Erecting a New Garden Shed

If you missed the first 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.

Then last month ago I posted about the

Preparation for a New Garden Shed  

so you might like to click above and see the work involved there before we tackle the actual process of putting up our new shed.


We got rid of a wooden shed but we have now replaced it with a larger metal shed.

I am not going to say this project was easy, nor am I going to say it was FUNWORK because it wasn't but I am going to say that it was not me who had the hard work to do and we were all happy to see the job completed and also there was a great sense of satisfaction.


We bought a Yardmaster Shed and of course the first thing Fred did was to check up on any videos for tips on erecting one of these.

So to be completely honest about it all

The videos we found made it look easier than it really was!!

One guy seemed to be implying that he did it all himself except for when his wife helped him to lift up and carry over and place on the roof frame.

His shed was the size smaller than ours but after tackling this project we can say without a doubt that two people are needed for more than one part.

All the thanks is due to Fred & Daniel who did all the hard work.

The work was done over four days - not 4 full days due to Daniel having to work part of the time and because of breaks because of rain (we do live in Northern Ireland!).

Day One 

Fred was on his own except for when he asked me to check something with him.


First Stage  -  Organising Materials.

Unpacking of the three boxes, checking everything accounted for, laying out on paved area and patio table.

This kind of thing always takes longer than anyone would think.



Second Stage  -  Building Base Frame.

Reading instructions,  picking out correct pieces,  attaching the various lengths of the base frame together,  placing base frame on the concreted area.

The important thing here was to make sure that the electric and water connections were inside and not too close to any of the frame.

Happily Fred had measured and placed the connections carefully during the pouring of the cement base.



Third Stage  -  Building the Roof.

Reading instructions,  picking out correct pieces,  forming the front and back sections of the roof.

Reading instructions,  picking out correct pieces,  completing the roof framework.

I did have to go out and help here as it was easier for Fred to make the connections while I held parts together for him.

This was all that was completed on the first day.

The next stages would definitely need two good workers.



Day Two

Daniel came for the afternoon and evening to help his dad.


Fourth Stage  -  Frame Uprights.

Reading instructions,  picking out correct pieces,  joining the uprights to the base.

Because (at this stage) the base is not yet pinned down, the uprights can easily tilt and move the frame.  We live at the top of a hill so I had to frequently give a hand with steading the framework when the wind decided to blow through.

This part was rather tedious and time consuming.

Fifth Stage  -  Bottom Wall Panels.

Reading instructions,  checking for top and bottom of the panels,  slotting the panels between the uprights and screwing them in place.

Sixth Stage  -  Attaching Roof Frame.

Lifting and carrying over the roof frame, placing it on in exactly the right position and attaching it to the other framework.

Definitely a two-man job and glad they are both tall guys.

Seventh Stage  -  Side Panels.

Attaching the remaining side panels.

Easier and quicker paced here because they had got the hang of it earlier.

One man inside and one outside really helped here.



Day Three 

Daniel had to work so I had to help Fred but we didn't need any heavy work here.


Eighth Stage  -  Attaching Roof Panels.

Very repetitive job because there are quite a few panels to be placed and many, many screws and washers to be applied.

There are two clear panels to provide light into the shed.

Day Four 

Daniel was back to help for the final stages.


Ninth Stage  -  Attaching Sliding Doors.

Both Daniel and Fred had to work together to attach the sliding doors.

Tenth Stage  -  Securing Shed to Concrete Base.

Holes had to be drilled into the concrete at the corners and along the sides of the shed base frame.

Then the shed was bolted to the base.

Eleventh Stage  -  Filling the Shed.

All three of us then put all the things back into the shed from where we had been keeping them in the garage.

There was so much more room for them in the new shed and now there was more room in the garage again so a very happy result.




Fred of course made a short Time-lapse video this time again each day but we will not bore you with 4 days worth this time.


I don't think even I could describe this job as Funwork over Housework as it was very time consuming and hard work on us all.   But it was a job that had to be done.

