Chapter 128...How To Build A Shed Part 1

Off Grid...Chapter 128 Mike and I have been working on building a shed on and off and in between landscaping since March. We finally have it finished so now it's time to start the story This is an unusual shed but hey did you expect anything else from us, lol? As you know we have metal shipping containers for storage. And the one in the very back is really....really ugly and it has a lot of dents. At first Mike and I thought we should just buy another shipping container and put it next to the other one....until we went to VA and looked at the containers and the prices New plan. Now we decided to build a new wood shed and incorporate the old metal shipping container under the same new roof. This would give us a building for "clean" storage, cover up the ugly old building, and cost a lot less than a new container. This is going to take a lot of trips to Lowe's. Lumber is heavy Our first load of wood. Next we have to move the old fence that runs behind the old shipping container. Mike taking out the old t-posts. You can see by the green 4x4 where the new shed will be. Once we get all of the old t-posts out, we roll up the barbed wire, and start to place the old t-posts in a location to make room for the new part of the shed Mike banging in one of the t-posts. Good enough. The fence posts are moved and the barbed wire is back on. The 4x4 in the back is where our new shed will be. Next we have to get the green(old) building as level as we can. It has sunk a bit over the years. First we try jacking it up. Unfortunately the jack isn't strong enough to do the job. So we bring in the tractor to help us. With using the tractor and the jack we got it as level as possible without calling in for big machinery. It is level enough at least it is within the level lines Back to Lowe's for another load of material OK..time to get started building We are going to use cement blocks on the ground, then add 4x4 pressure treated posts, and then build the deck for the new shed on top. We start off by laying things out to make the base level. The size of the new shed will be 8x20 which is the same size as the green building. We start to build the deck in two pieces using pressure treated wood. The first deck is done but we need to dig out some dirt to level it up. We move the cement blocks and 4x4's so Mike can dig out a little of the dirt. Mike uses the nail gun to nail in the second deck. Now it's time to put the floor on top of the deck. Since it is only a shed, we are using OSB and we never use OSB. We used 3/4" tongue and groove OSB for the floor. Installing the floor. The floor is on the deck It looks pretty ugly right now but we have a vision Next we mix all of the sample floor paint we had from last year. We decided to use it as a 1st coat on the floor. Hey....why waste anything? Mike starts to roll the floor with paint. It is all painted. Now we can start on the walls. Mike and I use 2x4 studs to make the walls. We build them on the floor and then we will stand them up and nail them in place. Mike working on the wall studs. We get the back and side of the wall studs done and stand them up. Niki is a prisoner, lol. And the front wall stud is done with an opening for a door. It's time to start closing it up. We used and exterior composite wood called barn board for the new shed. Here is the first exterior board nailed to the studs. Mike nailing the sides on. And the exterior walls are done with the cutout for the new door. It's starting to look better already...especially if you ignore the big ugly metal door, lol. Now we have to wait for the trusses. That will be the next chapter for our customized shed. I hope you all enjoyed the story and the pictures. Lisa

Chapter 127...Springtime Landscaping

Off Grid...Chapter 127 This is the "clean up" year. It's time to pull our place together and that means doing some landscaping. We reserved the first batch of Leyland Cypress that came into Lowe's. We have tried many local trees from local growers up here and have lost most of them. The Leyland Cypress from Lowe's that we planted a few years ago on our last property are doing fantastic so we decided to change out our problem trees here and use them again March has been an incredibly warm month so we are getting a head start. I prepped my garden and cleaned it up. Now I just have to wait a bit longer to plant seeds. We bought fifteen 5-6 foot Leyland Cypress. They really are pretty evergreens but they get huge. We will have to keep them trimmed down. Mike starts working at the back of the house. We originally planted Hollies and two things happened. 1. The deer used them to bed down in the winter and squashed them and 2. They don't grow fast enough for us We are going to take out the hollies and move them to the side of the house and we will also find a new home for the small arborvitae. Mike digging out the old arborvitae. Next he digs out a Holly and boy are they stubborn. Two of the new Leyland Cypress are in and cut down. Mike wants them to grow into a hedge on the back of the house. Two of the hollies are moved to the side of the house. Eventually we will build a set of steps and a tiered garden on this side The back of the house is done and 6 trees are in. And all six hollies got moved. Another day, Mike and I start to work on the small garden on the side of his building. This is going to be a bear for us. It is not good dirt here. This will be our hardest area to dig...but we are determined We start to dig the holes for 4 new plants over here. The first one wasn't too bad. The others we had to use the electric chisel to help chisel and break the rock. It was a very slow and hard job to do. We also dug the holes much bigger than the trees and added new dirt with compost mixed in. Mike using the chisel to chop up the rock. And finally the trees are in by Mike's building Next on the agenda: Take out the old arborvitae that got eaten by the deer in front of the house. We have a total of 8 of these. We will replant them somewhere else. Starting to take out the arborvitae. Mike using the saws all to cut the roots. On the front left side of the house we are going to have our "close" stack of firewood. Mike digs out a level spot for the 4x4's. Working on the other side and digging out the old trees. Mike and I both take turns digging and then dumping the buckets of dirt onto the side hills of the house. Planting the Leylands on the right side. We found a new spot for six of the arborvitae. We decided to put them on the outside of Mike's building where it would be nice if they grow but won't be devastating if they get eaten.:roll eyes: Starting to plant the arborvitae. And they are in. Then we moved the wood off the patio and onto the new smaller set up. The patio is finally clean again. And the new trees to the right of the house. Yay...all the new trees are planted. Mike had 4 more small trees to plant and he put them along the back fence line. Now it's time to get some good grass to grow. We have to work on the back hill again. It gets a little better each year but with the cows trampling it, it never takes off. So we have to seed and hay it. Mike throws the seed out while I spread the hay around. Hopefully we all get some more grass in this year. Each year we also add some dirt to the angled walls by the house. They sink a little each year. I think we may be finished this year. We added dirt, put some grass seed down, and covered it with hay. The left side. And the right side. Next it's time to start working on the back yard. We have one area that we abuse by driving over it with the tractor, trailers, Jeep and 4-wheeler. We need to stay off it after we fix it. First I rake up all of the dead debris. Once I get rid of that, Mike spreads some new topsoil. Then we see and hay it. Lastly Mike waters it. Whew I will be happy if I don't see another shovel for at least another month, lol. Rocks for the gardens: That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this week's changes. Next I will start the building the shed stories. Lisa