The wood / patio stone design is probably the least thought through part of the design - partly cosmetic and partly to form a fairly strong grid of foundation wood (haven’t used foundation wood before, so I don’t know how resistant it is to rot).
I have seen this type of arrangement elsewhere - probably larger pavers and 4x4 cedar.
There is a structural aspect to the paver grid I forgot to mention - because the 2 firewood bases are pulled together by the foundation wood ties underneath, they may cause the patio stones to buckle, so the grid will prevent that (being notched together).
If we go with 1/4" wire mesh, it would make sense to do the whole structure and make a tighter door frame gap of 1/4".
I think you’re going to a lot of extra trouble and expense attempting to create a floor nearer ground level and facilitating the use of the pavers as a floor. I like your modeling. My earlier responses indicated I didn’t really understand the idea from the photo views. Still I think ground snow is going to make a lower floor level of little advantage as you’ll need a ramp in either event not to mention clearing the door swing of snow. I won’t bother mentioning that the size of the shed won’t really accommodate much firewood. Show us some photos after the build. Have you any experience in placing concrete pads of this size previously?
I should have mentioned this is still a 3 season cottage compound. We have a good range of tools and space at the cottage, which also helps with building on sight. We do want to stay under the 108 sf to avoid building permit requirement (currently 102).
Spec now includes a 4" crushed limestone base, ramps and a full 1/4" mesh cover.
The cottages pads are an estimated weight of 150 lb., not a concern.
Floating floor - added 1/4" gap around patio stones and foundation wood supports.
Our face cord spec - 8’x4’x16" gives us over 5 cords storage which is just okay for our 3 season needs.
Out of curiosity…will the stored wood be green or seasoned?
I would say you could lessen the concern for ventilation if seasoned wood is to be stored in it.
Wood shed is designed for new wood on one side and seasoned on the other. Only 1 layer deep, so no need to dig behind piles of new wood to get to the old wood.
I assume you mean two layers? Not sure that is called for.
Can you get galvanized hardware cloth? I would use that for the mesh. The wire it is made from is heavy enough to withstand most any critters and it will be very durable.
Vertical slats on the walls make sense. Water/snow won’t have so many horizontal surfaces to sit on and you won’t have to cut all those pieces for the end walls. Labor saving.
I might be inclined to extend the roof overhangs a bit. What are you going to cover the roof with?
I attached these images as examples I’ve used in the past… a base floor and frame detail from a composting toilet I designed, made and installed in the Highlands of Scotland back in 2013. The whole structure is sat on railway sleepers (cheap, covered in creosote so last forever) levelled and mainly buried (gravel around for drainage). Then 8’x2’ joists as a frame (6x2 is fine also) and then the floor boards spanning the joists. choose your span for your shed obviously. The joists can fixed appropriately for securing against high winds.
As an additional alternative see attached rubbish sketch below… The same floor frame detailed above, rather than sitting on the floor at all, could be be fixed onto some chunky stakes of oak (I’ve used 5’ or 6’ diameter in the past, at about 4 foot long - 3 feet in the ground…) at the corners (or at intervals underneath depending on the size of structure) - tops of said stakes cut to fit the floor at the corners as shown
As a general design note, wood rot is encouraged by wood permanently being both wet and exposed to the air. Hence fence posts rot at ground level and not so fast under the ground and the tops of the posts where the end can be fully exposed and with water sitting on them will also rot faster than other parts which will air dry faster. Any timber with the end grain straight down onto the ground will rot the fastest, so I wouldn’t recommend using your small supports either side of the main paving floor.
Oak in the UK is the most durable timber, so there may be other alternatives for you.
Fascinating to see how things are done in other countries. It seems that in Canada you can build basement walls in timber studwork with just a modest polythene damp proof membrane. That wouldn’t pass muster in the UK either in terms of damp proofing or structural resistance to lateral pressure. But maybe in a colder climate, water is not so much of a problem if you have dry summers and water turns to ice in winter. Permafrost would also reduce slumping of loose soil too I imagine.
We have a thing here I know as Cambridge boarding, much used on agricultural animal shelters. It is simply boarding both sides of a stud wall with gaps between, the gaps being offset from one side to the other. It acts as a windbreak and rain excluder whilst maintaining lots of free ventilation. You could use that system maybe?
I shiver. Creosote is practically banned in Finland as it is highly carcinogenic. Also, if the sleepers get wet it might seep into the soil underneath and into the groundwater. Better let it rot or use concrete blocks.
Creosote used to be quite commonly used as an anti-moisture agent in cellar floors etc. On one of my renovation sites the old cellar floor was demolished by men in special suits and oxygen masks, and the whole area was isolated first.
“Cambridge boarding” eh? Interesting to know the term, thanks. I designed and built a woodshed for my home in 2005 using that approach for ventilation, as seen in the following under-construction and just-completed images. The shed holds about one and a quarter chords of firewood (which is about what I use per year in a wood stove, in Massachusetts USA). It sits on concrete blocks, with a base and floor made of pressure-treated 2x6 wood. The roof is covered with asphalt shingles (which are now extremely mossy given the very low pitch in a shaded location). The five sections - floor, three walls, roof - unbolt in case I ever want to move it.
That looks swell and yes, that style of boarding is exactly what I meant. Putting the whole structure on concrete blocks makes a lot of sense to me. I would probably have specified a bit of damp proof course between block and timber just to be 100% safe.
We don’t use shingles much in the UK for exactly the reason you identify, but I can see that they work with the low pitch and keep the weight low. If there was the money to do it and keep it natural, we would probably use slate.
I was in Massachusetts last fall. I would guess in spring and fall your weather is much like ours, perhaps with hotter summers and colder winters. The flora suggests that the conditions are similar and so you have similar issues with damp (as the moss growth testifies).
Yes certain sites by water courses might not be advisable for a an old creosote railway sleeper or two yeah. On an environmental note however, personally I would rather have one or two or three of the things sitting out in a location to let them dissipate their hydrocarbons back into the soil over time than having them sit in a giant heap of hundreds where the collective toxic leaching into the soil would be significantly greater…
It was a suggestion to be able to fix the shed to something substantial in the ground. Having seen small constructions being taken away by high winds here in Wales, there needs to to be some thought into it. Concrete would work too
