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 93...Installing A Gas Furnace and A Clothesline

Off Grid...Chapter 93 It has been a sunny and very warm week in TN. On to our story. 4-12 Today Mike and I have to stay home. The gas company is supposed to deliver and install our new furnace. It will be so much better than or fireplace because it is vented. I will miss the fireplace but not the humidity or how inefficient it was. We go up top to do some work while we wait. Back to the building and our shelf. Mike cuts a board and installs it for added support. We want to clean up and re paint the shipping containers this year. First we will have to sand or grind them down and Mike is thinking of doing some kind of a spit finish before we paint them. Any ideas on how to camouflage the dents in the metal? I get to plant the first items in my garden. Woo hoo. I plant some onion sets and some lettuce. Next week I can plant carrots and radishes. While I do that, Mike helps me by banging in some t-posts for my garden. I will add some netting of some sort for my beans to grow on. I help with the last t-post. Now that we know the furnace will be installed today we have to take out the fireplace. First we take off the mantle and then Mike takes off the sides. And  Then Mike disconnects the gas and we take the fireplace box outside. After lunch the man from the gas company arrives. We got the Empire DV-35 Furnace which should work better for us. I am so thankful we did the paving on the worst part of our driveway last year. There is no more stress and worrying about people making it up our drive. The gas company sent 1 man to unload the furnace and install it. I have no idea how the company expected 1 man to get the furnace off the truck and into the house. Mike and I help him get the furnace down using our hand truck. The gas man hasn't installed one of these in a long time so he takes out the manual....and there is o English manual and this is an American company. Go figure. Anyway, I'm sure he and Mike will figure it out. The first thing they do is cut a hole in the house for the pipe and the vent cap. Next they install the bracket and the heater. Then they put the vent on and the vent cap. Next they install the thermostat when they run into a small problem. The plug for the blower doesn't fit our outlet. They have to undo the vent and the pipe and take the furnace back off the wall. Next Mike has to cut the plug and hardwire it into our outlet. And They get that done and get the furnace back on the wall. Nest they hook p the gas. Mike has to go into the ceiling to free up some more gas line. This ceiling comes in very handy The gas man checks for leaks and finds two. That gets fixed and our furnace is done. Now that seems like a really easy job but it took Mike and the man fro the gas company more than 3 hours to install it but it's done. After he is gone, Mike and I bring the fireplace box up top. We are going to reassemble it in Mike's building so we can sell it. Mike cleans it out using the blower. Back down in the house Mike has to repair the gas line and the wall. He cuts the sheet rock and notches a hole for the gas line. Then he spackles it. When it dries he will sand it and then paint it. 4-13 This morning we take a trip back into town to go to the wood stove store. Yay, this week they are open. We learn a lot and decide to look for a used wood stove since we don't need it right away. We found one used one that turned out to be a great deal but it was already sold. We meet with our neighbor and he signs the contract for our other property. Hopefully we will close next week. We drive the other way and drop off the contract to the lawyer's office. On our way home we stop and pick up cement for my clothesline Mike helps me with my clothesline as soon as we get home. First he starts digging the hole while I mix the cement. I pour the cement into the hole while Mike taps it down...an we are going t need more cement. Oh well, we will have to finish it tomorrow. Mike goes down to the hose to play with our new furnace and he notices a mistake The thermostat was installed on the wrong side and apparently it's dangerous to be on that side because of the heat. So we have to fix it. I go up to the building to get some wood blocks. Mike takes off the outside vent cap and takes out the pipe. Next I put the wood blocks under the furnace. This will help hold the furnace up while Mike changes the thermostat. We can't take it completely off the wall because the gas line is now inside the wall. Mike gets the thermostat done and the furnace back on the wall. Then he puts the pipe back o and puts the vent cap back on. After that Mike works on the floor trim. First he measures ad cuts it. Then he installs it. Later on he paints the trim and the wall. 4-14 Now that we have a contract on the front property we have to go over and clean out the shed and work on the fence. O our way over we stop at the local equipment(?) store that we have used for years. Mike wants to get a gas blower and sell our electric blower. We get to the property and Mike starts mowing a walking path on the back property while I clean out the shed. When he is done he helps me with the shed. Using his new blower in the shed. While he does that I go to work on the fence. It is a fence that separated the 2 properties. We leave it open so we can mow. We wrapped up 6 strands of barbed wire and attached the a t-post. Now I have to unravel the 6 strands without getting cut and put them in the eye bolts on the pole. I got them straightened out. Mike comes over and pulls the wire through the eye bolts. And then he tightens them. We are done on this property. All we have to do now is move the For Sale sign to the back piece. We pack up and go home. As soon as we get home we get a call. A man and his wife are at the back piece and want to walk it. Mike gives them permission and tells him to call back if he has any questions. About an hour later they call us back and they want to meet with us tomorrow. Sounds good...I hope. I mix up some more cement and add it to the clothesline hole. Mike and I load up and go down to the new fire pile. We start the fire. And less than an hour later we have this. I just read that ashes are good in the garden. I think I'll check into that a little more. Right across from our new fire pit is our main spring. At some point a bathtub was put here....I'm guessing to give the cows water, although I've never see them use it. They would rather slurp the water off the ground and the muck At some point we would like to make a small ditch and run it into a pond. This would really dry out and clean up this mess. Later that night Mike uses his blower to clean our back parking area. 4-15 My clothesline is done and I can use it. While I clean, Mike works o our zero turn lawn mower so we can sell it. At 1:00 the couple from yesterday show up. After spending 3 hours with them they signed the contract. They want to close before the go back to FL next week. After they leave Mike and I run back to town to drop off the contract at the lawyer's office. If all goes well we will close on both properties next week...crossing our fingers. Now we have to wait and Mike and I stress out when we have to wait. It's going to be a long few days. 4-16 I went to the Library for their Book Sale this morning and I scored It feels like Christmas around here. I got my garden supplies, my clothesline, and cook books form the library. I am a very happy woman Back at home I looked out the window and saw a bird in our birdhouse. The top was off but we don't have any food inside. I think he got stuck. I tell Mike and we both go out to help him. Mike sets him free. The poor little guy must have been panicked. Speaking of our 2 legged friends, Mike has been feeding the turkeys but we only have 5. Last year we had 2 different groups of almost 20. I hope they didn't get killed this winter. 4-17 The cold is back. Mike and I did some running around town but not much else. We drove around and caught up with some of Jimmy's guys at the shop. Later on I saw a calf on the hill and he wasn't moving. I went up to check on him and thankfully he was just sleeping. I did wake him up When I turned around I got our full view. It will be so nice when the trees come back and we can't see any houses. Well that's all for this week. I hope you all enjoyed our story.  Lisa