Due to Stormy’s unfortunate diagnosis of equine COPD (heaves), we determined that she would need to be separated from the larger horses. This separation would allow us to give her more personalized care to help manage her condition. However, our current set up contains only one large shelter for the trio and so, Stormy needs her own “mini mansion”.
My mom and I decided that we would take on the task while my dad was out of town for a week visiting my older brother. We had never taken on a project this big before but wanted to give it a shot. So, this week I wanted to take you through the process that we followed to frame out the shelter that you see below.
NOTE: My mom and I are not professional framers or carpenters. We designed the building ourselves and did not follow any commercial plans.
Design Process
Before we could purchase lumber or drive our first screw, we had to come up with plans. Below you’ll see our rough design for the shelter (very professional looking, I know).
All in all, for this initial part of the build, we needed:
- 37 – 2x4x8 SPF boards (16 came from dad’s wood stash)
- 4 – 4x4x8 treated posts
- 4 – 3/8″ 5 inch long exterior lag screws
- Lost count – 2-3/4″ to 3-1/2″ star drive screws (used from dad’s collection and some purchased)
- A couple 1x6x4′ boards to help support the initial walls
- Impact driver
- Chop saw
- Tape measure
- Square and pencil
- Mallet for stubborn boards
Constructing the Shelter
We started by building the back wall which measured 8′ wide and 7′ high. Short boards were added in between the studs for extra support.
Next, we built the two walls. The front of the wall measured 8′ high while the back measured 7′. At this point, we added an 8′ board to the top to begin to visualize the roof slope. Again, we added small boards in between the studs for extra support.
Finally, we framed the front wall (8’x8′) which consisted of a 4′ wide door and 4′ wide wind break wall. We did end up adding some more supports to this wall as well (not pictured here) since we live in a very windy area and don’t want our new shelter to go flying. š
Erecting the Shelter
To begin setting up the shelter, we laid and leveled our 4x4s to create a solid and rot-resistant base. After all the timbers were set, we connected them with our exterior lag screws.
Next we attached the back wall to the base and then supported it with some 1x6s while we set up the sidewall. Once we determined everything was square, we attached the sidewall to the base and back wall to form our first corner.
During this part of the build, Stormy decided she wanted to check out our progress and critique our process. She’s a tough foreman for sure.
After that we connected the second sidewall and removed the 1×6 supports. We made sure to add plenty of screws at the wall connections to increase rigidity.
We attached the front wall (which miraculously fit perfectly) and went around the whole shelter adding more screws where needed.
Now we had to tackle the roof framing. We were somewhat confident in our ability to frame out walls but were less so when it came to the roof. We ended up using some rafter-to-stud anchor ties to attach and level the rafters for the roof.
Obviously, we still need to add a few more support braces, +metal siding, OSB lining, and sand to the interior, but this is how far my mom and I got while my dad was gone. I can say I’m pretty proud of our progress and accomplishment. Keep an eye out on our social media channels for an update on the finished shelter!
Thank you so much for reading about how we built Stormy a little horse shelter. Let me know if anything in this post surprised you or if you’ve ever attempted a large project! Iād love to hear from you.
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