Shed Ramp

I just realized that I forgot to show pictures of the ramp that Rob built for the shed.  Hey, he has to be able to wheel his lawnmower and snow blower in there!

Here’s the beginning; he laid out some boards vertically.  He had to dig into the ground a bit, to sink the boards into the ground.

Here’s the ramp.  Wheeee!

Handy Boy has been riding his bike over the edges of the ramp.  Fun, fun!

For photos of our shed construction, click here:

Platform for the shed

The beginnings of the shed

The shed walls go up

Framing out the roof

More roof work, and windows

Putting shingles on the shed roof

Hanging up trim on the shed

Organizing in the Shed

Shed Doors

Shed Vinyl Siding

Still to come: What’s IN the shed? (Aren’t you curious?) and: Running wiring to the shed.

 

Shed Vinyl Siding (and Giveaway Winner)

Congratulations to the winner of a $30 Home Depot Gift card, commenter #3, Mary J!  I used a “random number generator” that I found online.  Mary, see your email.  🙂 Congratulations!

3
Random numbers generated Oct 3 2010 at 12:5:18

Those things are so cool! I showed it to Handy Boy, and we played with it by entering in ginormous numbers to see what number it would choose.  For our little contest, I just entered in 1-8.

Also, thank you all for the ideas and suggestions for future posts on this site.  I am writing them down.  I did see mudrooms mentioned twice; unfortunately, we don’t have a mudroom in this house!  This house is just a “‘box” with very few details, except for the ones we’ve added.  We have doors that enter right into rooms, which makes cleaning up after the dirt, snow, sand and MUD here in New England a lot of work.  Oh, what I would give for a mud room! However, I can talk about how we work around all that.

Here are photos of the vinyl siding on the shed.  Handy Man has been bugging me to show these.

Remember when the shed was being framed:

Ta daaaaa!  Here it is with vinyl siding.  I helped Handy Man to hold up the ends while he nailed the pieces in with his pneumatic roofing nail gun.

…and here’s the back.  That silver piece is for exhaust for the generator.  Handy Man will be moving our generator into the shed.  More to come on that project.

To see more photos and posts about how Handy Man built this shed, click here.

Linking to: Between Naps on the Porch

 

Shed Doors

Here is Rob working on the door framing for the shed.  He is cutting out notches in the trim for the door hinges.

The doors are in, woo woo!!  Now, it’s time to put in the door knobs and locks…

Rob has to put an additional piece between the doors, but at least now the doors can lock.

Next projects: vinyl siding…and running electricity to the shed.

The Shed Project Continues…

The shed project is slowly but surely coming along…as we get the money to work on it, and as we feel like working on it.  It’s a nice change from renovating a room in the house where you feel like you have to work on it all the time, because it causes a huge mess inside.  Not this time.  It’s in the backyard, and la-la-la, I can’t see it if I don’t want to!

Rob put some fine mesh between the side walls and the roof, to help keep out tiny critters and bugs.

Handy Man used his drill to pre-drill holes for screws, and the miter saw to cut the lengths down.  He was using composite material that is plastic, but looks like white painted wood.  Low maintenance is the way to go.

I got up on the ladder and held up one end while he screwed the trim boards into place.

The shingles are all up: Handy Man used Owens Corning architectural shingles.  The trim boards around the roof are up…next, Handy Man will put double doors on the shed.  Stay tuned!

Stairway Remodel, Before & After

I recently came across some photos of our stairway renovation.  I can’t believe this was completed in fall of 2007.  It seems like we just did it!

Some of these photos are so embarrassing!  Oh well.   There used to be drywall on the left of the stairs, and a low, odd looking piece of wood trim.  To the right, there was a WALL that we demolished.  Yes, a whole wall.  We pulled that down, to make the two rooms at the front of our house more open.

You can see Handy Man’s legs and feet here, ha ha!

What a mess it was, knocking down that wall.  I guess I didn’t take any photos of that part of the project.  There was drywall dust everywhere!  Then we took a break from renovations and I had to look at this ugly, carpeted staircase for a while.  Yuck!

