Hidden Shed Build

BigMike62 · Monday at 3:33 PM

I have a corner behind the third bay of my garage that I'm going to build a screen wall 7' high. Many neighbors have them to store their trash cans, etc. The entrance area is completely hidden to any neighbors or the street (wooded preserve behind us).

The plan:

Dry pour a 9'x10'x4" concrete pad
Build the wall 7' high and 10' long. The outside will have hardie siding and trim to match the house. The inside will have T-111 sheathing. The top and end caps will be hardie trim.
Build wall at open end with double doors
Install stringer at 6'8" on the back wall (garage wall) and two stringers pitched down to 6'3" on the house and wall that I build.
Fill in stringers from back wall to the front wall
Flash, sheath and shingle the roof

The plan is from the outside it will look like a screen wall but I'll be able to store my lawn equipment in there instead of in my 3-3/4 bay garage where space is a premium. I'll keep my 13kw generator out there as well.

Anyone have experience dry pouring concrete pads? I've done a lot of research and watched many videos and it looks straight forward. I'm going to use expansion material between the house slab and the new pad. The cost to dry pour is less than $700 vs. $2000 to have it poured. All of the companies I contacted have a $2k minimum.

dcg9381 · Monday at 4:39 PM

BigMike62 said:
Anyone have experience dry pouring concrete pads? I've done a lot of research and watched many videos and it looks straight forward.

I have no experience with "dry pour" but have experience with "a little too much for me" and not enough for a contractor. Why not rent a mixer, hire a little "labor" (you're in FL) and bag pour it? You frame it all up in advance.

My hand pours generally look like ****. They are structurally fine, but there is an "art" to troweling it all in and getting it down in time and doing all the finish work and getting it to look nice. I've poured AC pads, pump house pads, etc... but there is no substitute for someone who knows how to finish concrete.

Make SURE you slope it. Or if not slope, make sure it's lower than existing foundation.

Sure looks like an HOA area. You're hiding it well, but there's always a risk of the HOA saying "tear it all out" if some neighbor complains and you didn't have an approval.

BigMike62 · Monday at 6:21 PM

dcg9381 said:
I have no experience with "dry pour" but have experience with "a little too much for me" and not enough for a contractor. Why not rent a mixer, hire a little "labor" (you're in FL) and bag pour it? You frame it all up in advance.

My hand pours generally look like ****. They are structurally fine, but there is an "art" to troweling it all in and getting it down in time and doing all the finish work and getting it to look nice. I've poured AC pads, pump house pads, etc... but there is no substitute for someone who knows how to finish concrete.

Make SURE you slope it. Or if not slope, make sure it's lower than existing foundation.

Sure looks like an HOA area. You're hiding it well, but there's always a risk of the HOA saying "tear it all out" if some neighbor complains and you didn't have an approval.

They're still building here and I've thought about asking of the contractors to pour it when they're pouring a slab. I really thought about using gravel but then I'd have to pour footers for the wall and door area. I kind of want to try a dry pour just to try it.

Yes, golf and country club neighborhood with HOA. But, I already got approval to put a shed there, but the way they wanted me to build it was cost prohibitive. So I'm going to put up a "screen" like others have without HOA permission. I'll have all that done in a weekend and let it be for a month or so. The HOA doesn't actively look for violations and my house is a back cul-de-sac and not easily seen by others. Not worried about them. If I have to take it down, I'm only out $1200 in lumber and leave the pad. But it will be a fight at that point and the neighborhood has been here 20 years and I've never heard of anyone being bullied by the HOA.

pima67 · Monday at 6:32 PM

Is water/rain going to get between the house walls and the shed walls and cause problems in the future? Given high humidly, may not dry out fast enough to avoid rot/mold

dcg9381 · Monday at 6:33 PM

BigMike62 said:
They're still building here and I've thought about asking of the contractors to pour it when they're pouring a slab.

This is an excellent "slip some cash" opportunity. Around here, the concrete truck almost always comes in heavy and they have to dump that stuff somewhere and waste it. The deal is being able to transport it around back... Which means having someone willing to slog it from truck to slab (wheelbarrow).. slab would have to be framed, steel in place, etc.

That's just for the structural. If you want the slab to look nice (top coat finish) probably need 2 people, one of which that knows how to trowel it.

MikeC55 · Monday at 6:35 PM

I'm a fan of stealth builds too...

JuncleJohn · Monday at 7:42 PM

In Omaha we have at least 3 places where we can buy up to a yard and a half and use their trailer to haul it. Great for DIY projects. According to my calculations, 9x10x4” is slightly less than 1-1/8 yards.

Make sure to have a helper.

John

rust in the eye · Monday at 7:59 PM

BigMike62 said:
They're still building here and I've thought about asking of the contractors to pour it when they're pouring a slab.

Your job only needs a bit more than a yard. Usually some left over after a pour that is wasted on site or taken back to become barricades or parking blocks, either way it's already been paid for.
CASH (I'd offer twice the going price of a yard to pour and finish) and a ready to pour site ought to get this done.
Good luck

thammel · Monday at 8:33 PM

Sounds like a cool project. I would definitely NOT do a dry pour. I would not have confidence in this lasting long. I've poured a ton of small pads myself. It's easy to get a good result. I would think even paying 2K$ would make sense.

captain14 · Tuesday at 10:44 AM

Build the forms ahead of time with extra lumber at the ready to make a “stop” if you don’t get enough from the first delivery.

My neighbor poured his back sidewalk from the street like this. Even trained his wife how to finish it if he wasn’t home.

MovingAlong · Tuesday at 11:22 AM

Ummm, there are no shortages of YouTube videos showing why you might "not" want to do a dry pour too.

Ever wonder why professionals in the industry don't do it that way? Literally thousands of years of history where concrete has been used wet. A few years of "social media influencers" showing that "one weird trick" dry... choose carefully.

Given the ~~high~~ slight likely hood of having to tear it out (cities/HOAs use Google satellite view too you know, nothing is truly hidden), I'd put in a bed of gravel, level it off with sand and lay pavers. Keep posting pics of your progress! :thumbup:

MikeC55 · Tuesday at 6:54 PM

Need to paint the roof green. Camouflage!

BigMike62 · 2026-05-21T14:59:58-0400

pima67 said:
Is water/rain going to get between the house walls and the shed walls and cause problems in the future? Given high humidly, may not dry out fast enough to avoid rot/mold

The roof will have flashing to prevent the roof leaking. There two sides of the house will be the walls of the shed.

moab11 · 2026-05-21T15:28:06-0400

I may have misunderstood, but are you sloping the roof towards the house? I hope you mean away from the house or towards the new shed doors.

D45 · 2026-05-22T07:19:24-0400

Do you "need" a concrete slab or can you frame out a ground level base using ground contact pressure treated?

Then top it off with PT plywood

Viper98912 · 2026-05-22T10:08:49-0400

Rent a Mudmixer for that small job. I believe I made a post about it on here.

Hidden Shed Build

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