Silver Lining...Tough of Grey

I used the aluminum paint recommended in the Blazona plans as a first coat of the underside of the floorboards, then followed with coats of deck sealer (could not find the Man O War varnish locally). I got a gallon of the deck sealer from the ReStore for $5! Hopefully the OSB is an OK substitute for the plywood called for in the plans.

The Taming of the Screw

Here's a shot of one of the side walls - only one more wall to go! As per usual, this project is taking way more time than I thought - would be good to do it with 3-4 other people and bang it out in a couple of weekends, but there is satisfaction in doing it all myself and learning about framing along the way.

TIP: buy an extra drill so you can dedicate one to drilling pilot holes and the other for use as a power screwdriver - buy a "wye" connection for your extension cord you you can just pick up and go. I found my second drill at Habitat ReStore (http://hfhsloco.org/restore/products) for $5!

Here's a great video I found of the same shed being built - very helpful guide...
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xpjtH85qY)

One Man's Trash is another Man's Treasure

Here's some free wood I got from a co-worker friend. Once you start looking on Craigslist in the free section and asking around, you can save lots of money on 2x4's - just plan it carefully so the old and ugly ones are hidden in the walls.

If I had a Hammer...

This is the foundation with the back wall sitting on top of it and the front wall on top of that. I decided to buy the best clear doug fir available for the front since it was most visible - not easy to find and cost $2.50/foot instead of $2.50/10 feet! But I think it will be worth it in the end.

TIP: You can save some money by buying all of your supplies at once from Home Depot and signing up for their credit card - first purchase is 10% off...They also apparently let their cardholders use the rental truck for free!

Digging in the Dirt

Floor and foundation piers are almost complete. I used an existing slab as part of the support, so I had to dig down 6" for each pier. It would have been much easier to just build the soil up and compact it than to dig down for each one. Checking and adjusting for level is also tricky.