East Fork Free Doghouse (or Playhouse or Storage Shed) Plans (Kind of)...

Materials I Used

• Foundation – concrete piers on gravel
• Floor frame – oversized pallet
• Subfloor – plywood
• Sill plate (mud sills), studs, top plate- fir 2x4s
• Rafters – I used fir 2x6s because I had a ton available, but I think 2x4s would be sufficient
• Collar ties and ridge – fir 1×6 (I doubt collar ties are really necessary, I used them because I didn’t want a ceiling but still wanted to use the space under the rafters for storage if needed… considerations of an admitted wood hoarder whose stash gets out of hand from time to time)
• Sheathing – 7/16″ OSB
• Building wrap – Raindrop by GreenGuard
• Roof underlayment – #30 felt paper
• Siding – fiber cement lap siding and shakes (both are Certainteed products)
• Roofing – cedar shakes
• Insulation – mostly r-13 bat
• Interior and exterior trim – oak flooring
• Interior walls – wood paneling
• Flooring – tile on Hardie (for his dining area) and laminate on foam underlayment (for his bedroom)
• Fasteners – a boatload of 8(2-1/2″), 10(3″), and 16 penny (3-1/2″) nails for the framing; 2″, 12-1/2 gauge nails for the siding, 1-1/2″ (medium crown) staples for the cedar, and other odds and ends screws and finish nails throughout
• Other – 2′ vinyl window, old wood frame window, paint, rocks, 2×10 (steps), cast concrete birdbath (project for another day), flowers

Tools I used

• Safety glasses- honey is always nagging me about that one, so I’ll list first lest I forget
• Work gloves
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Hammer
• Utility knife
• Squares: T, roofers, speedy
• Levels: 4′, torpedo, string
• Drill
• Saws- I used a circular saw, miter saw, table saw, tile saw, and hand saw. Really, you could do it all with a circular saw or hand saw. If they’re available to you, the others just make it a little easier/quicker.
• Air compressor along with a pneumatic stapler, framing nailer, and finish nailers (I prefer to hand nail all framing, but for ease of installation of siding, shingles, and trim, you can’t beat pneumatic tools. They’re a luxury, but one I’m unashamed to indulge in. I’m guessing build time would have been 2x longer without)
• Shovel, rake, tamp (site prep)