My house is above street level, which means there’s a set of six or so steps (I’ve never counted) to get up from the sidewalk to the front walk. I love it because no one walking by can look into our front windows. But we’d have to haul our heavy and unwieldy garbage, recycling, and compost bins up the steps if we wanted them off the street. So we just left them out on our wide sidewalk for the first few years we lived here. There they sat, looking ugly, until I decided to build them a little garbage house a few years ago.

I go back and forth between different names for my garbage house. I’ve seen similar structures called a trash shed, garbage enclosure, garbage shed, or garbage bin storage. Whatever you want to call it, it involves building a structure to store your garbage bins. And in this case, adding a fancy green plant roof.

At the time I made it, this project really stretched my building skills, and I learned a lot. Working alone, it took me several days to build and stain. But it’s totally doable even if you’re not an experienced builder. And I’m still really glad I built it. I’ve gotten compliments on it several times from people walking by, or I’ve seen them looking at it and pointing it out to each other (hopefully they’re saying positive stuff). I’ve been meaning to write up a tutorial for it for a long time, but my friend Eve really gave me the motivation I needed, because she said one of her neighbors wants to build one. (Thanks Eve!)

I haven’t gotten around to writing it up before now because this is a pretty long tutorial. There are a lot of pictures and steps. If you’re looking for how to build your own DIY trash house, though, I hope it will be helpful!

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Tools and Supplies

• 17 2×4-inch 8 foot cedar boards
• 25 1×2-inch 8 foot cedar boards
• 10 1×6-inch 8 foot tongue and groove cedar boards
• Hammer
• Mallet
• 2-inch exterior finish nails
• Drill/screwdriver
• ⅛-inch drill bit
• ¼-inch drill bit
• Framing square
• Miter saw
• Stain
• Brush
• PVC pond liner
• ⅜-inch staples
• Staple gun
• 2 ½-inch deck screws
• 1 bag perlite
• 2 50lb bags all-purpose coarse sand
• 4 ½ cubic feet potting soil mix
• Construction adhesive
• Caulk gun
• Hacksaw
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Sandpaper
• Sanding block
• Sedum pavers
• Succulents
• Hand trowel
• Bricks or pavers (optional)
• Counter-sink bit
• For the doors:
• 27 8-foot 1×2-inch cedar boards
• Track and hardware set for 96-inch 4-door bypass doors
• 1 ¼-inch deck screws
• ¾-inch Forstner bit 
• ¾-inch door pulls

Steps

Step 1: Build the sides

Note: If you’re building your enclosure on a slope, be sure to take that into account! You may need to make one side taller than the other. I didn’t realize my street is slightly sloped, so one of my sliding doors won’t stay closed without a little hook.

This enclosure will be sized for three 35-gallon rolling bins that each measure 40 inches tall, 27 inches wide, and 29 inches deep. To adjust it for different-sized containers, lay the container on its side, lay the framing out around it, and measure. 

Aside from the decorative slats, the wood will be connected with 2 ½-inch deck screws in holes drilled with a ⅛-inch drill bit.

The roof of this enclosure slopes to the back, but if your enclosure will be going against a house or other building, you will probably want to slope the roof in the opposite direction, to the front. In this case, switch the side support uprights so that the front is shorter than the back.

Cut a 2×4 to 32 inches with the mitre saw. This will be the base of the side. Butt two 2x4s against the base at each end, parallel to one another. Square up the corners. These will be the legs of the side. Mark the front leg at 55 inches and the back leg at 50 inches.

Lay another 2×4 across the legs at the marks, representing the angle of the roof. Transfer the angle to the legs with a pencil, and cut them with a miter saw at the angles you’ve drawn. Screw the legs to the bottom base with two 2 ½-inch deck screws through drilled holes in each end of the bottom base piece.  

To create the top span, lay another piece of 2×4 behind the top of the legs, check that the corners are square, and transfer the angles and distance with a pencil. Cut the wood at the marked angles with a miter saw. Assemble with two 2 ½ deck screws through two drilled holes in each end of the top span.

Add a diagonal brace between the sides. Lay the side on top of a 2×4 going from the bottom front corner to the top back corner, check for squareness at the bottom corners, mark the angles, and cut with a miter saw or hacksaw. Attach it with three 2 ½” screws at either end.

Repeat the above steps to create a second side for the enclosure.

Step 2: Build the back

Cut three 2x4s to the desired interior width of the enclosure, 88 inches in this case. Add construction adhesive to the length of one board, and screw a second one along its length approximately every 12 to 16 inches.

Place the other 88-inch piece flat on the ground. Stand one of the sides upright next to it, and stand a 2×4 on top of the piece on the ground. Mark the angle of the sloping roof, and cut. Duplicate this piece three more times, so that you have four back uprights with one angled end. Screw them to the ends of the 88-inch base piece, and approximately 29 ½ inches from either end. 

Screw the doubled 2×4 to the angled tops of the four uprights. Measure and cut diagonal supports for each side of the back as you did for the side supports, and add a horizontal brace of approximately 28 ¼-inches between the middle supports of the back. Screw to secure.

