Building New Rifle Range Shed

[Buzzdraw]

Our club's rifle range cover was destroyed in a tornado and we are getting ready to replace it. Lots of opinions have been given, but after researching the cost we are going to have to go back with treated wood.

The covered area is about 350 feet long and 10 feet wide. Our previous cover was a 12' flat shed, at 12-14 feet high (low clearance). The higher part was the downrange side and then it sloped lower behind the benches. We have partially lost our slope roof tin from it a couple of times in straight winds over the years.

Some have said a gable roof would hold up better to the wind. Others have said it will be louder underneath it. There are those that say the type of roof will not make any difference in a really big wind. Any one have any experience on roof designs?

Currently we are considering 8 foot minimal height, in both gable and sloped shed roof lines. Either would be 16 feet wide to better cover the shooting benches below.

[Charles Bond]

As to wind, which way does your shed face? While it depends on your location most wind is from the west. If you are using a slope roof and face it that way it is going to be subject to more wind since the wind will come in and exert lift onto the roof. You can minimize this by getting on the roof once a year and making sure the tin is well attached.

On the noise issue, a gable roof will produce more noise. A gable roof will also be more expensive. A gable roof will offer more protection from wind.

You might also want to consider a modified gable roof which is where you have a longer slope on one side than the other. It gives you a lot of the strength of a gable roof with less expense. It is more noise that a regular shed roof which slopes only one way but a lot less noise than a gable.

On the noise issue, if you can put some insualtion inside, that will cut the noise and reduce the heat. Raising the poles from 8 ft to 10 ft will also reduce noice. If you can not insulate the roof, just installing a ceiling over the benches with something like foam attached will greatly reduce noice but it is hard to keep it looking good.

[Buzzdraw]

Range faces North. Most really bad weather comes from Southwest, but occasional 100 MPH gusts fronts come the North or Northwest.

The pricing I'm getting shows gable as only slightly more expensive. That's using 120 MPH pre-engineered 2 x 6 treated wood trusses. Truss cleats will be either SS or G155.

One of our primary reasons for considering gable is to lessen wind effects. A flat shed roof acts as an airplane wing, thus accelerating winds underneath in the bench area. Tough to keep gear on the bench at times. This same lift effect seems to make a flat shed roof more susceptible to getting ripped off in high gust wind events.

As far as insulation underneath, any specific product suggestions that will take getting wet from heavy blown-in rain and won't be attractive to bird nesting activity? The insulation materials we've considered have not been suitable.

We know that noise is a trade off with comfort, this in relation to height specifically. Will 9 or 10 ft vs. 8 ft height be that much quieter to someone wearing proper ear protection.

[Charles Bond]

Range faces North. Most really bad weather comes from Southwest, but occasional 100 MPH gusts fronts come the North or Northwest.

The pricing I'm getting shows gable as only slightly more expensive. That's using 120 MPH pre-engineered 2 x 6 treated wood trusses. Truss cleats will be either SS or G155.

One of our primary reasons for considering gable is to lessen wind effects. A flat shed roof acts as an airplane wing, thus accelerating winds underneath in the bench area. Tough to keep gear on the bench at times. This same lift effect seems to make a flat shed roof more susceptible to getting ripped off in high gust wind events.

As far as insulation underneath, any specific product suggestions that will take getting wet from heavy blown-in rain and won't be attractive to bird nesting activity? The insulation materials we've considered have not been suitable.

We know that noise is a trade off with comfort, this in relation to height specifically. Will 9 or 10 ft vs. 8 ft height be that much quieter to someone wearing proper ear protection.

That is some wind....where are you located?

If you can do the gable for only slightly more expensive that is the way to go. Your comments about the shed roof creating lift are spot on.

As to the ceiling it should not get wet and if it does it should only barely so around the edge. Regular foam is cheap and easy but the birds will peck it to death. You can also layer cardboard to a wood backer and seal it. It will not look nice but will improve the shooting experience.

The best way to keep the birds off of the top of the ceiling (assuming you are only going to put a ceiling over the half where the shooting tables are) is with wire. But given how much of a problem it will be with running wire from the ceiling to the top of the roof, I would say just put a ceiling on the entire thing. It would cost extra but maybe you could get all your members to gift one sheet of marine grade plywood for Christmas so you could do it.

