The book of lumber shed construction

The design of this work is to promulgate the principles which should be recognized and followed in shed building. A large number of sheds have been visited and each studied with a view to discovering its strong and weak points. There are disappointed shed builders by the hundreds. In some instances they have put thousands of dollars into a shed and then learned that it was deficient in some important respect in ventilation, foundation, roof, size of the sash and door room, dimension of the bins. Their error was in building without first knowing what would best suit their purpose, and how to build. They were not to the pains or expense of investigating. The writer was consulted regarding the erection of a shed which was to be a duplicate of one located not 50 miles distant from the town of the yard man who proposed to build. The thing for him to have done was to visit the shed resembling that which he was to occupy, adopt its favorable features and reject those which appeared to him unfavorable, yet evidently he did not think he would be repaid for the pains and expense.

It has been the intention to portray the various types of sheds, each of which has its ad- vantages, and any one of which may be modified to meet the requirements of the individual builder. Retail lumbermen have already learned that a shed is a necessity, but many of them have yet to learn that an expensive shed is not necessarily a good one, and that a good shed may be constructed at comparatively small cost.

The time has come when the planning of sheds should be taken from the hands of the average carpenter, who, while he may be proficient in the art of construction, is ignorant of the principles of ventilation. A building in which lumber may be stored may be wholly inadequate properly to care for the stock; hence a lumber shed should mean more than a structure with four walls and a roof. There are poor sheds by the hundreds which-would not have cost a dollar more had they been so arranged as to be convenient and at the same time effective as lumber preservers.

It would be folly to assume that all yard men want the same type of shed. It would be as sensible to assume that they all have a desire to wear the same style of hat. Often it is a matter of former experience; again, irrespective of the taste of the builder, the ground available would compel him to make an arbitrary decision. In every case, however, the principle should first be considered, and the structure, no matter of what type, be made to conform to it.

The sheds illustrated, the plans for which are not printed in connection with them, will serve as an object lesson, as the tastes of dealers vary in regard to the outward appearance of sheds as they do in the architectural designs of residences, and once the correct principles are embodied, outwardly the shed may be constructed to correspond to these tastes. Furthermore, this feature has a news interest, one dealer being pleased to know the general style of the sheds of his colaborers in other sections.

The first shed, no doubt, was made by laying boards over other boards which were more valuable, a kind of shed that occasionally is yet seen. This was an improvement on no protection to the lumber, cost comparatively nothing and, as the original generally does, suggested something better.

The next step was the half, open shed, commonly called a single shed, which is the prevailing one. It is less popular than it once was, but the sheds of this type which are erected yearly, if placed end to end, would reach so far that the distance would be a surprise. It is cheaply built, and with a hood which is a recent innovation takes fairly good care of the lumber that is piled in it. Without the hood, in time of a storm it is very uncomfortable for man and beast to work around a condition that evidently many lumbermen are not at the pains to avoid.

The half, open shed, herein shown, still stands as a relic in Independence, Iowa, and is probably the oldest in the state, having been built 44 years ago, 13 years after Iowa was admitted and only two years after the Indians had discouraged the settlers in the northeastern section of the state. The new shed of this type would differ from this one only in matter of minor detail, the general shape remaining the same. The new shed, throughout the middle west, would stand an even chance of being supported on poles, and nine times in ten would have a second deck, the latter, ac- cording to the individual building it, being an advantage or otherwise, but oftentimes necessary owing to a want of ground room and the growing necessity, so unpleasantly apparent to many of late years, of keeping larger stocks.

The first inclosed sheds answered their purpose poorly, farther than to shield the lumber from driving rain and snow and to protect the workmen and teams from sun, storm and intense cold and surely this was much in their favor. No attention was given to the matter of ventilation, as, indeed, there was not in many a so-called modern shed. These pioneer inclosed sheds were very crude in all their appointments, some of the alley doors being hung on hinges instead of rolling to and fro. The cupola was an afterthought, and as now used by eight-tenths of the sheds of the country might as well have remained in embryo.

For years in the leading markets there have been buildings in which seasoned lumber was stored, but the present type of the inclosed shed so arranged as to cover everything is not more than 18 years old. Who originated the shed of this character is not known, like many another important invention several claiming the fathership. When the idea was brought to the attention of the yard men at large many of them ran to extremes. There was nothing to guide them, and evidently there were those who thought that the bigger and higher shed they could build the more of a shed they would have which in one sense was true. One dealer who had ground space and to spare erected a shed that is 49 feet high, with four decks, evidently not thinking that to pile stuff on the fourth deck would require the services of more men than he employs in his yard. Others built sheds which cost respectively, $8,000, $9,000, $10,000, $12,000, the most of which are woefully deficient in the arrangements which go to make a good shed. To duplicate these sheds no wise retailer would think of doing these days; instead he would build a far superior one for less money. A yard man who 16 years ago built hastily, when the shed fever in his veins was it its height, was heard to remark that if he could afford it he would tear down the shed which cost him $7,000 and in its place erect one that would
continuously save him lumber and labor.

Because injudiciously built probably more than half of the inclosed sheds have proved unsatisfactory. In the results obtained there has been a missing link, and to supply this the double, open shed has sprung into favor with hosts of retailers. It supplies the link, yet it has faults of its own. It takes nearly perfect care of the lumber, but no lumberman would argue for a minute that it quite fills the place of the best inclosed shed. That is, no busy lumberman would argue this. The yard man who is busy cannot afford to suspend work because the mercury drops 20 below, or for the reason that his section of country is in the grasp of a severe rain or snow storm. At such times as these he must be piling, sorting, loading, which he cannot do to advantage, uninterruptedly, day in and day out, in an open shed, without alley and hood. There are several line yard managers, however, who think so favorably of this type of shed that they are building none other and acting on the supposition that the men who control a half hundred yards, more or less, have learned their business, individual dealers are fast falling in line.

There are retail men who assert, and very properly, that a yard is not properly equipped unless it have both inclosed and wide, open sheds, the latter for lumber that is not seasoned and the former for material that is so dry that it will not stain or otherwise injure if piled between walls. There are dealers who have built in this way who have both types of sheds but of course not all can do so. Incidentally, it may be remarked that if every retail dealer could have his way there would be such an overhauling of sheds as would be possible to exist only in a lively imagination. Probably not one yard man in ten is wholly satisfied with his surroundings in the way of sheds. He has either built a shed with which he is not pleased or bought a yard in which there is a shed that, had he built, would have been of a different type.

The three types mentioned are those which generally prevail. There are others which will be illustrated in the course of this work, several of them plainly modifications or crosses of other types, and others so distinct in their features as to be called types by themselves.