Archive for category shed

Things I did today

  • Mowed some of the lawn, in advance of tomorrow’s expected thunderstorms.
  • Reorganized the shed, because starting to reorganize the back room immediately led me to the shed for something and I just, well, my talents were more needed there.
  • Found an excellent use for part of an old broomstick. (Pic soon)
    • Remembered how I need to take a few more pictures to finish off months-old posts sitting in the drafts folder.
  • Swapped the glass window for the screen window in the front storm door.
  • Discovered a loose piece of trim on screen door, took it down to tack down said trim.
  • Returned hammer and tacks to back room.
  • Discovered more loose trim, took screen window down again.
  • Checked to make sure there was nothing else loose on the screen window. Returned hammer and tacks to back room. Muttered about how the back room needs reorganizing.
  • Put screen window in front storm door.

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So much for that schedule…

…which, I think, may already be the title of a similar post.

Hang on, I’ll check…

(flip, flip, flip)

(waiiiiit a minute, this isn’t on paper…)

Anyway, I have done many, many things on the house since the last post. No, really, you must believe me. What exactly, I can’t remember, because, you know – so many things! Yesterday I do remember. My friend Amanda wants to… learn about home repair? Is bored? Whatever the reason, she’s been asking to come over and help me on projects in exchange for food and drink, which is exactly in my price range dontchaknow. While the initial intent was to tackle getting the gutters back up, there’s still a bunch of pain in the neck prep work before we can even put the patches on the old holes, so I left that for the day.

Instead, we wound up rearranging a huge amount of stuff between the shed and the back room, freeing up tons of space, making tools accessible, and hitting upon the incredible conclusion that, of all the tools and materials that need to be in storage right now, that maybe that pile of plate glass panes that was in the shed could be what gets stored in the basement. You know, instead of anything wood or metal.

Geniuses, both of us.

Onwards!

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It continues to be the little things…

  • Shopped for flanges for this really clever bookcase thing I’m building. No really, it’s going to be awesome. Someday. Particularly if I can find the pipe fittings I want ideally a) with a patina and b) for not $10-20 apiece. Someone just suggested the local Habitat ReStore which I’ll need to look at soon.
  • Moved things about in the shed. Again. I really should have built a garage. Let this be a lesson to all new homeowners, especially those who like to build things like I do. You’re going to need space for the tools and supplies. More space than you think.
  • Measured the doors I rescued from a house that was slated for demolition to see if I can swap any in for my upstairs bedroom doors. The upstairs doors need restoration attention, which they probably won’t get for a while, so meanwhile I think giving them temporary replacements (and similarly old replacements at that) is a good idea.

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A danged menagerie, that’s what I have here

A couple of young groundhogs took up residence under my shed. I borrowed a larger live trap from a neighbor and staked it out with delicious bait (cantaloupe apparently works well). Of course, something walked off with the bait without tripping the trap. Fortunately, young groundhogs are notoriously… naive. Leave the empty trap out near their den, and within a day or two:


Looks like he scraped himself up on the trap or before getting in. Released him in the woods and, a few hours later, did the same with his partner in crime (who may have been attracted to the trap by the first one’s scent for all I know).

Even though I’d only seeing these two wandering around, I reset the trap and left it out that evening. Came home to find a young raccoon inside, and a very anxious mother prowling around. Despite the youngster’s whining, I let everything sit overnight – raccoon mothers are notoriously protective and I wasn’t certain I could scare it off long enough to release the kid. Come morning though, mom was nowhere to be seen and the young one was half asleep in the cage. Open it up, tap the back end a few times, it finally lumbers off – under the shed. Time for some cayenne pepper I think.

To conclude this post about trapping tiny animals, here are some pretty pictures of a bird:



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Back to it

Today:
– attached all supports for main shelf in shed
– moved scrap shelf from back room to shed
– hung ladder on shed wall

Tomorrow:
– basement workshop. Seriously.

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Quick hits

Got started on the list of things to do that will let me do things on my big list. You’ll see. It’ll all come together soon…

Said list today included:
– cutting two 10′ 2x4s for use in the shed. Of course, these 2x4s were in the attic and I decided not to drag the circ saw an an extension cord up there…
– cut and installed ‘covers’ on two of the three attic ‘windows’ to cut down on the draft up there; it’ll be a little while before I can build the custom windows for those holes, so this is better than nothing
– took ye olde hammer outside to deal with this:

Then spent a few hours helping Marion get more things shipped so he can leave town (again).

More tomorrow. You’ll see…

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Quick update

I had to take half the door latch off the shed and move it over a quarter of an inch (took thirty seconds, just three screws). I think that it was a little tight to start with, and then the weather and the structure settling slightly was all it took so that the two parts would no longer smoothly fit together.

I was in the shed today, despite the rain, continuing to clear stuff from my back room. I’ve started building more things into the shed – just some crossbars to hang tools right now; soon enough a shelf or three to take advantage of all the space – so it won’t become cluttered like the rooms it is decluttering.

Finally, checked the sump pump today and found that the hose had shifted and blocked the float just enough that the pit wasn’t draining (it was actually overflowing onto the floor). Moved things around a little and it’s draining fine now, but I think this and the frozen hose the other day are signs I should finally go get some PVC pipe and properly build out the pump line.

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And also today…

Put up a small shelf in the laundry room, and picked up the permit for the shed. Hey look, I’m legal:

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Tuesday

Bullets, because it’s been a long day:

– applied for permit to have the shed put in out back; looks like that will be fine
– hung a couple of pictures (long overdue)
– dragged all the old shed up to the driveway and sorted the scrap pile into aluminum and steel
– cleared some undergrowth from around where I plan on having the shed installed
– pulled down some broken branches that were stuck in other branches after that storm a few weeks back
– cleared some brush from the area around where the shed should go
– tried installing a missing storm window in the dining room. Having trouble finding one that’s the right size – moreover, the sash cords are broken on that window and at one point the lower sash slammed down and I lost a piece of 100 year old glass. C’est la vie. Tomorrow I’ll take that whole storm down and try and get something to fit.
– moved a lot of furniture and tools around in the living room because I had one half of Ian Wilson’s band crashing overnight.
– older note but worth mentioning: cleaned several of the downstair’s radiators’ steam valves with vinegar and now have minimal whistling.

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Shed’s dead, baby. Shed’s dead.

Wonder bar, mallet, screwdriver, elbow grease, two hours.



Here’s more of the sequence.

Direct quote:
Me: I’ve got beer and cola in the fridge, you want any?
Sarah: Haven’t had my coffee yet. Let me get through that, *then* I’ll be ready for a beer.

I swear, I did work too. I just also took all the pictures.

And of course, after doing all this, we looked around and decided there’s probably a better place to put a shed. On the bright side, I’ve got scrap metal to sell and a nice little clearing (once I figure out how to get these ginormous timbers up and away) for a garden or a place to sit.

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