And do not rely on me on this but I think that if you put in the ceiling you might be able to go with trusses with a lower wind rating. Since it will have an "attic" the wind will be unable to create any lift on the individual panels of the building. Regardless, double up on the roofing screws.

As to height, going up to 10 foot from 8 is a 25% increase in the area the sound has to travel to rebound.

Here is an idea about sound but run it by an insulation contractor or better yet beta test it before you go with it. What you would do is frame the area with 2x4 turned on edge on the bottom of the ceiling so when you looked up the from the benches it would look like a studded wall with the 2x4s about 24 inches apart. Then loosely staple chicken wire inside between all the studs. Then use that foaming spray in insualtion (like GREAT STUFF but used in home construction. It expands to fill all the surface and you use an instrument to make it smooth. I do not think the little bit of weather you would expose it to would hurt it. I also believe this stuff is not too expensive but rather the main expense is the installing it which would be less expensive if you had a club member do it over a period of time using left over material from specific jobs.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Charles Bond

[Buzzdraw]

Eastern Oklahoma. Not as windy as Western, but still plenty windy.

As far as insulation, we're considering adding spray-on to the underside of the metal IF there is later discovered a problem beyond what normal ear protection will handle.

We really only expected to get 90 mph trusses, as that is the required spec. We're getting 120 mph ones for the same cost, probably having to do with only spanning 16 ft. I also asked for trusses with a minimum bird nest locations. Truss designer came up with 2 x 6's.

A neighboring county requires hurricane clips; we will probably add that to the spec. The cost will be minor.

[Buzzdraw]

A gable roof will have much less blown in moisture up into the roof rafters and purlins than will a shed style roof, I imagine.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Buzzdraw

[Charles Bond]

Eastern Oklahoma. Not as windy as Western, but still plenty windy.

As far as insulation, we're considering adding spray-on to the underside of the metal IF there is later discovered a problem beyond what normal ear protection will handle.

We really only expected to get 90 mph trusses, as that is the required spec. We're getting 120 mph ones for the same cost, probably having to do with only spanning 16 ft. I also asked for trusses with a minimum bird nest locations. Truss designer came up with 2 x 6's.

A neighboring county requires hurricane clips; we will probably add that to the spec. The cost will be minor.

Good plans.

As far as spraying on insulation to the underside of the metal roof that is a good plan. The down side to installing a ceiling is that while it is easier and cheaper to deaden sound off of it, it increases muzzle blast to your face unless you do have something to absorb it. While the blast that rebounds is not harmful in and of itself, it is really distracting and uncomfortable.

If you leave the trusses open, there are things you can do to discourage bird nests. Every where lumber intersects on the trusses (go ahead and do this on the ground before you errect them, put up bird guards which look like a bunch of pins sticking straight up. The birds will still fly in and land on the trusses but will not be able to find an intersection to build a nest.

My advice is still to go with the 10 ft posts. The only cost with this is an extra 2 ft for each post since the installation costs are the same.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

What about heavier steel salvaged from old shipping containers? I know they are in excess around the country. Don't know how much they cost or how much it would cost to cut the pieces out, but it seems like it would make a good material that you could weld up to steel poles or bolt on with brackets to stout wooden poles....like telephone poles.

Sounds like you need bunkers.

[Boats]

We rebuilt 3 shooting houses. All Gable roof with tacked on to the A frame roof longer overhang on the backstop side. Cheaper to make it a seperate assembly, pitch is much less than the roof. Foam insulated overhead, this because the county monitors our off property noise level. Side benfit of the foam is the house is more comfortable to shoot from on hot sunny days. Have not seen any negative to the foam in a couple years use. The framing is all tied with corragated steel plates intended for Hurricane code constuction. They are simple and don't cost much to install. The overhangs did not have them and lost one to snow last winter, replacement has the steel plates.

My company sells our old Shipping containers, worth buying to use as a storage box, cost too much to salvage materals from. Transportation to get one on site is often times half the cost.

Boats