Shopping for a humble abode aka a shed

My mommy in law needed a shed on our property for storage, so off to the local big box home improvement store and roadside shed builders - the 8' x 8' that I saw offered was priced at nearly $400 - but wait, you want a floor to go with that? $160 extra ! (Didn't know that 2 sheets of plywood could be so expensive). Plus I get the thrill of painting and assembling the shed kit.



Being somewhat of a carpenter myself, I didn't have the energy in the Tennessee heat to build a shed in the 2 day time frame required. Plus I'm too much of a perfectionist, and lately being a hi-tech kind of guy, find it difficult to lift anything heavier than a pencil.



Plus I spend three months building our dog house - but since it is fully insulated with knotted pine panel walls, storm windows, picture window and carpeted with a deck and landscaping, I knowingly would have spent two months on a shed getting it just right!



The other roadside retailer of outdoor buildings had some nice, but pricey sheds - $1,500 for an 8' x 8'. Upon closer inspection, the sheds were assembled with 2 inch power staples. I simply couldn't imagined reassembling these sheds after a heavy wind.

My mommy in law and sista-in-law goes back to see if I was telling the truth - so this guy walks up and says he could build one better and bigger for the same price. So long story short, after checking out the guy and making sure he wasn't scamming two old ladies, we said yes.

So here's a photo essay of a two day speed build (with my remodeled shed on the left).





I hate speed builds! Ever worked on a Habitat house? While rewarding, the craftmanship really lacks - too many volunteers wanting some hammer time action and main contractors (normally two guys) hogging all the action result in a less than perfect house. Again, I'm too much of a perfectionist - otherwise I would have employed perfect cuts on the joints, birdsmouth cuts for the rafters, squared the shed with the existing shed and 20 other things. But the guys were tracking a working wage of $7.00 an hour compounded by under estimating the cost of the materials and taking a bit longer than expected. It was hot, and they were ready to get the heck out of Dodge.



All in all, we got what we needed - I'll just come back and Thompson water coat the shed and build some planter boxes to house some iris plants. Next up, a bamboo fence.