Shed Floor Joist Spacing

Originally you wanted to frame your shed floor with 16 cc spacing.

Shed floor joist spacing.

The spacing of both joists and bearers will be governed by the type of structural floor decking that is used. There is more than one way to build a shed floor and this is how i build my wooden shed floors. See table 1 and table 2. The following instructions refer to different terms like band boards rim joists floor joists and skids.

The extra two inches of vertical distance when a floor is framed with 2 x 10 joists rather than 2 x 12s can be quite important for example. Lets also assume that you can get a 2x4x10 board at a cost of 3 50. The screw jacks support the floor joists and keep them out of contact with the ground. A shed s sturdiness relates to stud spacing and stud spacing is a notable factor in total materials costs.

So what is the proper shed floor joist spacing. If you are unsure of what those terms are please have a look a my shed floors page. Studs spaced at 16 inches make for a sturdier shed but the 24 inch spacing is more cost efficient. Stud spacing for a shed is important for two reasons.

Spacing joists in your shed 16 inches on center will give you a firmer feel with less bounce and increase the load capacity of the floor. There are two stud spacing options for a shed. You would have for a 10 x12 shed 10 floor joists. While you may be ok with the joist span at 24 inches the floor will be maxed out to the limits.

Now lets figure out for building the same 10 x12 floor with 12 cc spacing. Common sense tells you that large floor joists can carry more load and spacing joists closer together also increases the load bearing capacity of a floor. But larger is not always better when builders are constructing a home or adding a room addition. There are three basic measurements used for floor joist spacing.

Cut your band boards and floor joists and lay out the band boards for 16 inches on center and drill two pilot holes for each 2x4joist or three holes for each 2. This equals 35 00 for just your floor joists. When building a house or even a deck it is important to confirm you have the correct joist sizes spans and spacing before you get started. Properly spacing floor joists when framing an addition or whole structure is largely a factor of building codes.

Joist span and spacing is set by your local building code. This will figure out to be 13. So typically i would work on 400mm centres for both types of support using 18 20mm thick decking. Get the number of floor joists you will need from table 3 and the cut length for the band boards and floor joists and skid spacing from table 2.

View of underside of shed deck. There are also several floor joist sizes and types used.