Raising the Wood Shed …

About a year ago I noticed with much aghast the three wooden support beams which sit on 3 x 3 concrete pillars under the wood shed were suffering from creep (for the uneducated creep is ~ “The tendency of a solid material to move slowly or deform permanently under the influence of mechanical stresses”….. At that time thinking it would prevent further deformation, I locally jacked the shed up and carefully placed stacked blocks of wood under the worst deformed locations.

A few weeks after this a significant amount of weight was added when just over three cord of fire wood was moved into the shed, which is equivalent to volume made up from 12’ x 8’ x 4’.

During this past winter as the fire wood was steadily getting depleted, I noticed in some areas of the shed floor were no longer level. From under the shed, further inspection of the three creep affected wooden beams revealed the situation had dangerously deteriorated. The wooden support blocks which I inserted the year before, had with the weight of firewood sunk into the soft ground, creating enough clearance to allow the beams to deform further.

Uneven shed floor

Deformed rear beam

Deformed centre beam

Deformed centre beam

Deformed centre beam, ready to fail

A new and more aggressive approach was now urgently required. The options were 1) To completely dismantle the shed and replace the existing 3” x 3” with 6” x 6” wooden beams or 2) To jack the shed up and then temporarily support it while sliding in new stronger 6” x 6” wooden beams to fit under the existing 10’ beams. The resulting additional height to the shed for each option would be 3” and 6” respectively. The 6” extra height added by option 2 I considered to be far too much, while option 1) the dismantling the shed was certainly not favoured, far too big a job. I then thought why not stay with option 2, but instead of using 6” x 6” wooden beams try to procure 10’ lengths of steel square tubing.

After a prolonged search on inter-web (how did we manage before the web …?), I found a supplier in Dartmouth. I then got a quote for various sizes with delivery and finally decided upon 2½” x 2½” x 3/16” wall thickness ~ 24 hours after placing the order, the nearly 200lb bundle arrived in Pleasantville ~ a fantastic service and all for $248.

Today was jack the wood shed up day, with great help from Lunenburg County’s other Scotsman ~ Alan. Suitably attired in fashionable Green Wellies, armed with heavy jacks, wooden & concrete blocks and hopefully a well thought out plan, the project commenced ….

The stuff

Wullie the Wheel Barrow was also helping

The jacking up of the shed and installation of the temporary supports went very well. It was only after the square the tubes were slid into position that we discovered with much dismay that the jacking process had moved the shed about 2” forward and 4” to the right …!!! This had the result on one side of the shed only with the square tube beams not sitting perfectly on two of the existing concrete pillars. Regardless of how hard I belted the shed with a sledge hammer I could not in any way tempt it into moving any closer to its original position.

Temporary supports in place

Temporary supports in place

Temporary supports in place

Temporary supports in place

After much deliberation, some head scratching and surprisingly no hint of panic, it was unanimously decided to place new supports adjacent to the now almost redundant existing pillars. Fortunately with the weight of the loaded shed, there will be no issue with the new supports sinking into the ground, as they are sitting nicely on the poured concrete which holds the existing pillars in position.

New adjacent supports at the two rear positions

New adjacent supports at the two rear positions

Square tube in position with existing concrete pillars

Square tube in position with new adjacent pillar

Square tube in position with existing concrete pillar

Square tube in position with existing concrete pillar

Due to the extent of deformation with the existing wooden beams, currently they only contact the new square tube beams at their low points, I expect over time with the weight of the fire wood this situation will correct itself.

All issues (I hope) are now solved ……. by those two ~

....... with nice but dirty Green Wellies