I think the point loads on a 2x sill will cause it to sink in the corners. How about white oak sills?

I was thinking 8x8 pressure treated sills. White Oak isn't too common around here. White pine and hemlock.

Ouch. My first source for 8x8 PT is $100 for a single 8x8 by 16 piece? I hate paying that much for what always seems like the junkiest southern pine.

If I understand correctly, the building won't have a floor, and the post bottoms and sills (if you have them) will be exposed to the weather. Why do you need the sills at all? Why not just pour a little concrete in sonotubes, and connect your posts to the concrete with some of those simpson post bases that drain? I can't recall whether you had 6 or 8 posts in your shed, but it seems to me that it would be real simple to pour these and make yourself a solid footing/foundation.

That is correct, the building won't have a floor, this is really a woodshed/storage shed. I'll have six posts and they will be exposed to weather. Could I use a connecting girt a couple of inches above the bottom of each bent instead of a sill?

I think what I'm kind of getting at is making this structure look like the other old buildings on the property (my barn and house). My barn just sits on some fieldstone. If at all possible, I'd like to avoid the sonotube/ galvinized post bases, though they would be a pragmatic solution. My initial thought would be to put down a bed of gravel, then the PT 6x6 or 8x8 sills. However, $500 for just the sill alone is a little steep for my woodshed. I'd love to find a more cost effective, yet visually attractive alternative. 6x6 PT is considerably less expensive, but then a 8x8 post on top of a 6x6 sill?

I like the the sauna tube idea the best(cheap and fast). Have them (6) come up 6" above grade and anchor your 6x6 p/t sill plate to the top. Also you will need a mid-height girt for a nailer at least. A 6x6 frame with 6x8 ties with though(or extended) tenons should hold things together just fine. Sounds like a great beginner project to learn from.
Thane

Just had another look at your sketch.
The Tie beams are on the ends... not the sides.
Put the plate on top of your posts at least 6" above the Ties.
a 4x6 rafter on 36" centers should be fine.
Dog the rafters in the plate and extend them to form an eave.
Hope this helps
Thane

6x6's will work for joinery if you use through tenons. I don't like using them in horizontal applications though for aesthetic reasons, and you don't have to go very far at all to create structural reasons. For example the 14' ties should be 6x8's at least.

skip the concrete, use something that will last. Granite blocks, you are in NH after all, Swansons on 101A in Amherst has an "economy bird bath base" its a 10x10x10 granite block, we have them drill a hole in one side, then a matching hole in the bottom of our post. Drop a rod into the granite hole and your post on top of that and you can't knock it off the granite.... of course if you're raising bents this won't work, but if you assemble a piece at a time this works slick. Again, being a granite stater I imagine the "soil" you're putting it on is probably gravel anyway....

Hey Guys, thanks for all the good information. I'm learning a lot here. I'm going to use 8x8 for the main beams & posts.

One nagging question I have is what to do about the sill & footings. This building will be largely open, just a wall on the back with front & sides open. Primarily this will be used for stacking cordwood, park a small trailer under ect. Originally I thought I'd build a "sandbox" out of pressure treated 8x8 and fill with gravel. The 8x8 pt would be the sills and I'd build up from there. Now, I with a cost of $450 for sills alone I'm looking for an alternative. and having no sills will make getting in with a wheelbarrow of wood easier.

Should I get rid of the sills altogether? One issue is anchoring the posts. I'd rather not use the Sampson post anchors..not crazy about how they look.

My posts will be 9 feet tall, would 45 degree bracing alone be sufficient with the posts resting on sonotubes or granite blocks?

Something like this:




I realize that with just the bracing, just the pegs alone will be resisting an outward force on the posts. Still though, I don't see another way to do this.