Working on a lead shed - floor support?

[cdngunner]

You can buy roof rated USB which is moisture resistant and will not swell.

OSB will swell a lot if exposed to moisture. If it's left exposed OSB should not be used. I would put tyvek underneath for a moisture barrier. Holds up better than plastic, but it does cost more money.

[dragon813gt]

You can buy roof rated USB which is moisture resistant and will not swell.

Damn, I need some of that so I can plug my iPhone charging cable into my roof :laugh:

[cdngunner]

Not compatible with iCrap



(Damn auto correct)

[Petrol & Powder]

The problem with USB is you always try to put in down the wrong way and then you have to flip it over

[RogerDat]

Yep getting all those concrete blocks level is a PITA. Now have 6 ft. of joists in and it seems solid, stacked 5 sheets of OSB and a bunch of 2 x 8's on the part that is done, nothing appeared to budge a bit.

Annoying as it is to have the USB plugs upside down and needing to be turned over, I'm sure not going to flip any OSB after I get it installed.

[Petrol & Powder]

You'll be fine. Good Luck.

[Bigslug]

Sounds like a job for concrete containing a tight rebar grid to me.

[SciFiJim]

I had a thought. Build a trap door in the floor of the shed and stack your lead ingots on the crushed limestone.

Put the trap door where you won't cover it with "stuff" and it will make a great root cellar for your ingots.

[RogerDat]

I had a thought. Build a trap door in the floor of the shed and stack your lead ingots on the crushed limestone.

Put the trap door where you won't cover it with "stuff" and it will make a great root cellar for your ingots.

Have been having a discussion on that very suggestion via PM. If I built a box between the joists, resting on the same kind of concrete blocks the rest of the shed is on it would be about 7 inches deep, 11 inches between joists, and say 17 inches long since my angle iron molds are 8 inches that would fit two ingots lengthwise. Couple of those works out to just shy of 1.5 cu/ft with lead at 708 lbs. per cubic ft. Hmmm.

Of course ingots would not fit as much in the space as a solid block but still two storage cellars could certainly handle a major amount of lead with no worries about the weight. Great place for long term storage of bulk stash. I think maybe I would be better off if I just let the box "float" maybe attach through a slot and not firmly attach to the joists. What do you think?

Just checked the garage and I have some 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch plywood I think I'm going to give this a shot. I don't need more than a couple hundred pounds of WW's and plain readily available, getting the garage stash down to specialty alloys and just a couple hundred pounds with the rest of the "staples" out in the "root cellar" would be a big win.

That is what is so great about this forum, lots of helpful people with good ideas. I'm totally stoked to implement this one.

[MaryB]

I built on undisturbed grass, well basically prairie. The top soil is so root packed that it can hold an amazing amount of weight. When dry a loaded cement truck doesn't leave ruts. I use railroad ties, they take a long time to rot and I will be gone before they are. Used PT ply for the floor, best decision I ever made because the snow blower goes in there, the lawnmower and wet grass... floor gets really wet at times. Gave it a coat of porch paint as more protection. Built it 20+ years ago and it is still solid and has not settled at all. It opens off my deck and if it moves I would see it as a level change with the deck that is sitting on posts 4 feet in the ground.

[Petrol & Powder]

Might be over thinking this a tad. 1500lbs, spread out over several joists on 12" centers with less than 5' spans, resting on concrete blocks......will probably be OK. Particularly if you span the load over multiple joists with a pallet.

[HATCH]

I got 5K lead put into 3 rubber maid tubs.
all three of them are in one spot and I had no issues on my concrete floor.

You don't need to pour a entire slab under your shed.
Just pour one under where you intend to put the concrete.

[RogerDat]

Once I had the floor partly in and realized that my weight did not budge it even when I bounced up and down I figured my feet spread my 220 lbs. out over less floor than a 5 gallon bucket and decided "sag" was probably not going to be an issue. Thanks for the suggestion of going 12 oc for the joists, think that did the trick.

Will have to wait and see about frost heave since the whole thing "floats". I will avoid putting all of the weight in one area until I see how level it is after the spring. Worst case next spring I'll dig post holes below frost line, jack it back to level, and pour footings or set posts in concrete. If I think I need to I might put a concrete pad such as Hatch suggests behind the shed with a storage box just for the lead.

Ended up dropping the idea of a trap door and cellar for lead, at least for now. I liked the idea but came down with a flu/sinus/head cold and was too sick to really work for three days, and only at about 1/2 speed for this weekend, running out of time before the weather gets bad so I decided the extra layout, framing of the trap door and such was a nice "extra" that I could skip. At least for now.

Plan on either taking the suggestion to making a small pallet (or two) or just laying some lumber flat and crosswise to floor joists to spread the lead weight out.

Did manage with the help of grandson to get 3 walls up, and the 4th wall framed over the weekend. Good kid, hard worker, and it is nice to pass on what I have learned about construction (modest though it may be) May have to take a day off of work to get at least some rafters framed so I can tarp over it before we get rain. Man I hate trying to cut rafters, I manage to make them eventually but usually have to muck around a whole bunch before I get one right that I can use as a template.

[Geezer in NH]

I vote for dirt floor it will hold any amount of lead you want. Trench and drain around the outer edges for water displacement.

[RogerDat]

Well Geezer at the old house I had a really large shed with just that arrangement, and maybe a couple of inches of crushed rock on the floor so I did not have to worry about muddy floor.

Started to shingle today so making progress. Hopefully finish it tomorrow. I have really enjoyed this project, my knees are shot, one shoulder is messed up, and I have a disk issue with L4 vertebrae so I don't do this stuff as much as I used to but my 17 year old grandson has been helping and it has been a special joy to share some time and knowledge. It was 30 degrees and breezy today and he shows up on time, works, doesn't quite, whine or get sloppy about his work. Like I said an enjoyable project.

He asked to come over next time I do a smelt, he may or may not ever get into it himself but he is one of those people that likes to find out about all sorts of things. Probably helps that grandma is a darn good cook.