Garage/Shed Makeover.
Work in Progress.
In this project: *Kept a promise to my wife that I'd do something to protect our camper if we bought it. *Moved a ton of dirt out of high places in my yard and from the forest to level the area under upcoming lean-to. *Added a lean-to on side pictured. *Built and installed Double Z style front doors. *Added 6 windows purchased from Habitat Restore. http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx Click to find one in your area. *Built window bed for Timmy (our cat) Click Pix for Closeups. This job is still in progress. Almost all the wood for this shed was cut by my dad or by me on our Woodmizer Saw Mill. It was then dried in the solar kiln that dad & I built with help from David Mehigan. Most of the wood is Poplar. I really like working with Poplar. Durable but takes a nail well. We used Oak for center supports. The makeover below was started about 12 years after I initially built the garage. One day I'll get those initial construction photos up. Lots of scanning to do. Basically, this makeover was initiated cause I needed a place to keep my pop-up camper and I wanted to close in the front while adding windows for light. |
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In order to ensure a fairly striaght front & rear edge, I tied strings from the far corners and pulled them to where I wanted my outer supports. |
Using the 3-4-5 squaring rule, I established the right side edge of my lean-to. I dug holes 18" deep for my concrete support columns. I used the cardboard forms you can see right inside the shed. These are great and are available at Home Depot. | I used concrete mix and poured all four columns in an afternoon. I used a line level to establish how high to pour the columns. |
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Freedom doesn't look too sure but it is a decent job. |
Starting to take shape. Click Pix for Closeups. |
close up the metal joist holders I used. |
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To get the angles I needed for the end of the joists, I used this tool to transfer what I needed to the boards. Great tool |
Just add roof! |
Beaming from ear to ear. |
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Put the metal roof on and backed the camper in. Now time to build the front doors.
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The double Z-Door. More details on Z-Door Construction click here. Love it! If you look at the enlargement, you will see I used 2 3/8" x 5" boards for each part of the Z. I used the 2 boards to counteract each other and add rigidity. Same idea as with plywood. Several sheets with grains opposing to keep from warping. |
Door 1 is up. Yippee! Used strap hinges. About 3 bucks apiece. Click Pix for Closeups. |
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| Both doors up. Now to build the wall on right and frame out for windows. |
Framed the wall but.... |
I SCREWED UP!! I built the wall but then figured I need windows. Poor planning..duh!
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Freedom seems completely unaware of my bad planning. |
Picked up these fantastic windows at the Habit Restore. 8 bucks apiece!http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx |
So, I cut the 2x4s and made a frame for the windows. Click Pix for Closeups.
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Both windows in albeit temporarily. |
I love asphalt shingles. They are great for shims. I messed up and cut the 2x4 a little short. Shim to the rescue. |
CAT WINDOW SEAT FOR TIMMY. Pictured is the underside. I used the small width lengths to tie the boards together and they will serve to hold supports in place. |
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| Timmy Seat/bed is in. Click for closeup. Please notice my inventions the Bit-Grip and the Hold-It on my drill - great helps! Click here to learn more. |
Timmy gives it a test run. You might notice I hinged the windows. |
Timmy recommends all cats have their own window seat bed. |
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| Enough playing with the cat. I've got more windows to put in. |
It ain't rocket science. Cut hole, insert window, repeat. Okay, it's a little more involved than shampooing. |
Holes for the back windows. Getting late. |
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Much better with the windows. What a mess though. Can you see the deer skull above the window. Weird. |
This is now Timmy's house.
As you can see, I've added plywood. |
Timmy the Cat is the boss. |
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Updates coming. |
| just finished adding the front door. |
Double Z door for the shed. |
