Thanks for the kind words. I planned it in my head as I went so I'd be at kind of a loss on how to go about writing it all down. I worked on a crew framing houses for a while but it was always the boss man reading the plans and doing the layout.
Basically I just started with an 8' x 8' treated deck with a sheet of vinyl flooring glued down, and then decided on a 30 degree pitch for for the roof. That is one of the default locking clips on my chop saw which helps keep the angles correct on the cuts. I built all four walls laying flat with a nail gun making sure to get the opposing sides identical and square, and then set the walls plumb with temporary bracing (leave the bracing attached until you put on the roof and start attaching the siding).
On the roof I wanted a generous overhang to keep the side vents out of the weather and in the shade, and to keep some of the sun off the walls in the summer. Since it was over an 8x8 deck it took 8 sheets of plywood to sheath the roof (all of the plywood on the deck and roof was recycled 5/8ths) and then shingled it with a 30 year architectural grade shingle.
The board and batten siding is made from the cheapest grade boards sold by Lowes (for shelving @ $8 each) and the battens are a 1"x2" furring strips. Nail the battens between the boards (to the framing) to allow for expansion and contraction.
The only other times I've used diagonal bracing is with steel bracing on wood stud walls in home framing to keep walls square, and with diagonal bracing on joists to stiffen floors before setting ceramic tile. I figured it would work here too, and it really did stiffen the walls up like a rock.
The window was $5 at a junk shop plus a replacement sheet of glass and the stone step was free
NOW ALL I NEED ARE SOME CHICKENS
