Shelves are up!

Big weekend of work completed which saw the shed back wall gutted and the new shelf unit assembled. First job was clear off the old units.

I painted the back wall after pre-drilling it ready to anchor the shelves directly to the wall at the back. The fronts of the shelves will be supported by 4 vertical rails.

Next job was assemble the base. This sits on 8 stumpy legs and is also bolted to the rear wall.

Then it's just a case of adding shelves. I made a support which took the weight while I located the bolts. The fronts were supported by the two outer rails only which was a little weak, but worked ok.

All in and the other two vertical rails added and there you have it... Wall to wall shelving.

Next to do is add a plinth along the bottom, cornice along the top. All the shelf fronts need an edging strip to protect the edge of the ply tops and [of course] it needs three pairs of doors. Oh, and some quadrant down the two sides just to be neat.

I'm lovin' it!

Construction has begun

Finished cutting out the joints and am now starting to assemble the shelf units. Shed space is very restricted and I can imagine getting in a bit of a mess as the number of finished shelves goes up. Each shelf takes about an hour to build and 'clean up' so a full day on Saturday should see them all finished. It's Fathers Day this Sunday so I doubt I'll get them fitted this weekend, but we are getting nearer.

On another note, my tools wish list is up to £600! I'm hoping for a good bonus from work in July, so I should be OK, but coughing up £600 for anything always smarts a bit!

Let the mayhem begin!

Money saved, sketches drawn, lets start phase one of the plan!
Time to start in earnest with sorting out the shed. At the moment, the place is a total tip with muck and junk everywhere. Here's a few 'before' shots to show what we're starting from

As you can see, a real buggars muddle! First real part of the sort out is the building of a wall-to-wall cupboard along the back wall. Shelves are going to be deep (610mm) and spaced to take plastic stacking crates so everything can have a proper home. Once up, I'll add doors to keep all the shit out.

Here's the timber stack

... and here's the start of some 72 joints needed to fix all that lot together!

Everyone hand cut as that way I know I'd have put my heart into this shed. Must be said, I'm lovin' playin' with wood again.

Patio done.

Finished the shed patio last weekend. Here's a piccie before the bench went on.

This weekend ( a long public holiday for the Queens jubilee) I will back to working on the house laying a new floor in the hallway. But after that it's solid shed time!

What every shed needs...

... is a patio!

How many times have you been feverishly working away and realised you need to get away from the project for a minute to collect yourself. Can't see the problem for looking is an all to common occurrence for me so I figured what was called for was a calm piece of Eden where I could slow down, relax and contemplate the next stage.

Just outside my shed is a scrap of land not fit for a much and filled with junk plants and mess.

Hour or two with a spade, pick and wrecking bar and you get this.

Next it's Mr Shovel and we're almost ready to lay the concrete base...

... Bit of shuttering to square things up and 10 mixes later...

I've got some leftover paving from the courtyard I built at the back of the house which I'll lay this weekend (if it stays dry!). Add a bench-cum-table and hey presto! My very own 'chill space'.

Cool.

Wood burner is moving on a pace

First job was to smack a bloody great hole in the shed floor. That way I can concrete the stove into place and be sure she won't move.

 Wood burner in place and time to trial the flu pipe. Obviously plug socket (and other electrics!) and chalk board will need to be re-situated, but for now, things are looking good.

Here's a closer look.

Tidy!

"We are not retreating. We are advancing in a different direction!"

I have already eluded to the Plan, well now I shall put a little meat on the bones. The Plan has three phases, each one must be completed fully before the next can be begun. Phase one is a complete re-fit of the shed and is already under way. To complete phase one I need to;

• add heating
• build cupboarded shelving
• move and sort electrics
• replace doors
• fit out with welder & compressor

I've given myself until October to do all this and things are going well so far. Heating is well under way as you can see from the pictures below. A modified gas cylinder will form the fire place and a flu pipe will carry the fumes outside. The pictures are of the preping and painting of the fire place. I'm away this coming weekend, so little will change, but afterwards I expect to fix the cylinder permanently to the floor before adding the flu pipe. Will keep you posted.