Finished off the stove (nearly)

The last job to do on  the wood burner was to fit the flue pipe and get it out the end wall. First, I needed a hole to poke the flue pipe through! Out with the marker pen and drill...

... Next the cold chisel and block hammer...

... Trial fit...

Finally, offer up the main pipe and clamp it down...

And from the outside...

Lastly I cemented everything in and while I was at it, I added an external light so I can sit out and sup a cold one in the darker evenings. I reckon the shed [now officially known as the "Drey"] is looking pretty damn cool.

More work done in the Drey

After completing the building of the shelves comes the stacking of the shelves. This task was taken on in a semi ruthless fashion with everything not obviously important now getting binned. Bit drastic, but I have been guilty of hoarding and 7 year old tins of paint ain't never going to be any use.

Neat ain't it.

Also been busy making a very thin wall cupboard for my sash clamps.

Now all I have to do is make doors for them all! Sadly, cash is running out and I have my Ireland trip to pay for, so for now I'm slowing up and enjoying a bit of summer.

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.