Okay, the point I left off was needing a back frame for the shed and I had an I idea for the one remaining support post. Each one of these were marked for 1 - top,1 - middle, 2 - sides and 1 - bottom to make the back frame. This is how it looked before my son and Johnny began to move it. Then it started falling apart. yeah I'm laughing. So I found the weak spots and drills more holes for more screws. And here is the working frame for the shed. It was leaning and I couldn't find my ratchet strap so I used one of those stretchy hook cords to secure it to one of the trees. If you look closely on the right, it's blue. All of the wood was twice as tall as me and I wasn't going to build it that tall. So I stretched my arm up and said that's how high I wanted it to be and attached the cross pieces on each side. As I was working on this I was confusing myself - which was the front, rear, side and back. So I had to think on that. Just a little history. This location was previously an area for my dogs' kennels. After I no longer had my dogs I tried my hand at composting which I got tired of and got rid of everything. I can see this area from my kitchen window while at my computer. I thought of tilling the ground and planting grass seed, nah. Then the idea of an outside working area came to mind, hmm possible, I'm always tearing up something. Then when my DIL died and my son and grandbabies came to live with me and all their things were added to all the other things from my mother, son, sister and myself the carriage house had lost its ambiance to me. I needed more space. Even though I knew we couldn't afford a storage shed from Lowe's I still researched as if I was planning to get one. My favorite was watching reality shows on renovating houses and looking at all the material that was being hauled away.
Good for you for tackling this! If I lived closer, I'd come lend a hand. You'll get it done. I did one of those Lowe's shed kits at my last home when a tree fell on the original shed. It was one of these, with a 2 foot extension. No way I could design this myself. But as you said, they ain't cheap. Regarding DIY stuff...when I moved into that last house, I was tilling a garden and the tiller suddenly stopped. I looked down and there was electrical cable wrapped around the tines!!! Seems the prior homeowner ran electricity to the shed and merely turned the dirt over with a shovel and lay the cable just beneath the surface. ***ZAP!!!!!***
I would not even attempt to build a shed that big. I would pay Lowe's extra to have them build it for me, lol.
The worse part was painting it. The siding has those grooves in it, so I couldn't just roller the thing...I had to use a brush as well. What a pain.
@John Brunner, you didn't have a paint sprayer for that? I like to paint with a brush but I don't care what type it is only the size of it for the task. I use the roller too though. Sounds like that was a big zap. How stunned were you?
I was gonna comment on the painting. I went to rent a paint sprayer, and found out that the barn red paint I used was too thick to run through one. Regarding the zap...it tripped the breaker, but did not shock me (other than emotionally.) I spliced it with an underground repair kit:
That photo is of an underground cable repair kit. You run the two ends through a plastic tube and splice them together. Then you open the packet of liquid insulation and pour it into the tube. The plastic fills the tube and surrounds the connection so it is perfectly sealed from the air, dirt, water, etc. Then is sets up, kinda like the consistency of silicone caulk. Then you bury it. Pretty clever, huh?
So am I understanding that when you hit the cable it split, or you had to cut it to make the repair? That is clever. Before you moved, did you put something to indicate that there is an underground cable so the new owner would know it's there? Our utility companies always send a reminder in each mailing to 'Call before you dig.' to prevent incidents like yours.
Now my vision is beginning to take shape. I pulled from the pile of wood pieces that were long enough to create the roof and then later had second thoughts about it. I really didn't want the roof to be of wood. So I left it alone and threw a tarp over it any way in case of rain. As I sat outside staring at a blank slate I thought I want two windows. One so I can see out into the yard when I'm inside and the other to bring in the sunlight from the east. My neighbor laughed but a couple of days later she called me over to 'our talking fence' and asked me if I still wanted windows. Yeah. She took me to a friend of hers who was upgrading his windows. He told her I was welcomed to come and pick out any windows I wanted. I already had one. I can't remember where I found it but I've had it tucked safe away since last year so it wouldn't get broken. That's wood trim below the window. It didn't take me long to cut it down to what I thought was equal lengths. I also like to mention that I pulled every single nail that would come out . I clawed it with the hammer meeting the wood and then rocked it back and forth or left to right whichever way - easy peasy and if it didn't I hammered it flush with the wood.
Again to the wood pile, sorted out like pieces for the walls. And switching up a bit on another wall. This was a puzzle. I had to use different pieces to come to as perfect fit as I could get it. Two walls done. I didn't use my circular saw at all. I liked using the handsaw. Unlike the trim pieces I used one piece as my measuring tool for these boards and was pretty much dead on. Occasionally, Johnny or my son would be present watching me as I worked. My son would fill me on things happening at home with the grandbabies and other stuff. The mosquitoes though during the daytime. Man, if I forgot to use OFF before I came outback I suffered for it not only the bites but the buzzing around my ears was so annoying.
Okay now for the door or shed entrance. This was the fun part for me. For years I have walked past this house two doors down from me and this frame was on the porch of a house that had been vacant for those years. So after I started working on the shed and needed a door, voila! I took a look inside and it was bad not trashed but definitely will cost a lot of money to bring it up to code. So I happily walked off with the storm window frame to use as my shed's door. I had to put up the other side of the door frame first. Another puzzle finding pieces that would give me the height the I wanted and space needed so that the door wouldn't touch the ground. Then worked on the door on the ground. After putting on the hinges I stood the door up between the frame and set the hinges in place and marked with a Sharpie the place to drill holes. The C-clamps were a big help in doing this. These panels are vinyl flooring with cork backing. Paid $5 for the box at the flea market for another use but that didn't happen so they were just 'there.' Perfect fit except I did have to pull out my reciprocating saw for the bottom was dragging on the ground. No, no, nannette. This area is for the second window. At this point I stopped taking pictures and concentrated on getting as much done as I could. The weather had started to change raining more - longer and harder.
My son came by wanting something to do. So I let him put on the first coat of paint on the outside. He took these pictures.
I felt good about the temperature enough to paint the inside of the shed. At the most 3 coats. I was getting low, very low on my wood supply and was trying to decide what to do about the two sections under the windows. I began to put up heavy plastic and stopped when it started to rain.
The day started out pretty good so I painted the second coat on the outside and added screen in front of the windows. I also decided labels for each side. This is the front of the shed. The entrance of the shed. I still need a door handle. Still the entrance of the shed. Need to paint the window frame. Rear of the shed.