Hey you guys, we’ve come so far in our progress on the DIY She Shed, but we’re not done yet! Today we’ll install the exterior finish trim. This is where the shed starts to look very cute and “farm-housey.”
If you want to start from the beginning of the shed build, check out the planning post. Then the foundation build, DIY brick floor, wall framing, siding, roof framing, roofing, and gable wall siding.
Here is where we are at with the finished roof and siding. Looking good so far. Now let’s get the trim in place.
Side Wall Trim:
Most of this exterior trim is technically not necessary, BUT it will really amp up the “cute” factor for the DIY She Shed by giving it a board and batten look. This is not true board and batten siding, but it looks like it. Here’s how we get the board and batten look: install 1×3 exterior trim boards vertically along the shed walls with some strategically-placed horizontal trim.
The trim I used is from Home Depot called Radiata Pine Primed Board. It comes primed in a sort of beige-yellow primer. It has one side very smooth like an interior finish trim and one side sort of rough where you see the grain and texture. I chose to expose the textured side as it better-matched the T1-11 siding.
Trim spacing can vary, so I chose to align trim boards at 24 inches on center to help cover the nail lines of the sheathing to the wall studs. 24 inches is about the maximum spacing for for a board and batten look.
Let’s start on the short walls. The trim looks more finished with a continuous horizontal piece along the very top of the wall. Start with that. Then, attach the vertical trim boards at your desired spacing along the wall.
I attached the trim boards with two 4d exterior galvanized box nails spaced about every 12 inches vertically long the board. Make sure to use a level when nailing the trim so your lines aren’t off. Here is the trim at the long eave side.
You can see I boxed out the window trim and simply continued the vertical trim around it. The main door frame has a slightly wider trim to give emphasis to the door. I used 1×4 trim instead of 1×3 there.
Rinse and repeat this simple side wall trim on the opposite side.
Front Gable Wall Trim:
There are 100 different ways to install this type of trim. At the gable walls, could have installed tall verticals up to the roof. But, I wanted a more grounded look, so I chose a horizontal trim along the top of the siding joint. I placed it above, not over, the joint to allow the z-flashing drain properly.
Then, I placed the 1×3 vertical trim at 24 inches on-center. It worked out nicely that the trim never clashed with the 1×4 door trim. But if it had, I would have notched the 1×3 trim as needed and kept the 1×4 door trim solid as that’s more of a primary element.
Here is progress on the front gable wall.
Then, I installed trim along the top rafter line, notching the trim at the rafters. With those in place, I boxed out the gable vent. From there, I added the remaining vertical trim to align with the vertical lines below. Here is a closer view of the front gable wall trim. Oh yeah, with the trim in place, I could nail on the gable vent!
Back Gable Wall Trim:
Remember last week’s post about the gable siding where I described the back wall will have an exterior wall-mounted closet known as “The Backpack” for yard tools. Well, I need to build The Backpack before I can place most of the trim. But, I could at least trim out the upper gable section.
Here is the back wall, trimmed and ready for The Backpack.
One final finishing item with the trim before it’s ready to paint is to caulk the joints. This means run a bead of caulking ALLLLL along the trim where it meets the siding. If we don’t do this, and we’re painting the shed white, any teeny-tiny gap lines between the trim and the siding will visually show up as black lines that interrupt the white. And those lines won’t be consistent either. So, to avoid this minor (but noticeable) visual disturbance, I run a line of caulk along all of the trim. It’s time-consuming, but really adds a polished touch once you’re done. Get the good, exterior-rated, paintable caulking so it lasts!
Here is a nice view of the DIY She Shed Trim all in place. Isn’t this really coming together? Do you think the trim added that “cute” factor? Remember, we’ll paint it soon, that’s just primer.