Simple Ribbon Storage Solution - Organising My Home

I have been trying to get a good storage solution for keeping ribbons and strings etc. for the last few years.   You would think it was easy to find a simple solution for ribbon storage but rolls of ribbon are likely to move in different positions and then the ribbon becomes loose and that annoys me.

I had been searching Pinterest and Ebay and Amazon for all the different boxes and rails that are out there to buy and to make.


Here are a few of the ideas I had found and some I actually tried.


Plastic Storage box

This is the type of plastic container that my spools of ribbon had originally been in

but they always moved about and un-wrapped in this.




The Bekvam Spice racks from Ikea 

These were recommended by various bloggers.

Screen Shot 

I could not really consider this even though they are very cheap because I did not have wall space in my study (at an easily accessible height).



Thin Dowel Rods

Many people have made up something themselves using thin dowel rods to slot the rolls of ribbon along so I considered that because maybe it would have been possible to connect to something already in the study.

I didn't really have anywhere I could use for the dowel idea.

But....

This led on to thinking if it was possible to come up with an idea to attach something from one side of my wicker & metal shelving unit underneath the shelves.


However  in the end I decided this was not a viable solution either.



Pringles Cans / Postage tubes

Some people are very creative and made ribbon containers from tubes.

And I did happen to have a few of these in the house so this was considered ....

until I decided that it was too much effort to cut it down along the length of it and then paper it or paint it or somehow to decorate it.

Plus the biggest downside to this was that some ribbon spools are quite large and I didn't have a tube wide enough and the spools I had were different diameters, so some might move around inside.



Drawers with Ribbon Cards

This also seemed to be a very popular idea but I just could not understand why.

Perhaps I was just too lazy to 

• take my ribbons off the round spools they were on,
• cut pieces of cardboard to a certain size
• then wind the ribbons round the square or rectangular pieces of card
• and place them upright in a drawer

Plus I didn't have a free drawer to do that.

(Probably could have used a box but as I said - too lazy!)

Several years ago I had seen these black and white boxes which were designed specifically for storing ribbon.

I love black & white and I love boxes and I decided I could buy a few of these and they would stack on top of each other and not take up too much space in the Craft Armoire


Well that is true enough they were easy to stack together not taking up too much room but after a few times lifting the boxes out and in to use the ribbon I had discovered there was a slight problem with them and it became an annoying problem

The wider, firmer ribbons were okay.

But...

The narrow ribbons and the wide flimsy ribbons would not stay in place.

They partly unwrap and slide back out of the slit along the long side of the box so that each time the box has to be opened and some of the ribbons slotted through again.

This is a bigger problem in another box with more of the narrower ribbons and also in the box in which I tried to keep some coloured string & cord.

So that was why I was looking for some other way to store my ribbon, however I was reluctant to have to pay very much after having already paid for these boxes.

But none of the ideas I saw were going to work for me.



Then just last week I had an idea ....

Even though many pictures I had seen showed that crafters were putting pins in their ribbons to stop the unwrapping when their spools were on shelves or on rods, I also did not want to be pinning and unpinning ribbon all the time

But ...

I could stick the ribbon instead!

Yes one of my favourite crafting things is double sided tape.

So

First I took the ribbon out of the box

Then out with the double sided tape and cut a piece the same length as the slit along the box and stick it on just below the slit

and peel off the tape

return the ribbons and press each one down against the tape.

The ribbons are held there nicely against the box and will not roll back into the box again or unwrap themselves.

Now each time I want some ribbon I can

• pull the ribbon away from the tape, 
• measure a length,
• cut the ribbon and
• press it down against the tape again.

Here is another box with the tape applied and you can see it holds the string as well.

Now I don't need to take up any more space than I already had with the boxes.

Simple Solution Found 

      

and it was basically at no extra cost and only a little bit of time involved.

FUNWORK  not  HOUSEWORK for this task definitely as this was such an easy solution.

Preparation for a New Garden Shed - Organising My Home

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!