If you missed the previous post about our old wooden shed (which was quite some time ago) then head over to
Demolishing a Garden Shed
first and if you don't want to read the whole post you can just watch the short time-lapse video.
Today's post is getting everything ready for the new shed.
This involves the clean up after the old shed was removed and the work since then before the new shed could be erected.
CLEAN-UP
Well first we had a skip to fill to get rid of all the wood from the shed and Fred & I managed this part which gave me a lot of exercise walking back and forward with the wood etc.
By this time we were very happy about the shed being down and in the time-lapse video below you can see fred waving & smiling into the camera a couple of times and if you watch carefully you will catch a quick kiss (might as well make it a bit more fun).
Then we had the clean-up of the rubbish that we found around the back of the oil tank which I had not known was there from moving into the house 4 years ago.
Balls, plastic planters, bits of wood, bricks, old patio slabs, 2 swings!
Added to this then was the taking care of the water connection and electric connections that had been inside the shed. These were there because of the little stone water feature on the decking.
CREATING A BASE FOR NEW SHED
Well we had to wait over the winter until this summer to be able to lay the concrete before we would erect the new shed. Working outdoors in Northern Ireland is always subject to the weather especially as we are at the top of a hill and then we have to work around Fred's travel schedule for business.
Fred measured out and cut the wood to make a wooden surround into which the concrete would be poured.
He had to dig out a little bit of the ground at the back because the new shed was longer than the old one.
He also had to make sure it was in exactly the right position.
The old shed had been on a wooden base which had rotted but underneath that there was a large concrete slab. This was however too low for us to use for the new shed because we wanted the bottom of the shed level with the decking.
Hence we needed to put another base on top of this original concrete.
And this was the finished surround.
Then came the day of the pouring of the cement and we were so glad to see this happen.
But I forgot to start taking photos of the work until most of the cement had been offloaded.
Notice we had to tie back the water tap while the cement went in and be careful about the placing of the electric cable.
Although we got someone experienced in working with concrete to come and do this, Fred wanted to help as usual.
The cement lorry was parked at the front of the house and they had to wheel the cement into the back garden in wheelbarrows along the path at the side of the house and through the small gate to the back.
Then when the area was full it all had to be levelled off
and then smoothed
For a few days we had to water the cement as it should not dry too quickly and then the wooden surround was removed and we had our concrete base ready for the new shed.
BUT what I presumed would be a grey base turned out to be a cream base - I can not remember ever seeing cream concrete before.
This was rather disappointing as the decking is grey so there is a contrast with the cream!
So for this part of the Shed project we started with this
and ended like this
Well Housework or Funwork for this project?
Definitely Funwork for me - not too much hard work, more helping out with something different and having excuses to make coffee because you have to keep the workers happy & me!
Next month I'll have the details of the erection of the new shed - what a job that was!