It’s not that I hate carpet, but this was all dirty and worn out, and we just prefer wood floors and stairs.

Handy man started working on the treads.  I was getting so excited at this point!

I painted the risers with a glossy white paint.

There was a lot of drywall patching and painting to do on this side.

And then…the handrails…Didn’t Handy Man do a great job?  This would have cost a fortune if we hired someone to do it.  Although the materials for this weren’t cheap, at least we didn’t have to add labor costs.

Hey, you can see our Christmas tree in the background in this one!  We finished it in fall 2007, but it wasn’t until December that I realized that I needed to take finished photos.

Linking up with Remodelaholic Friday/Fingerprints on the Fridge/The Shabby Chic Cottage/Funky Junk Interiors/Frugal & Fabulous Design/My Romantic Home.

Roof Shingles are Going Up

Rob has continued to work on the shed.  He put a drip edge along the roof, and started putting shingles on one side.

One side of the roof is done!  It was kind of hard to work up on the roof at an angle, but he managed, using ladders and a scaffold.  Rob used to put roofs on houses, so that is how he knows what to do. He’ll complete the other side of the roof soon.

Roof and Windows

Rob put the windows into the shed today.  Here’s the view out the back window.

Rob’s father helped him to put up the heavy plywood boards on the roof.  I’ve been helping him by holding up trim boards, handing him tools, moving ladders, etc.  I can’t lift really heavy things, but I do help when I can.

Some trim boards also went up.  Tomorrow, Rob hopes to add on the drip edge, then start putting up roof shingles.

The Shed Project Continues…

Here are a few more pictures of the shed project.  It was soooo hot last week, but Rob just kept working on it.

Rob had to set up a scaffold to do some of the work.

It’s looking pretty good, now!  Rob will continue to work on the shed over weekends during the summer.  I’ll continue to post more photos as the work goes along.

What is it With Men and Sheds?

This is the question I keep asking myself lately.  Handy Man has been talking about this darned shed for over a year now.  He took this week off from work so he could do a lot of work on it.  He doesn’t expect to finish it, but he wanted to get the framing up.

We have a garage and a basement, so why he also feels the need for a shed is beyond me.  Here is how the conversation has been going lately:

Crafty Woman: Do we really need a shed, too?
Handy Man: Yes, I need more room for my lawnmower, my generator, my snowblower, blah blah blah…
Crafty Woman: Is it possible that you just have too much stuff?
Handy Man: *Sighhhhh*

Rob planned out the expense of all the wood and extra gear by making a few trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot.  He made a list of materials and wrote down prices.  He bought just enough to do the framing and the plywood this week.  In order to spread out the expense (and work!), he’ll buy more materials and work on it more over the summer and possibly into September.

Normally, we are “git-r-done” people when it comes to renovations…I can’t stand letting projects drag out for too long. However, this doesn’t involve any kind of construction mess inside the house (yaaay!), so we’ll complete it gradually and spread out the expenses a bit.

Of course, it was HOT and HUMID this week in New England, so there’s been a lot of sweating and drinking of water and lemonade.

Here’s Handy Man with his ginormous DeWalt nail gun.  That thing scares me.

I’ve been helping him a bit, but I stay far away from the nail gun.  And we make sure that Handy Boy stays away from it, too.  Handy Boy has been entertained by using bits of leftover wood, and his own small tools, to build a chair and a table (pictures to follow).

Looking good so far! So, I’ve been supervising, 😉 and making sure that the Boys drink plenty of water.

We’ve been WICKED busy this week. In between shed construction, we’ve also been squeezing in some fun with Handy Boy. Also, I’ve been working on organizing my scrapbook paper. Stay tuned for more info on both projects.

The Shed Project Continues

It’s been hot, but Rob brought home a huge load of wood to continue working on his shed.  He covers up the pile with a tarp at night, although there is no rain in the forecast.

