From Pine View Farm

Home Improvement: Cheapskate Dept. (Updated) 3

Not having any training gigs lately, I’ve been doing some work around the house.

The past two days, I’ve been rebuilding the shed. It was guaranteed for five years when I got it 15 years ago, so I can’t complain.

It’s been falling down for the past three years. For the past two, I haven’t been able to close the doors, because they were supporting the building.

So, yesterday, I ran down to 84 and got some lumber. Then I thought a while and, on the way back from the dentist, stopped at Home Depot and got some more lumber. (I generally try to avoid Home Depot, but it was right there on the way home; if it’s something I can’t find at the local hardware store, 84 is my first choice, Lowe’s, my second choice.)

I jacked up the lowest side with my trusty hydraulic bottle jack and placed supports under the roof, then boarded over the side with a 4′ X 8′ sheet of plywood. I then jacked up the other side and supported it.

Using my pipe clamp, I squared the front, which was easily five inches out of square, and nailed everything down.

Today I built and installed two new doors.

Shed

Tomorrow I am going to skirt in the bottom with plywood to cover the rot, then paint.

Details

For an outlay of about $150, I’ll get at least five more years out of this puppy.

Of course, I would rather have a new shed, but I’m not ready to drop three grand on the vinyl 10′ X 8′ number I want, at least not until I get a new gig.

Addendum, 6/22/08:

Finished.

Completed Shed

Share

3 comments

  1. Opie

    June 20, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    It would be so easy to photoshop in a Mirage reader…

     
  2. Frank

    June 20, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    Actually, I used XPaint.

     
  3. Opie

    June 20, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    I was using "photoshop" as a generic verb, probably to the horror of its owners. Actually when I need to do something like that I use Gimp.

     
From Pine View Farm
Privacy Policy

This website does not track you.

It contains no private information. It does not drop persistent cookies, does not collect data other than incoming ip addresses and page views (the internet is a public place), and certainly does not collect and sell your information to others.

Some sites that I link to may try to track you, but that's between you and them, not you and me.

I do collect statistics, but I use a simple stand-alone Wordpress plugin, not third-party services such as Google Analitics over which I have no control.

Finally, this is website is a hobby. It's a hobby in which I am deeply invested, about which I care deeply, and which has enabled me to learn a lot about computers and computing, but it is still ultimately an avocation, not a vocation; it is certainly not a money-making enterprise (unless you click the "Donate" button--go ahead, you can be the first!).

I appreciate your visiting this site, and I desire not to violate your trust.