Like giving birth, the pain is now behind us.

We are finally done with the shed, hurray! Here’s the play-by-play of the last weekend of construction.  And if you want to refresh, have a quick look at the past two posts.

First step is to dress properly for serious hard physical labor. Case in point:

Cowboy Rob

Funny, isn’t it? Almost a decade I spent in Texas without ever wearing a cowboy hat, and less than a year in Colorado… Ahh, the power of women.  Sar’s chosen outfit for the day:

Sar, ready for a grueling day

And Mark’s attire sadly didn’t include a full Ninja uniform. But he had the moves down:

Baker Fu!

The first step was to prepare the foundation for the shed.  I got an anchoring kit from Arrow (the shed company). The kit includes 4 corkscrew type rods and metal brackets that screw into the earth at each corner.  On top of the foundation we stapled two layers of plastic sheet for a vapor barrier. Next, the flooring went down. We used half inch plywood with support braces interspersed for structural support.

Because the backyard is so small, we had to remove some slats from the picket fence to move shed material in from the outside.

the boys playing with the fence

Then we started assembling the base frame of the shed.

floor frame layout

Next up was the wall frames.

completed building frame

Again, the smallness of the yard was beginning to look worse and worse. On the far side fence, the clearance was maybe inches, so close that Mark had to remove slats there as well just to gain access for the power drill!

improvised extra inches

Then, it was time to insert the wall sections.

Mark, Royal, & Rob looking cool

Each wall piece fit down the upright wall beams like a garage door closes. I’m not sure how much mark is contributing above. Obviously the heat has affected his judgment in selecting a shovel for this task. That’s why it was important to take an emergency popsicle break.

much needed popsicle break

Next up was the roof gables.

the gables go up

These pieces were the hardest to assembly because they were especially flimsy. The shed material was very thing gauge steel and the gables had to magically stand on their own before the cross beams were added. It’s a good thing we had three people to work on this together, because at time, we had 2 people holding gables and the third putting cross beams up.

Rob & Sar hold the gables

The final stage, roof material, was one of the easier to do.

cross beams go up

You can see just how close the shed comes to the house; in fact, we had to modify the roof slightly to get it to clear the kitchen window.

inches from house!

Here’s a view of the clearance below the kitchen and the shed. I’m using that space for firewood.

wood pile behind the barn

Here’s the clearance on the other side of the shed to the fence.

inches from fence!

Yeah, you can definitely tell that an over eager electrical engineer designed the layout of this shed, not an architect.

But at least Sar and I now have a completed Red Barn shed in our backyard!

And everything fits too!

Full Project Gallery:

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7 Comments

  1. The heat of 95 degrees, I scoff at your intolerance of heat. I heard it hit 112 in North Dakota (I didn’t think it got that hot up there). We’ve been sweltering here in the Texas heat and drought. I’m looking forward to the cool break in Colorado!

  2. Mr. Lund. As the Rural Retriever Rights Representative I must inform you to fill out PETA1996 form for a variance on Retriever Recreation Reduction. But, I believe you may receive some Canine Car Credit from the Matrix project. BTW, is rex going on the honeymoon?

  3. And Cowboy Rob, I’ve seen that photo somewhere… oh yeah, a movie poster for Oklahoma!

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