Front deck fun

Hello all. Close readers will remember we mentioned we had three projects going at the same time. Another one was to paint the front steps. Since we redid them last Fall, that was enough time for them to dry out and make them paintable. The first step was to sand everything then apply a coat of primer.

Then we put on two coats of our exterior colors of white and gray

And finally we added some white lattice to close the main parts. We thought about putting lattice under the stairs as well but decided that looked sillier than it helped.

As for our third project, we like having the stairs free of impediments but also want to be able to enjoy warm days by sitting out front and chatting up neighbors. What's the solution? Build a second "stoop" on which we can put chairs. That started with clearing the area of rocks and, as with our original idea behind the garage, putting in and leveling the concrete pillars.

Then to make silk purse out of the sow's ear, we repurposed the platform that we built for the shed and added rocks (and the mesh that suppresses weeds) under and around the base.

And then we installed our 5/4 x 6-inch pressure treated boards. Typically you'd install these with a slight gap (as we did on the stairs and the guys did on our back deck) but the way boards come now they're almost dripping wet and shrink a lot. So we decided to skip the gaps and have the boards abut each other.

Here's it is ready for action!

Until next time.

Give us a platform

Hello all. When we left off last time, we had built but then decided against using a platform on which to put out tool shed. What would we do instead? We're glad you asked. You get an "A" today for class participation.

We went with another of the recommended options for a base--lay pressure treated 4x4s with rocks between and around (mostly for drainage). As before we had to ensure that the boards were level (they are). As a hedge against erosion or the outer most board sliding down the slight incline, we drove a half-dozen pieces of 3/8-inch rebar next to them for reinforcement.

Then all we had to do was wait for delivery of the shed. We went to a local builder who does really good work because we needed a slightly custom job. Normally their smallest shed would be 8x8 or 8x6, but we didn't want ours that wide because it would extend too far down the slope. Ours is 8x4. We also wanted to put a single door on one of the 4-foot sides instead of the usual placement of double doors on an 8-foot side.

We hit a little snag on delivery when we saw the truck pull up and noticed that the door was on the wrong end. Because of how it would be oriented behind our garage we need the door on the side away from the heat pumps and rocks. To their credit the company recognized their mistake immediately and promised to return in 3 business days with the right shed. 

They were true to their word and then the interesting/entertaining part began--getting the shed from the truck into position. Maybe because it's a small shed or maybe this is their usual M.O., but there was only one guy and a miniforklift called a Mule. Carefully and painstakingly he maneuvered the shed down the driveway, between the garage and house, and into the backyard. He'd move it a bit, look underneath to check for obstacles, and reposition the Mule to guide the shed to the next position.

It took about 90 minutes from the truck's arrival to final placement, but it's exactly where we wanted it.

 

With that all done we could tackle the last steps to fit it for our purposes--a couple ramps and platform to make it easier to get wheeled tools into and out of the shed.

Until next time.