As a place to store items that really do not need to make their way into the house, an outdoor storage closet is an add-on solution that can look as if it's always been present. This is a one- to two-weekend project that yields immediate results--open the door, put your tools in and close it. Does this Spark an idea?
Getting Started
The first item to purchase is an exterior door. While its purchase doesn't have to be the first step, the door will certainly add a touch of excitement to what to expect once the project is complete. Select a 32- to 36-inch door that coordinates well with the exterior of your home, and for convenience, choose a pre-hung door with its frame.
To construct the frame of your outdoor storage closet, measure the desired width and length of your closet space. Galvanized steel tracking for 2-inch-by-4-inch wood studs is needed for the project, as are 2-inch-by-4-inch pressure-treated wood studs, bolts to screw the tracking to the ground and to the house, and exterior wood screws to screw the wood studs together.
Lay out the tracking on the ground to delineate the closet space, leaving a gap for the door frame and using the width of the complete door kit. The corners need to be square and the sides even with each other. Given that plywood comes in 4-foot-by-8-foot sheets, it's good to make your wall lengths multiples of these measurements, positioning the wood studs to be where two sheets of plywood would meet. This makes it easier to screw all plywood edges directly into a wood stud. Wood studs should be spaced 12 inches apart.
Constructing the Closet
A level can be used to line up the first stud on each side against the house. The stud is bolted to the house along its length, and then another stud is screwed or nailed to the first stud to reinforce those corners. The studs should be evenly spaced and attached to the bottom tracking and to the horizontal 2-inch-by-4-inch lumber at the top, until reaching the corner. Three or four studs, placed back-to-back and screwed or nailed together, make a very strong corner. Studs complete the closet framing.
The top of the closet must have a pitch so that rainwater easily drains off the top. The highest point of the storage can be 8 feet--within the measurement of the plywood and studs--or higher if more headroom is needed, which adds an additional right-triangle shape frame to the top of the two sidewalls extending out from the house. Either way, the wood studs are installed into the tracking and attached to a horizontal 2-inch-by-4-inch piece across the top. Then the triangular frame is added to the top of the side walls, pitching away from the house.
A piece of 2-inch-by-4-inch wood is used to attach the highest corners of the triangular frames to each other and to the house. Bolts secure it to the house along its horizontal length and to the side frames. A few more pieces of 2-inch-by-4-inch lumber connect the side top frames together along their length, making a good foundation for the roof's plywood base.
Finishing
At least 1-inch thick exterior plywood works well to enclose the outside walls. It is screwed into the wood studs using exterior screws. Waterproof caulking seals the gaps along the seams, the bottom, the top and between the closet and the house. Roofing material goes onto the plywood base. The sides are finished with the same materials used on the house's exterior or with a finish that blends well with the house. Exterior, waterproof caulk is applied around the door opening, and the door frame is inserted and secured in place. Locks and a door handle complete your do-it-yourself storage closet.
Tags: wood studs, storage closet, 2-inch-by-4-inch lumber, 2-inch-by-4-inch wood, closet space, door frame, each other