Garbage Hutch

| Project # 29 Good In Shed So Hutch for So Little! A perky shed to conceal homely garbage cans and frustrate furry scavengers. |

Materials:

- 2x4 pressure treated or cedar 5 - 8' pieces
- 1/2" Exterior grade plywood 1 - 4x8 sheet
- 5/8" Decorative siding plywood 1 - 4x8 sheet
- 1x2" cedar used for trim 4 - 8' pieces
- 3" Zinc screws for the framing
- 1-1/2" or 2" Zinc screws for the plywood
- Three sets of hinges for two doors and one lid
- Hardware to keep the doors closed
- Bundle of cedar shingles
- Piece of 15# tar paper roofing felt
- Copper or galvanized cedar roofing nails (ask where you get the shingles)

Tools

- Saws - Handsaw, jig saw or circular saw for cutting plywood and 2x4
- Drill/Driver
- Clamps
- Staple gun
- Square
- Pencil
- Eye and ear protection
- Measuring tape
- Utility knife

Steps:

This garbage hutch features shed-roof construction and basic framing. It has a plywood floor to allow the cans to slide easily in and out. The hinged roof is shingled with cedar to make it picturesque. I sheathed the walls of my hutch with T-111 siding, but exterior grade plywood would work too.

Make a floor out of pressure treated 2x4 and exterior grade half inch plywood |

Hutch Obliged For the floor, screw together a 24" x 48" rectangle using pressure-treated 2x4 lumber and 3" zinc screws. Then cut a piece of plywood to size and screw it down to the rectangle using 1- 1/2" screws.

Clamp two long 2x4s to one end of the floor | Square them to the floor | Measure the front post six and one half inches above the height of your garbage cans

To figure out the pitch for the roof, clamp two vertical 2x4 posts to the 24" x 48" rectangle, one at the front corner, and one at the back corner. Use a square to make sure the two boards are perfectly squared to the floor surface.

Clamp a straight edge on the front post and experiment with the roof pitch | Mark the pitch angle on the posts and cut on the line | Take the dimensions for the top pieces near the bottom

Now, holding a yardstick or a spare piece of lumber against the two vertical posts, experiment with how you want the roofline to look. You can make the roof-pitch any angle you want, but the determining factor is the front height. If you don't make sure that you account for the height of the floor, so that the low point at the front of the roof measures at least 6" higher than the height of your garbage cans, then by the time the whole hutch is framed and the doors are on, there won't be enough clearance to get the cans out through the front doors!

Use clamps to balance the boards while attaching them | The angle for the rafters is the same as the one cut on the side posts |

After you've marked the roofline with confidence on the vertical posts, unclamp and cut them. Then cut two identical boards to make a second set of corner posts for the other side. Attach them with 3" zinc screws, making sure they're nice and plumb. By the way, long zinc screws are hard to drive at the best of times, let alone through gnarly pressure-treated wood, so do yourself the favour of pre-drilling for the screws.

Attach using three inch zinc screws | Toe-screw a center support to the back |

Now, join all the vertical posts at the top with horizontal members. This will provide a frame to which you can attach plywood siding.

Cut and attach the plywood to the back and sides | Use the plywood to square up the framing as you go | To mark the angle hold the plywood in place and mark

Hutch and Go Measure, cut and attach three pieces of siding to fit the back and two sides of the hutch. Cut the pieces 1/2" short in height, so that they don't rest right on the ground at the bottom and wick moisture, hastening rot. Use the framing as a guide to mark the angled cut line for the two sidepieces. If you are using decorative siding that has a good side and a rough side, you'll need to mark each side individually, rather than just cutting two identical pieces.

Attach 1x2 trim on the front sides and along the top |  |

As you install the siding, square up the frame, racking it as necessary. Trim out the hutch by screwing 1" x 2" cedar boards in place at the corners, and along the sides and top front edge of the hutch.

Cut the doors to fit inside the trim and one half to one inch off the ground | Use shims to hold the doors square in the opening | Attach hinges to the doors and the side trim
Attach closing hardware to the doors |  |

Measure, cut and attach the front doors, hinging them to the trim. Allow 1/2" to 1" clearance at the bottom so the doors can swing easily. Shim the bottom of the doors to hold them square while attaching the hinges. Install scavenger-discouraging hardware on the front.

Cut a plywood top to overhang the sides and front by one half inch | Attach the top with hinges and cover with 15 pound tar paper roofing felt | Trim to fit with a utility knife

Cut the lid to fit, with a 1/2" overhang on the front and sides. Hinge the lid to the back. Cover the lid with 15 pound roofing felt and then with cedar shingles.

Separate the cedar shingles into their various sizes | The first row of shingles should have two layers | The two layers should overlap the front and sides by about half an inch

Install the first row of shingles tightly side by side with a 1/4" overhang on the sides and front. Attach another row directly over the top of the first row with an additional 1/4" overhang.
Use the next row of shingles to cover the spaces between shingles on the lower row.After the first row allow about 1/4" space between the shingles.

Determine how to space the rows of shingles by measuring the distance between the bottom edge of the first row and the back of the hutch. Divide that measurement so that the length of exposed shingle comes out to between 5" and 7" per row.

Tip: It is often easier to sort the shingles into piles according to size before attaching them. It also helps to draw horizontal lines to follow when laying out the shingles, so they line up squarely. Tar paper often comes with lines already drawn on.

Attach the shingles with nails about 7 - 8 inches up from the bottom | Determine the shingle exposure by measuring and dividing the roof top distance | Use a hand saw to cut off the excess at the back

Cover the remaining lid space with shingles, attaching them with weather resistant nails. It takes about half a bundle of shingles to cover the lid, leaving you with just enough for a second hutch, if you're in the mood to build one. A person can never have too many hutches.