Random “He Shed” Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter IndyWS6
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No, but it would be nice to have a sink. I’ll be 20 feet from the main house, so, a “wet bar” situation would be convenient, albeit, not required…
If you are going to have a cold water tap out there for a sink, the cost to put in a phone booth size 'bathroom' with just enough room for a toilet and sink is totally worth it. Then a small counter-top in the main area with a smaller size 'kitchen' style sink to at least make coffee and rinse off glassware. Add a dorm-size beverage fridge and now you have caffeine when you need it, a place to mix drinks, and a proper pisser. That's a small amt of extra money you will never regret spending. Doesn't need to be super fancy, but once you are out there with the contractor the added cost doesn't break the budget and makes the space so functional once you are done.
 
TLDR version. We have two houses, we’ve decided to make her house our “forever home”. I’ll need to give up some things, I’m OK with that, but I’ll need to have a “He Shed” built to host my guitar rigs and A/V setup (it’s fucking killer 😉). I’m guessing it needs to be about 20 x 12, give or take. It will obviously need HVAC, electric and water.. I’ll likely have a concrete pad poured prior. Where do I look for something like that? Is there a “standard” built option? Is this a “custom build” scenario?
I have a 20X12 “shed” serving as my shop out back on stilts. I believe it was originally a “ Cooks portable warehouse”.
IMG_0785.jpeg
I spent more getting it up on 3’ piers than I spent on the shed. It took 3 guys and a very large flatbed wrecker with 3 winches and a can of grease for my beams. I have an electric sub panel ( the buried conduit can be seen coming up the front pier) so I have 220.
 
I spent more getting it up on 3’ piers than I spent on the shed.
Judging by the height of that water that was money damn well spent.

I also raised mine up a few feet just to keep it out the mud and to enhance the view. The 6x6's were running about $50 each! My long game was turning it into a guest cabin or mother in law suite. I spent a few extra bucks adding 36x48 windows for that purpose. I'll toss some pictures up later.
 
Judging by the height of that water that was money damn well spent.

I also raised mine up a few feet just to keep it out the mud and to enhance the view. The 6x6's were running about $50 each! My long game was turning it into a guest cabin or mother in law suite. I spent a few extra bucks adding 36x48 windows for that purpose. I'll toss some pictures up later.
I heavily modified mine. Obviously there was no siding on it. Also the doors were on the gable end so I moved those. I repaired one of the 4 runners under it. When I poured the piers (87 80lb bags of concrete, hand mixed and reinforced with steel, dug 48” deep and belled at the bottom like an elephant foot) and built the 3 beams to set on them I made the 2x10s a little longer so I could build a small deck on front. The shed was a little fucked up when I bought it for $800, but it’s all 16” on center stud walls so easily repaired and modified. I paid $1000 to have it moved here and winched on to my beams.

And yes sir, if the 1000 year flood comes early all my important shit will go in that building.
 
I heavily modified mine. Obviously there was no siding on it. Also the doors were on the gable end so I moved those. I repaired one of the 4 runners under it. When I poured the piers (87 80lb bags of concrete, hand mixed and reinforced with steel, dug 48” deep and belled at the bottom like an elephant foot) and built the 3 beams to set on them I made the 2x10s a little longer so I could build a small deck on front. The shed was a little fucked up when I bought it for $800, but it’s all 16” on center stud walls so easily repaired and modified. I paid $1000 to have it moved here and winched on to my beams.

And yes sir, if the 1000 year flood comes early all my important shit will go in that building.
Yeah looks stout. Def more stout than mine. I just notched 6x6's and used 2x6's 16" on center for the floor but I have supports every 4 feet. I really liked how you made the 2x10s longer for porch...I should've thought to do that but I was trying to get storage asap cause I was sick of sleeping by saws and stuff, lol. I gotta build a largish deck anyways so I can roll bikes and mowers up in there with ease...hope to make the whole house-shed-garden-clothesline walkable shoeless.
 
Yeah looks stout. Def more stout than mine. I just notched 6x6's and used 2x6's 16" on center for the floor but I have supports every 4 feet. I really liked how you made the 2x10s longer for porch...I should've thought to do that but I was trying to get storage asap cause I was sick of sleeping by saws and stuff, lol. I gotta build a largish deck anyways so I can roll bikes and mowers up in there with ease...hope to make the whole house-shed-garden-clothesline walkable shoeless.
I got faith in you bro. I've seen your work.
 
Update - if anyone is interested...

