09 March 2006

Shedding It

By late summer, there were no signs of a shed appearing over the horizon. Another work colleague had offered us an 8x6 Shedmaster metal shed and we dismantled it and took it to the allotment where it lay in an untidy heep for a long time. The truth was, I didn't have the heart to put it up. The thing had no soul. It felt wrong and I know I would've hated using it. On a practical level too it was inadequate. For a start, the thing is constructed round a metal base which is bolted to slabs so it more or less sits directly on the ground and would have been very damp. It is also very difficult to put shelves up on metal walls, you would have to build free standing shelves. It would have been very insecure as you can almost cut through the metal with a pair of scissors. And, damn it all, it would just not have been COZY!
Then, another wave of synchronicity pointed the way. Our neighbour two doors up had all her old wooden doors and windows removed and replaced with delightful plastic ones. I blagged all the windows and the front door. Next a joiner friend was moving workshop and having a clearout and we got a number of carloads of valuable timber. He was also taking down a stud partition wall in the next week or two and there would be loads of 3x2 timbers up for grabs. Next, a skip appeared just round the corner from where we live full to overflowing with old floorboards as well as quantities of heavier 6x3 timbers. I took as much as I could manage before the skip dissapeared.
In addition to all of that, we have an e mail based swapshop in our area and from that came lots of paving flags as well as other timbers suitable for cladding. It's obvious where all this is going.....we were going to build our own shed. And we did.....and here it is.....snuggling up to the greenhouse.


As I write, all that remains to do is put on some guttering, tittivate the interior with a mini-bar, jucuzzi and so forth and slap some preservative on the timbers.

At last......somewhere to store STUFF.


......and park the tools.



...................and dream!

4 comments:

Dave said...

Loving that shed! I've added you to my list of links on:
http://davesallotment.blogspot.com/

clodhopper said...

Dave.....thanks for the link....much appreciated. It's SUCH a nice feeling to know someone is reading your blog...pathetic really I know, but it's like having a huge bowl of winter veg soup with a massive chunk of toast (got to be the crust), smothered in butter & marmite. Fuzzy or what?
cheers
Clodhopper

Petunia's Gardener said...

I enjoy visiting your site and the shed developments! I have (part of) a barn but it hasn't make it to my site yet. Just starting out.
Cannot wait to see spring in the allotments! Paula

clodhopper said...

Paula....can't help wondering which part of a barn you've got! Let us know when you get a picture up.

Yup, that's enough winter now thank you very much. Want some warmth now to get things going a bit.