He has one of the ends cut out, and he’s trying to figure out a way to raise the end up.  We may need some help!  But I’m sure he can figure it out.

More details to come about the shed construction…I told Handy Man to take a bit of a break today from it, as it was nearly 100 degrees here!  He worked for a short time in the morning, but then did take a break for the rest of the day.

The Shed Project

Handy Man has decided that he wants to build a shed this summer. This is to store some of his “toys” in, like his lawnmower, snowblower, etc. It is also for storing the generator, which we seem to need to use a lot over the winter.

First, he built the deck platform. It measures 8×12, and Rob was careful to make sure that everything was level. He used 2×10 pressure treated wood, with concrete deck blocks in the corners and on the edges.

I didn’t happen to get any photos of Rob building the platform, but I will get some pictures of him building the rest.

Rob has some vacation time coming up soon, and he is hoping to build the walls, the roof, etc. He thinks that he is going to finish it over vacataion, but we’ll see. I’ll have to add this to his Honey-Do List.

Have you ever built a shed before? We did look into buying a pre-made shed, but the prices were exorbitant!

Kitchen Renovation: Part 2,387

Back to the kitchen renovation.  You can click on the “kitchen” category to the right to see more photos, and I’ll be expanding and updating the “Before and After” page to add these photos eventually.

As a reminder, we did our initial renovation in December of 2008.  We removed everything, and laid down new wood flooring.  Handy Man installed a new soffit and put the cabinets back together in a slightly new configuration.  He also moved the sink.  And there everything stopped, until a warm day in Spring of 2009 when Handy Man put a window into the wall above the relocated sink.

Fast forward to July 2009…when Handy Man had started painting the kitchen cabinets.  He painted them a glossy white.  We had white cabinets in our last house, and loved them.  It brightens up the kitchen, and the glossy paint is wipe-able.  (Is that a word?)

Notice the two drawers that were missing at the moment. That is because those two drawers were “false” fronts, as they were under the original sink. Handy Man took the false fronts out and built new cabinet boxes for them, so we could have drawers there. Hey, he’s not called “Handy Man” for nothing.

You’ll probably also notice that the panels on the sides of the cabinets are still bare. This was because the wood there had a very smooth finish that we decided would be difficult to paint. Handy Man decided to put some beadboard panelling over the cabinet sides, which we also painted white. It solved a problem for us and helped the cabinets to look more “finished.”

Another thing you’ll notice is that the toe-kick under the cabinets wasn’t yet painted.  Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day!

By now, the kitchen was really coming together. Just a few more minor painting details to go, and it was 95% done.

What are we planning for the other 5%? You’ll have to stay tuned for details…!

Kitchen “After” Photos…Well, Sorta

So, after all of the hard work tearing out, rebuilding, re-flooring and re-hooking-up (I made that one up), here is one of the “After” Photos.  Only, the kitchen wasn’t 100% done at this point.

I know, it looks a lot better, huh?  This is just one more phase of the work.  Handy Man built a new soffit (the area above the cabinets.)  He moved the sink, and rearranged a few cabinets.   He also moved the dishwasher to be closer to the sink.  However, there was still work to be done.

See the mirror above the sink?  We wanted to add a small window to the wall there…but it had to wait until spring time and warmer weather.  Also, we painted the soffit and the cabinets white; but that also waited until warmer weather.

I thought I would add the mirror above the sink to reflect some light, until we could put the window in.

The stove was moved over to the left, onto this wall.  I know that above this area, it looks oddly blank!  However, we put two decorative shelves up above the stove and put some knick-knacks on them.  During the holidays, I put Christmassy things on the shelves.  Eventually, Handy Man will build upper cabinets for this area.

Pictures of the cabinets, painted white, and the new window above the sink will follow soon.  I just wanted to show how we did the kitchen in stages.  Part of the reason was so that we didn’t need to have the kitchen torn apart for a very long period of time.  Another reason was to spread out the expenses.

One more shot of our nice, new, non-yukky floor:

Ahhhh…!!! Shiny and clean!

