Shed Construction Terms
When you lease or purchase a new or pre-owned storage shed, barn, garage, or carport from BackYard Storage, you can be assured that your outdoor storage building is made from high quality materials and built using made-in-the-USA construction methods.
Our salespeople love to talk about all the technical details of our sheds, so you never have to worry about asking too many questions. When you’re shopping around for a new shed, however, it helps to know a little bit upfront before heading to the dealership so that you know what to ask.
Here’s a quick overview of some common construction terms:
Runners
The foundation of every outdoor storage shed and garage is built on skids that help distribute the building’s weight across the entire floor. Made of treated wood, these beams are typically 4x4 or 4x6, and designed to be in touch with the ground (and moisture) for the life of your shed.
Floor Joists
The floor of your shed rests on treated two-by-fours called joists, typically spaced about 18 inches apart. The flooring itself consists of panels made of either treated plywood or one of several high-quality engineered wood products such as LP ProStruct® or AdvanTech.® Be sure to ask whether your flooring panels fit flush, or have a tongue-and-groove design that fits together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Tongue-and-groove floors provide added strength and close gaps to keep out air, moisture, and pests. For more details, read our previous article on flooring.
Wall Framing
The interior walls are framed with premium quality wood, and are built to be extremely durable to ensure that the load-bearing walls distribute the weight of the roof evenly to the shed floor.
Siding
The exterior walls of your shed come in a variety of materials, but are most often made of treated wood, vinyl, or metal.
- Wood siding can be painted or stained to your liking. Paint helps seal any gaps and seams to prevent termite damage and extends the life of the exterior, while stain brings out the beauty of the natural wood while protecting against the ravages of rain and sun exposure.
- Engineered wood siding—including products such as T1-11, LP SmartSide,® and DuraTemp®—are wood-based and designed to look just like plywood. Unlike natural wood, however, the quality of the siding is consistent and the products are often warrantied against rot, decay, and termites.
- Vinyl siding resembles wood siding, but is impervious to termites and water damage. It is also easy to replace small sections if the siding sustains physical damage. For more details, read our previous article on vinyl siding [LINK TO FEB, 2019 ARTICLE].
- Metal siding used to refer just to aluminum, but steel siding has emerged as a stronger alternative in recent years. Metal siding is relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble, and provides the best combination of strength, color, and style.
- Other siding options include shiplap, board and batten, cedar shake, HardiePlank/cement fiber siding, and synthetic log, but these are customized looks and not offered as standard materials.
Doors
Our sheds typically come with either double wooden doors or a large single door. The double doors are most popular, but the larger door is more secure and ideal for storing equipment like lawnmowers and tractors. For added style and utility, we also offer fiberglass and pre-hung doors—with or without windows—and roll-up garage-style doors as standard options.
Trusses
Your shed’s roof is supported by a strong framework of wooden trusses that hold everything up. Our trusses are engineered with metal plates that are stamped or stapled into the wood members to hold them tightly together.
Roof
Obviously, the roof of your shed provides shelter from rain and sun, and they come in two basic options: shingles or metal.
- Shingles are tried-and-true for providing an attractive and durable roof. They perform well against extreme weather conditions, and provide a multi-layer protection for your shed’s interior.
- Metal roofs require little to no maintenance and are extremely durable. In addition, the metal is designed to reflect the sun’s radiant heat to keep the interior cooler. You can even go a step further and add a radiant barrier on the inside of your roof to drastically reduce the inside temperature during the warmer months.
Be sure to ask BackYard Storage salesperson about the shed you want. They can tell you exactly what it’s made from and how it’s built.
Come by one of our convenient locations convenient locations to talk to us and see all the available shed sizes, styles, and options. You can even browse our online inventory, or talk to a financing expert before you buy. Whatever you’re searching for, BackYard Storage has the shed for you!