When Ryan Smith, the founder and designer of Modern Shed, living in Seattle, where there are no “alleys” behind homes for easy backyard access, he designed the entire pre-fab building to be in “panels." This allowed two people to carry these panels from the street to the backyard easily. The result included an entire floor “system” as well so the building could sit on simple piers instead of an expensive concrete slab, or in case of sloped land, on tall-in-ground concrete tubes or big-foot piers or pin piers in earthquake zones.
This floor is not like any other floor. It isn’t just in panels to be easily carried. It is a full “system” that integrates easily with the groundwork, as well as the building itself. The floor system is built with the highest quality materials and meets or more typically, exceeds building code requirements. The panels “nest” into a perimeter beam system made from pressure treated beams and ledger system which is supported by the pier pads or other foundational elements provided by the installer. This provides over double the support for the joists than any other conventional joist hanging system.
Each panel consists of two floor joists with R21 batt insulation, sheathed on the underside with pressure-treated plywood and on the top with ¾” ACX sanded plywood. Once installed the entire underside of the entire system is pressure treated making the floor system ground contact enabled without worrying about rot as well as able to be closer to the ground than other normal lumber systems in accordance with typical building codes. The ACX sanded plywood is not only much stronger than OSB, it allows for direct installation of any flooring material without skim coats.
Because the panels are only 16” wide instead of 24, there are nearly twice as many joists compared to a typical deck floor. To some this might seem overkill, but many of our customers use their sheds as a workout room, heavy bag gym, motorcycle rooms or a music room where either heavy equipment or even grand pianos will be used. This floor is truly like no other in a residential environment.