Kitchen Floor

Back to some kitchen renovation photos…here is Handy Man, starting to put in the new wood floors.  He decided to put the wood flooring right over the existing vinyl.  The vinyl was glued down and attached to the subfloor in such a way that it would be almost impossible to peel it up.  Handy Man used 3/8″ engineered oak flooring from Lowe’s.  We bought the thinner wood so that it would match up with the floor levels in the living room and the hallway, which connect to the kitchen.

I laid out some pieces, staggering the joints, and he marked them, cut them, and installed them.  It was a lot of bending and crouching over, but believe me, Handy Man is used to putting in wood flooring!  The rest of the house has wood flooring now, except for the two bathrooms.

Ucky vinyl I couldn’t clean, next to nice wood:

Now, this looks SO much better, doesn’t it?

After the floor was installed, it was time to start putting the kitchen back together…stay tuned!

Kitchen Renovation, During…

Here are some photos of our lovely kitchen in the middle of renovations.  Handy Man tore everything out! He took off the counter tops, the sink, took down the kitchen cabinets, etc:

What a mess!!

Handy Man: What have I done?!?

Water had to be shut off, and the refridgerator and stove were moved into the living room.  We didn’t use the stove, but we were at least able to use the fridge.

We used paper plates and cups for about 10 days.  We set up a makeshift kitchen on a table, where we used the microwave and toaster oven for simple cooking.  That, and some takeout food helped to get us through:

Once everything was torn out, the rebuilding could begin.  The cabinets were in decent shape, so we put them back up, but in a slightly new configuration.  Handy Man also put in hardwood floors.

Stay tuned for more pictures!

One Year Ago This Week…The Kitchen

Ok, so I’m kind of embarrassed to show these “before” pictures, but here goes.  Please remember that we started this the DAY after Christmas last year.  There are Christmas decorations half up and half down, and Handy Man had started to bring tools out…dirty dishes were laying around and I said:

“WAIT! I have to take a BEFORE picture!”  😀

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: “The before isn’t THAT bad!”  However, this is a case where from “afar”, nothing looked too bad…but up close? *shudder* The ivory colored sink was scratched up and dinged beyond belief.  The cabinets, while sturdy, were grimy with cooking spills that I could not get clean for the life of me. The counter top was stained, and the caulking between the backsplash and the counter was coming out.  The stainless steel appliances were brand new ones that we bought when we moved in.  I don’t even want to tell you how disgusting the insides of the original stove and refridgerator were!  The vinyl floor was once white, but it was so scuffed up and dirty and impossible to clean…some of the seams in the vinyl floor were starting to separate…

The layout was okay but not great for us.  Look at the second photo, above, again.  See that section of counter top, with the microwave on it?  That was actually an island, and when we moved in, that whole island was sitting smack dab in the MIDDLE of the kitchen floor.  I hated that island.  I know people love islands, and it seems like any kitchen that isn’t tiny has one nowadays.  But I hated it.  Rob also hated it; the way we cooked and moved around in the kitchen, it just didn’t work for us.  It always seemed to be in the way.

So one day, Handy Man just moved it…I didn’t want to move it until we were ready to renovate the kitchen.  I was convinced that it would be screwed down to the floor and that there would be all kinds of holes underneath it in the (already ugly) floor that would look horrible if we moved it.  However, Rob just got TIRED of it one day, and he moved it.  He shoved it against that far wall…turns out the island wasn’t even screwed or nailed to the floor at all! That definately freed up a lot ofspace in our kitchen; it seemed HUGE in there after moving the island aside.  (I wish I could find some photos of the island in the middle of the kitchen, but I can’t right now.  If I do find some, I’ll post them.) There were a few small holes in the floor where the island must have originally been screwed down…however, the floor was so ugly anyway, what were a few more holes, right?

I know this is kind of a cliff-hanger…but you’ll have to come back in a few days to see more!!  “During” and “after” photos to come! Stay tuned…