Things You'll Need
- 2 by 4s
- 4 by 4s
- Circular saw
- Saw horses
- Safety glasses
- Exterior grade plywood (1/2 inch)
- Hammer
- Galvanized framing nails
- Galvanized box nails (#6)
- Galvanized corrugated roofing
- Roofing nails with rubber washers
- Tape measure
- Two large eye hooks
Instructions
How to Build a Goat House With Wood Skids
Build the runners for the shed. They can be made from two 4 by 4s that are 12 feet in length. The ends (both front and back ) need to be cut and shaped to act as sled runners. Lay the two timbers on a pair of saw horses and draw a slow curved line at each run that resembles the curve of a sled runner. Go ahead and cut that shape out with a bow saw and now you have your two runners. If the cut is too rough use a wood rasp to smooth it down.
Build the floor with 2 X 4's and some 5/8 inch exterior grade plywood.
Attach the frame to the two 4 by 4 runners using more framing nails. The frame should be located a foot back from the front of the runners and have a foot overhang on each side. Next, add your plywood. Use # 6 or #8 galvanized box to nail the floor down.
Build the back wall with 2 by 4s placed 2 feet apart and be sure to include a bottom and back plate. Place the upright studs 24 inches on cente,r and once the wall is built, put it in place and go ahead and nail the bottom plate to the floor. The back wall should be even with the outside edge.
Build the two side walls in the same manner as the back wall. Remember these two walls will be 3 ½ inches shorter than the overall width. That means a measurement of 7 feet 8½ inches for the top and bottom wall. After the two walls are built, nail the bottom plate to the floor frame (the plywood is not part of the frame). Then nail the corners tight on both sides with framing nails. Now your shed is starting to solidify and take shape.
Build the front wall. This will be a fill-in wall that will be slightly higher than the other three walls so that the roof will have some pitch. Begin the front wall by nailing a 10-foot 2 by 4 to the top of the two sides. Now, the outline of your goat house is defined, but first you need to add some height to the front wall. Do this by cutting four 2 by 4 blocks and nailing them flat to the top side of the ten-foot board that you just installed across the front. Then cut another 10-foot piece and nail that on top of the blocks.
Decide on the width of your doorway (6 feet sounds good) and cut two bottom plates and a wall stud to define the opening. Next cut a single 2 by 4 to use as the top of opening. Nail this board between your two vertical studs and now your opening is defined. Add one 2 by 4 to each vertical stud at the edge of the doorway to form a double post and then add cripples (short pieces of 2 by 4 that run from the top of the door opening to the top of the wall). Install one of these every 2 feet. Nail every thing tight.
Build the roof frame with 2 by 4s. The frame will be slightly larger than the building to provide some extra weather protection. Build the frame at a width of 10 feet 6 inches and a length of 8 feet 6 inches. Nail together in the same way as the walls with the 2 by 4 studs crossing the shorter distance. This means that they will be cut at 8 feet 3 inches.
Nail the roof frame to the front and back plates. Toenail each framing member to the plate using four framing nails per stud. The frame should over hang the structure by 3 inches on all four sides.
Install galvanized corrugated sheets of metal roofing to the roof frame. Purchase sheets that are 9 feet long and leave an overhang of 3 inches at the front and back of each sheet. Also leave a small overhang on both sides of the building. Overlap all sheets of roofing and nail them to the 2 by 4 roof rafters with specialized galvanized nails with rubber washers.
Cover the outside of the building with exterior grade plywood. Nail the plywood with #6 galvanized box nails.
Cover the plywood with Tyvek. This is a plastic material that gets stapled to the plywood. Then run some vertical furring strips.
Cover the bottom two feet of the interior with plywood or cheap planking.
Add carpet and straw to the floor. Used old carpet or scrap pieces.
Add one large metal eye hook to the front of each runner.
First choose the dimension of the floor. An overall dimension of 8 feet by 10 feet sounds good. So we will do that. Build the frame for the floor separately and attach it to the two runners after the floor is complete. The runners with be six feet apart and the 8-foot dimension will run perpendicular to the runners.
This means your floor joists ( 2 by 4s in actuality ) will be 8 feet long minus three inches for the frame. So go ahead and make your 8 by 10 frame, and then cut then cut four pieces at 7 feet 9 inches and nail these into the frame at two-foot intervals. Usegalvanized framing nails to put the frame together. and then add your plywood. Use a #6 or #8 galvanized box to nail the floor.