What I need/want, is to have space to move my A/V room, mostly intact (it's pretty killer), and office, which is also my music "studio", to a single room at her house. I had the tape measure out yesterday and I think I can do it, barring any "setback" or BS city property ordinances. Her garage is twice as deep as a normal garage. The front half (where we park) is standard: 16' door, ~2' additional width on both sides for a total of ~20". The back half is 15' wide and 15' deep (it narrows on the right side, which gives me a perfect spot on the outside to park a whole-house generator - it will be hidden from the street). I'll use that area for my "garage workshop". I'll need to replace the current mini barn with a larger one to move the things that are currently stored in that space. I estimated I needed a 20' x 15' space to combine the assets, so the width is perfect. I just need to blow the back out 20'. The structure and roof line should allow that. I'll need to pare down to just a single half-stack tube rig and the digital rig for that space, but I had already planned to do that. The beauty, if I can pull it together, is that we own both homes and there is no rush. We can do it with cash, at our pace, and then just replenish the savings account when I sell my place. Ideally, banking some $$$ and coming out ahead.

In my head, this works. Reality tends to bite you in the ass. We'll see :)
 
Update - if anyone is interested...

What I need/want, is to have space to move my A/V room, mostly intact (it's pretty killer), and office, which is also my music "studio", to a single room at her house. I had the tape measure out yesterday and I think I can do it, barring any "setback" or BS city property ordinances. Her garage is twice as deep as a normal garage. The front half (where we park) is standard: 16' door, ~2' additional width on both sides for a total of ~20". The back half is 15' wide and 15' deep (it narrows on the right side, which gives me a perfect spot on the outside to park a whole-house generator - it will be hidden from the street). I'll use that area for my "garage workshop". I'll need to replace the current mini barn with a larger one to move the things that are currently stored in that space. I estimated I needed a 20' x 15' space to combine the assets, so the width is perfect. I just need to blow the back out 20'. The structure and roof line should allow that. I'll need to pare down to just a single half-stack tube rig and the digital rig for that space, but I had already planned to do that. The beauty, if I can pull it together, is that we own both homes and there is no rush. We can do it with cash, at our pace, and then just replenish the savings account when I sell my place. Ideally, banking some $$$ and coming out ahead.

In my head, this works. Reality tends to bite you in the ass. We'll see :)

Sounds like a lot of work, but also sounds like it will be totally worth it once complete.

It's good y'all own everything outright and can pay for upgrades in cash. That's similar to where I'm at too. We don't have 2 homes, but already have cash on hand for my current garage refinish. Any further home upgrades we'll save up at our own pace, no loans necessary. Since we don't have anything else big; at least nothing in the next 5 years, we've been putting the "house savings" into the market so it can grow.
 
Yeah, don't get me wrong I feel fortunate, but I'm also hedging. I'd like to get to FRA (2 years and 7 months - do the math...), but my job has changed (it sucks now) and so has management (it was once great, now it's worse than the job). Not sure I can put up with it. I have almost 46 years of consecutive employment and when I'm done, I'm done. We've been preparing... We purchased two new vehicles with cash in the last 18 months (2024 Jeep Wrangler / 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee) - got them both just after the new models were introduced to take advantage of discounts. We keep cars a LONG time, so initial depreciation is not a concern. At this stage, I want everything to work - or be under warranty so someone else fixes it. I like to tinker and have skills, but I don't want to be forced to do it :).

Back on topic, more or less. I spent a shit ton of money on my guitar rigs and A/V room (mid- to high-end everything - 65" LG UHD OLED, Denon 9.2 surround, Klipsch exclusively, etc.). Do I need it? No. But I damn sure don't want to give it up. I'll be giving up my 90G Reef tank (it's too costly to tear down and recreate...).

Long story short, I'll be moving from a "man house" to a "man cave". Thoughts and prayers...
 
Another update…

Remember how I said we weren’t in a rush and I wanted to get to FRA? Yeah… I got an email today (along with many others) about a “Voluntary Retirement Plan” (aka Buyout). The carefully crafted language is telling. Do I need to sign up? No. But if I don’t, they could fire me and I wouldn’t get the monetary incentives. (They literally fired a guy I’ve worked with 25 years last Friday. He was out the door today a few hours before they announced the program 😡). If I sign up, they have the right to say “No” (“too important”, working on critical things, etc.) and then I have self-identified as someone who wants out. Potentially settings myself up to be fired. Again, without the incentives.

I have two weeks to decide and they get to choose your last day. Could be as soon as 8/31, or the end of any month between August and February. You won’t know until they tell you. Each month I might lose in 2026 will affect my bonus payout next year. It’s never guaranteed, but it’s not an insignificant amount. I’d need to still be employed on 12/31 to get the full amount.

Decisions, decisions… I bought some Powerball tickets on the way home. If I win, I’ll walk in and shit on a couple desks. “There’s your answer” 😀
 
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