Working for "The Man"

Here's a father/son pic. I am not violating child labor laws, by the way, he volunteered and I give him breaks, water, rice krispys and encouragement!

More Progress

Picture after glass was almost complete and door is on.

The whole glass "thing" is a long story. Basically, the idea of buying an old sliding glass window and taking it apart to use for the shed was kind of a bust. The glass panels were sealed together as double-pane with some kind of black tar-like goo. It was comically hard to get off the edges of the glass and when I finally did, it got all over my clothes and hands (turning my face black when I accidentally rubbed it).

So, after all of that, I decided to just buy it by the square foot which was not that much compared to the hassle of making the old glass work. I also bought separate panels for the top from Home Depot whaich are plexiglass. They really look too "plasticy" to me so if I had to do this all over again I would just buy the tempered glass pre-cut to the size needed.

Progress

Here's a progress photo of the shed with the roof on.

More Treasure

Some more great finds at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. I got a can of varnish for the floor for $2, wood strips for $3 that will be perfect for the window stops, and the best find of all, a tempered glass sliding door that may cover all my glass needs for $100. I priced out tempered glass at $4/sf and plexiglass at $10/sf so both would have been expensive options.

Mr. Pumpkin Cometh

This post is for my good friend Sym...the story of Sym and his Pumkin obsession is too long for one to post in a blog...it spans may years and many countries. Semper Pi, Sym!

When it Rains, It Pours

I had hoped to get the shed roof on about a month ago, but the "rainy season" is upon us and it is not done yet (thanks to my less than youthful back). I did manage to get the roof frame up with some creative pulleys and hangars, and a installed a couple of the side panels, which I painted black for a different effect. Got a tarp to try to keep the floor dry. Have been taking plenty of "Vitamin I" as my good friend Sym calls it...

When the Walls come Tumbing Down

This post covers about one months worth of effort. The first pictures are the wall assembly and first "tilt up" of the walls. This was very tricky to do single-handedly, especially if there is any significant wind, so I would not recommend doing it. But I used the angled braces with each wall to make it work and everything tied together nicely. I was quite pleased when it was finally vertical. Note the plywood to the right here - I found that Home Depot has great deals on select plywood and 2x4's but they only get them occasionally so you have to keep your eyes open for them.

HOWEVER, the day after I put it up, an inspector from the City left a VIOLATION NOTICE on our doorstep. Even though I checked with the City about permits (not needed here since it was less than 120 sf, I neglected to research the setbacks enough. So, instead of fighting an uphill battle, I took the walls back down, took the sub floor up and moved about 1/2 of the piers over by 4' ft or so. It ended up only taking another 1/2 day to do this and it was probably good that I was noticed rather than building it all out and finding out after the fact.

Tips:

1. When installing the corrugated metal, USE HEAVY GLOVES. This stuff can cause a nasty cut, like a paper cut but much worse.

2. You will probably get some splinters working on this project - a good way to get them out is with duct tape, especially the small ones that are hard to tweezer.

3. I could not find the Man O War varnish anywhere, not even West Marine - this may be due to the very strict CA air quality rules. I spoke with a guy @ West Marine and he recommended "Cetol Marine Light".