The old shed I built 10 years ago finally gave out last week

I built a little 8x10 garden shed back in 2014 using regular pine 2x4s and some leftover roofing from a neighbor. It held up pretty good until last month when I noticed the back corner was starting to sag. Sure enough, the bottom plate had rotted right through because I never put a proper moisture barrier under it. Last week during a big rainstorm, the whole side wall kind of buckled inward. My wife just shook her head and said 'told you so.' So now I'm tearing it down and starting fresh with treated lumber and real foundation blocks. Anyone else have an old project that came back to haunt you years later?

3 comments

3 Comments

garcia.cameron2d ago

Honestly, that "told you so" from the wife hits close to home. I did the same thing with a little lean-to I built off my garage back in 2012, skipped the moisture barrier, and two years later the whole bottom was mush. Tbh, you're doing the right thing tearing it down and starting fresh with treated lumber and real foundation blocks. That's the only way to go if you want it to last more than a few years. Ngl, sometimes you gotta learn the hard way, but at least next time you'll have a solid base that won't rot out on you.

morganl712d ago

Oh come on, @garcia.cameron, is a little moisture really that big of a deal? My grandpa built a shed on cinder blocks with zero planning back in the 80s and it's still standing. People act like wood is made of sugar these days.

morganl712d ago

My grandpa’s shed from the 80s probably wasn’t pine 2x4s sitting on dirt though. Treated lumber didn’t even exist back then like we have now but that stuff was cut from old growth timber. Way denser and way more rot resistant than the fast grown pine we get at the box stores today.