State of the Shed

Front view with faux shed door

So for the past few weeks I've been laying it down pretty steady on this shed project at our place in Maine. It isn't a huge project by any stretch but I've wanted to do it for years and have been trying to chip away at it when we are up there. Fortunately, with me not gainfully employed, that has been quite a bit this summer. I could not be happier about it either.

Progress is never as fast as one wishes it seems, when it comes to things like this but I am happy to say that progress has been steady despite some sidetracks. Those sidetracks include both time spent in MA doing the chores and other things that need doing here as well as the diversion recently of acquiring additional property in yet another state that itself has a whole host of projects associated with it. More on that story in a later post that I'm working on. Basically, I now have projects for at least a couple of years, straight.

Rear view with sliding door, deck, entry and window

The good thing is that I love doing that stuff, much more in fact than I do being chained to a desk in front of the computer. Sure, if I whored myself out to the highest tech bidder I could make "big bucks" and pay someone else to do this type of work instead. Yes, that was what I said for years and although true, it just isn't right for me. I want to be the guy actually doing something tangible, producing something that I can actually look at and touch. Something that will be there tomorrow or in six months or six years. I want to be the person who is tired at the end of a day from physically moving my body, burning calories and getting sh!t done not tired because I've been sitting on my fat a$$ all day banging on a keyboard in cyber reality. What is the point? Hamster on a wheel spinning away its sad life away.

The simple shutters trim the windows nicely

OK, back to the shed. As mentioned before, the plan is to take the shed we built shortly after we bought the place and convert it to studio or living space. That first involved finishing off the lean-to shed so that it could be used as storage which also meant moving doors from one shed to the other as well as adding a door and window that I had leftover from a renovation.

The next step was to then close in the old shed door spaces and the old wood pile alcove and re-frame for windows. The old sliding door opening would be framed and a faux door would replace it to keep the aesthetics correct. The wood pile alcove would be removed and framed for a window and the shed door opening would be re-framed for a window as well. This also meant residing and trimming the openings to match the existing siding. The other thing I had to do was to install the triangular step/deck platform that I built a couple of weeks back. That went in pretty easily and mated up perfectly. I even had time on one of the hottest, sweatiest days, to relocate and consolidate not one but two wood piles yet again. This time however, it is to their permanent home. I hope.

Shed doors and ramp on the side

Done, done and done. The ramp from the old shed doors was also cut down and dropped into its new location making easy access tot he shed for the snow-blower and mower. The outside is completely set and we even took the time to whip off some spiffy little shutters out of strapping material that we had and painted them red to help trim out the shed. Cheap and easy but pretty darn effective. The only thing missing are window boxes with flowers and the thing would be the absolute Thor of quaint appeal. Wicked pissa, if you will.

The reality is that it really does look pretty cute. Next on the list is to re-wire it, re-frame a couple of small sections of rafter and slap a small window in the gable end, if I can find one. Then add some insulation and another layer of under-layment and button the inside up. Some pine trim, some paint, and a cheap floating floor and Bam, project complete. I know, it sounds easy and quick and I realize all to well that it will be neither.