Step 3: Assemble sides and back

Align and attach the back and sides together with four 2 ½” deck screws through the upright supports on each back corner.

Step 4: Add front supports

Cut a 2×4 to span the front width, 88 inches plus the width of two 2x4s, or 95 inches in this case. Screw it to the side supports beneath the sloping top piece. Cut another 2×4 88 inches wide, and screw it on top of the one you just attach, so that it slopes with the roof. 

Step 5: Build the green roof

Screw 8-foot 1×8 boards to the front and back of the front supports so that they go above the surface of the top boards by 5 inches.

Measure the distance between the 1×8 boards (34 ⅜ inches in this case), and cut 1×6 tongue-and-groove cedar to fit the top. Dry fit the pieces, then use a mallet to tap each piece into place. Secure each tongue-and-groove board with a 2 ½ inch deck screw at each end. 

Cut and screw 36-inch 1×8 boards on either short end of the top to create the planter roof. 

Step 6: Add side slats

Hold a 1×2 against the side of the structure so that its slope matches the slope of the roof and it spans the side. Transfer the angle at the front with a pencil. The angle should be between 7 and 8 degrees, and it should be about 34 ½ inches long. Cut this piece as a side slat, test its fit, and then use it as a prototype for cutting the rest of the side slats. For this structure, with ⅜” spacing, we needed 25 full-length slats, plus one 20-inch slat at the bottom.

Note: You may find it easier to stain before attaching the side slats. I wish I had!

With a ⅜” piece of wood as a spacer, nail the slats in place with 2-inch exterior finish nails so that they’re even with the front upright support, sloping with the roof. For the final one at the bottom, cut and attach a shorter one, approximately 20 inches.

Repeat for the second side.

Step 7: Stain and seal

If you didn’t do so before adding the side slats, sand, and then brush with stainer/sealer product to enhance the color and protect from water damage. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on application and curing time. Prop the frame up on pavers or bricks so that you can stain the bottom boards, too. 

Step 8: Add liner

After your stain is dry, line the roof planter. Unfold the pond liner and drape it over the top of the roof. Align the back corner and two sides so that the liner is about ⅛-of-an-inch shy of the top edge. Hold in place with bricks or pavers. Staple the top edges with ⅜-inch staples on one short side and one long side.  Tuck and fold the corners, and staple to hold. Press the liner down in the bottom corners, and trim the liner to fit with scissors. Staple the remaining two sides in place. Snip holes in the liner near the back bottom edge, and use a ¼-inch bit to drill through the holes and the wood to create drainage holes approximately every foot. 

Step 9: Add soil 

For planting sedum and succulents, mix a well-draining lightweight soil mix from approximately 3 parts potting soil, 1 part coarse sand, and 1 part vermiculite. I used 4 ½ cubic feet of soil, 2 50lb bags of sand, and 1 ½ cubic feet of perlite.

Step 10: Plant

Plant with sedum and succulents. For fast and easy coverage, I used 10×10-inch sedum pavers, plus some individual succulents. 

Optional: Add sliding doors

Maybe you only want to hide your trash bins from the side, so you don’t need doors. In that case, you’re done! But if you do want sliding doors, here’s how to build them.

Step 11: Install door rails

Cut the two door rails with a hacksaw to fit the opening of the shed.

Add four door hangers to the back rail, and screw into place on the front support board. Add two door hangers to the other rail, and screw it in place between the front planter piece and the front support board.

Step 12: Build door frames

Because one of the door frames is higher than the other (see the picture above), and you want the door on the front track to overlap the doors on the back track, you’ll be building two identical smaller doors for the back track, and one larger door for the front track. 

For the smaller doors, cut the following pieces from 1×2 boards:

Four 50 3/4″

Four 27 1/2″

52 29″

For the larger door, cut the following pieces from 1×2 boards:

Two 52 3/4″

Two 30 1/2″

27 32″

Assemble the 52 3/4-inch and 30 1/2-inch boards into one large rectangle, and the 50 3/4-inch and 27 1/2-inch boards into two smaller rectangles by drilling holes at the corners and attaching with screws.

Making sure to keep the rectangles square, lay each on top of a 1×2 board running diagonally. Mark the angles, cut, and attach with three screws in each corner. 

Step 13: Stain doors

Though this step can be done after the doors are assembled, you may find it easier to sand and stain before assembly. Sand all surfaces of the door frames and slats, wipe clean with a damp cloth, then stain according to the stain manufacturer’s instructions.

Step 14: Assemble

Aligning the top slat with the top of the frame, drill countersink holes and attach the 29-inch slats to the smaller door frames with 1 ¼-inch deck screws, spacing them ⅜-inches apart. 

Repeat for the larger door with the 32-inch slats.

Step 15: Add pulls and hang

Use a ¾-inch Forstner bit to drill holes for pulls in slats on either end of each door, and press the pulls into place. If they don’t fit snugly, you may need to use some construction adhesive to ensure that they stay in place. Hang the doors from the door hangers as recommended by the manufacturer. 

Tip: For a simpler, faster version of this trash enclosure, substitute the side slats for pre-made lattice or solid siding.