure
• Nail Gun
• Chalk Line
• Wood Screws

Step 3: Level the Ground (if Necessary) and Lay Out Deck Blocks

Level the surface where you want to construct the floor of your shed and install deck blocks with a grid to support the shed.

Deck blocks are preferred over concrete slabs because they are cheap and user-friendly.

Your shed floor can easily sit on deck blocks instead of concrete slabs.

If you’re building a shed floor for the first time, installing deck blocks can give you several advantages.

They are ideal for constructing the floor of a medium or small-sized shed.

You need to place the deck blocks and level the surface around them. Be sure to place them 4 to 6 feet apart to ensure stability in the middle and on the ends.

To level, the area around deck blocks, take the 2 x6 and lay them on the grooves between blocks.

To support the frame of your floor, you need to tamp down the ground without nailing anything yet.

Step-4: Build The Sheds Outer Frame

Build an outer frame to begin. Some say it is better to build an outer frame for your shed with 2 * 4 pressure-treated lumber.

But using 2 x 6 pressure-treated lumber can make a big difference, especially if you want to store heavier items inside your shed.

Before building the outer frame, you need the dimensions of your shed: measure and double-check the dimensions of your shed to avoid any costly mistakes.

Measure all sides of your shed floor and then cut the lumber accordingly.

It would be better to use a speed square to mark the cuts as guidance for the circular saw.

After cutting the wood, don’t forget to seal the grain cuts with a wood preservative.

Once you’re done cutting the wood, nail the frames together with framing nails.

This process requires three framing nails of 3-inch 16d to join the board, one on the top, one on the bottom, and one in the middle of the board.

These four planks should form a box after the nailing.

Step 5: Get An Exact Square Floor

The outer frame you’ve built in the previous step should be an exact square.

This is the main step in constructing a shed floor to make it more stable and sturdy.

Checking if the frame is an exact square is quite straightforward.

Take a tape measure and gauge the length of the floor diagonally from one corner to the other.

The measurement from each diagonal should be equal. If not, adjust the deck block to get the same measurements.

Usually, you need to repeat the process, again and again, to get accurate measurements because you’re using lumber that can be apart by just a quarter of an inch.

Step-6: Attach the Joists

• It would be better to attach rim joists first along the outer edge of the support beam.
• The square box you built in the previous step will help you cut rim joists at the same length.
• Install floor joists of equal length so they can fit well between the rim joists.
• Make sure your floor joists sit 12 to 16 inches in the center.
• Measure the 12-inch increment along the length of the square frame while ensuring that measurements should be the same on both sides.
• To easily hang the joists, mark the center where they can attach to the wooden frame.
• Attach the floor joists and hangers with the help of nails and a hammer.
• Install a support beam in the middle running opposite to the hanging joists if you’re building a floor for a large-sized shed.
• Once the floor joists hang, install a piece of blocking (cut and insert the 1 x 6 blocks at a distance of 4-8 feet) between each pair of floor joists to save them from twisting and support the edge of your plywood flooring.

At this point, you should have a solid shed floor ready.

Step-7: Lay the Polywood-The Final Step

If your shed floor is larger than 4′ x 8′, it is better to offset the seams on the Plywood to make it give more stability to your shed floor.

Before starting screwing, make the Plywood cut and lay it on the square frame, ensuring that it is placed accurately.

It is better to cut the Plywood in the square as it will help ensure that your frame is an exact square.

Before laying the Plywood on the frame, snap a line to determine where the floor joists lie.

It will help to screw the Plywood effectively without missing the joist center.

You can use wood screws to lay the Plywood on the frame as they;

• Will not create bumps on the floor
• Can make the floor secure and can’t come out from the wooden surface

You need to be very careful when laying the Plywood on the frame.

Ensure placing screws at least 8 inches apart to give your shed floor a stable performance and uniform look.

You need to put two screws on each plywood piece if they start overlapping with each other.

It will help to prevent lifting and pushing against two plywood pieces.

Now finally, your shed floor is finished and ready. It is up to you whether you want to stain or treat the floor with some sealer or leave it as it is.

Go ahead and install a ready-made shed on your shed floor or construct a DIY shed.

Tips To Build A Stable And Strong Floor For Your Shed

A proper shed floor saves the integrity of your backyard shed.

If your shed’s foundation is not strong, it will expose the floor to moisture, causing mold and mildew issues.

Constructing a DIY shed floor is not complicated, but you need proper guidance to perform the work efficiently and effectively.

To save you from repeating the how to build a floor for your shed procedure several times, we compiled a list of a few tips that will let you build a stable and strong shed floor for your shed to last longer.

• Verify the building codes in your area, the material you will use, and shed size restrictions.
• Choose an appropriate location to construct the shed floor.
• Select from an on-grade or permanent shed foundation.
• Use excellent quality materials to construct the floor of your shed.
• Level the ground with the help of level strings to give your shed floor a stable and uniform look.

How To Build A Floor for My Shed My Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Whether you are building a large shed, a small shed, a garden shed, or even a storage shed.

These tips on how to build a shed floor will help you get started and make the overall shed-building process a whole lot easier on you.

Building a DIY shed floor is not as complicated as you think.

It is a quite straightforward procedure if you are good at following directions and understanding the shed-building process.

Make sure you take proper measurements to make your DIY shed floor more stable and longer-lasting.

We hope the tips mentioned above inside this step-by-step guide for how to build a floor for your shed will help you construct a sturdy DIY shed floor that will last you a lifetime.

Now, that you learned how to build a shed floor do not forget to check out the huge collection of 12,000 shed plans on the link below so you can build the perfect head-turning shed that will last you a lifetime!