Chapter 165...Finishing Shelves And Building A Counter

Hello and welcome to chapter 165 of our long story of projects:)  Back at the store Mike and I are trying to get the inside done but first:


Mike using the post hole driver to pound in the ground rod for the store:

Next he drills a hole to bring the wire into the building by our electrical box:

And now to the inside:)

Mike installing the trim that I painted:

Nailing the bathroom door kit in place:

Mike installing our lights:

And back to our shelves.  Putting them together on the floor and screwing the bases to the legs:

The front legs going on:

And we have the second shelf standing.  Mike making sure it is all screwed together:

The third shelf almost screwed together:

After we get the shelves up we decided they don't look good enough.  Mike uses spackle to fill in any holes and splits in the wood:

Once the spackle is dry I sand the shelves to make a smooth surface then I repaint them:

Mike working on the last of the ceiling lights:

Time to  build the counter.  We checked online and in our local stores to see about buying one but they were just too expensive.  For this simple counter we are using 2x4's, plywood and a sheet of siding that has been cut done to size:

We measure the 2x4's and cut them to be part of the base and the top of our new counter:

Niki making sure we do things right:)

Mike nailing the cut piece of plywood to the top of the 2x4 base:

Once the plywood is nailed onto both the top and the bottom section we cut a square out each corner on the bottom of the base and nail in the 2x4's:

Almost done:

Mike nailing in the front of the counter using siding:

After we get that together on the driveway, we load it onto the trailer and take it to the store.  Mike nails the end of the counter on:

Ahh....me painting more trim:

It's starting to come together:

The counter has been trimmed and painted:

Mike's daughter gave us some old shelves that we decided to put down the middle of the store:

As you can see we have been slowly bringing some things down to the store.  We have decided to open next year as we really don't have a lot to sell.  Over the winter we will look for some bargains:)

That's all for now and I will write again soon.

Chapter 160...Insulation My Favorite:):)

Mike and I are getting ready for the sheetrock crew.  He needs to get any extra studs installed and finish up the electrical.  While Mike works on that I will insulate all the walls and the ceiling:).  I am a strange one but I really like that job.

The wiring that Mike has to finish.  Once he gets that done I will install the insulation:)

Mike adding more wood to nail the drywall to:

From underneath:

I'm working my way around the building.  Here I am adding insulation behind the electric wires:

The walls are done:

Mike got the shower base in place:

Mike nailing the bathroom wall studs to the back wall:

Mike has the bathroom wall up, the electric wires and switch box in place:

Now that the walls are done I need to do the ceiling.  Mike came over to help me but I figured out a way of dong it myself so he can work on things I can't do.  It is a little awkward:

But I got it:)  Here I am stapling the paper from the insulation into the trusses.  Mike watched a TV show and told me how to do it differently.  Years ago we used to staple the paper to the bottom of the truss which caused problems for the drywall crew.  Now I push the insulation a little higher and staple it  to the sides above where the ceiling will be installed.  No staples are on the bottom of the trusses:

I use ladders to hold the insulation in place and walk the one end up to start stapling.  I did lose the strip of insulation a few times but for the most part it works well:

Slow and steady:

Mike getting all of the electric wires down from the ceiling and into the breaker box:

Ooh....I'm getting closer:

Cutting the insulation to fit:

Up on one ladder while the second ladder holds the other end in place:

Reaching over to staple the middle and then the other end:

I can't do the ceilings in the utility room and bathroom until Mike finishes with the lights.  We also need to order more insulation for me to finish the walls.  It is has been a good couple of days.

That's all for now.  I hope you enjoyed this story and I will write again soon:)

Chapter 159...Eaves, Electrical And Building Interior Walls

Hello everyone.  Today's chapter is about getting the eaves cut, painted and installed, working on the electrical wiring inside the store, and building the walls for the bathroom and utility room.

So let's get to work:)


We are using the extra T1-11 for the eaves.  The eaves are the lower edge of the roof.  We use the saw horses to measure and cut the boards.

Mike is measuring:

After we get some of the eaves cut I get them painted:

I ran out of room on the saw horses so I set up some cross boards and started painting the eaves inside the building:

Mike starts working on the electric inside the store.  He is nailing in the electric outlet boxes every eight feet:

Once the boxes are in he starts the wiring:

Drilling a hole in the top of the wall so we can feed the electric wire above the trusses and over to the electrical panel box:

Mike pulling the wires over to the utility closet:

Drilling holes into the sides of the walls to make room for the wires.  Every stud needs a hole drilled:

More boxes being nailed in:

Feeding the electric wire into the circuit breaker box:

Mike wires the outlets for our overhead lights:

I nail in metal plate covers on every stud to protect the electric wire.  This needs to be done so that no nails or screws go through the electric wire when the sheetrock is installed:

Yay...another delivery.  My insulation is here....my favorite job:).  We also go some more 2x4's for the interior walls:

We empty the building and then we refill it, lol:

We alos have to make shelves for the store.  We will be making them out of plywood.  Mike measures for each shelf:

Cutting them down to size for 16 inch shelves:

Bringing them inside and stacking them until we are ready to paint and build them:

Here are our stacks of shelves and eaves that we will get back to.  Right now Mike needs my help building the walls for the bathroom and the utility closet:

Mike measures the 2x4's for the top plate for the wall:

Once the 2x4's are cut down we lay them out and get ready to nail them together.  We use pressure treated 2x4's for the bottom plate which will sit on the concrete floor and regular 2x4's for the rest of the wall.

Once we get a section of wall done, we stand it up and anchor it into the ground:

Mike trying to get our section straight:

Nailing the section of interior wall to the inside of the truss:

We have rooms:)  The bathroom and the utility room studs are up:

Now it's time to install the eaves that have already been painted and are dry.  Mike nails the first one in place on the back of the building:

Moving along:

And we are done:

That's all for now.  Mike and I are happy with the progress.  Next time I will tell you about my insulation job and Mike will finish up the electrical wiring and do the plumbing.

I hope you enjoyed the story and have a great week:)