Labor of Love

Well, we didn't get it done before we had to stop, but we're close. In fact, we started staining the workshop slash garage, but I was too stinking tired to raise the camera to my eye and take a snap shot.    We have a few things to finish.  The workshop slash garage has been a labor of love. One day, when my horribly aching feet (pictured), stop throbbing and when my honey's arm is useful again, I think we'll be glad we took on this challenge.   

• For now we limp away like Quasimodo twins. 
  
• We'll heal, rest and finish the job when we can.  I'll post the "finish" photos.
• Did I mention we'll have less than $1,800 invested in an 18' X 20' workshop slash garage? 
•  Do you think we're crazy or do you think it's worth it?

Click on photo to enlarge. Antique gate, doorknobs and pulls are being considered for the Barn House.  

Protractors, Levels and Squares, Oh My!

• We put a plastic drop cloth on the north side because the crooked little carport made a wonderful wind tunnel (I'm being facetious)...it was tacky, but functional.
• My job throughout the project was to mark where the studs were to be nailed in. Usually you mark the bottom sill every 16". Then lay the top plate next to bottom sill and transfer markings.  Nooooooo. That would be too easy.  Instead we're talking about an angled top plate and straight/flat bottom sill.
  
• And it would have been way too easy to have the same 15 degree angle on the back as the front facade. Nothing easy for us! Let's go for a 10 degree angle. woohoo. *shaking my head and sighing*
  
• We finally figured out how to mark the left side top plate via trial and error because DIY network does not have a project like this on its site. Neither does Bob Vila. They're too smart to attempt it.
• In the afternoon, beginning at the back center, we marked the stud placement using the same formula as the back left side. Guess what? After cutting the same stud 7 times -- count with me 1, 2, 3...7 -- we found out the right side was a 12 degree angle instead of 10.
• Did we pray for patience and totally forget?
• Anyway, that's why I put a couple of unrelated happy photos in the collage...because we were not relatively happy during today's process.
• One wall to finish and only one day left to work on it.  
  

I think some Roasted Garlic Tomato soup sounds good tonight. This Talavera Soup Tureen will keep it nice and hot. Yum!

Level Headed

The east and west side walls are complete (picture center bottom). Phew!  During this process I was reminded that my husband measures everything with a micrometer which measures in 1/1000ths of an inch (pictured on left).   

"Who's going to SEE the siding this close to the ground? Squirrels? Bugs?" I asked.   "I'll see it," he answered.  (you can click to enlarge photo)

Okay, he does not literally use a micrometer, but if the edges of the wood siding, correction, VERY HEAVY wood siding were even 1/16th off, he demand I hold the siding level.

In the kindest words my numb-with-cold lips could utter, I'd assure him, "Good night nurse! I AM holding it as level as I can while standing on my head! May I add my nose is running up my face?"     

Yeah. It wasn't pretty.

You can click on photos to enlarge.

During these times I "go to another place" in my imagination. When I was a little girl we lived in a couple of places that had push-button light switches. They're back! I'd really like to put them in the Barn House, but with decorative plates (like the oiled bronze one showed) instead of slick stainless. What do you think?

Carpenter Pencil Discovery

I highlighted part of the bottom center photo with color (click to enlarge) because it held some of our essentials:

• metal strapping (which we later discarded)
  
• new sharp tin snips for metal strapping and tin roof to come
• drills and assorted bits
• LOTS of sheet rock screws....
• and, among other things, my favorite new discovery: a carpenter's pencil that has refillable, ever sharp lead! Striker is the brand I'm showing above, but Lowe's carry Swanson brand, which works on the same principle. The pencils run $2.50 - $3.00, including a supply of lead refills.Try one and tell me if you like it as much as I do.

I bought a barn star to help me focus on the end product. This star from Pottery Barn is pricey @ 199.00, but you can find them a lot of places. I bought mine (a barn star with barb wire around it, also known as a Western Barn Star), at Hobby Lobby for $11.00 on a 50% sale. Yay! Anyone else have or like barn stars?

Walls, Truly.

Actual walls are going up (shown in the center top tiny photo). Yay!

It's cold. It's windy. We're so tired, but the wood siding is going up and we're encouraged.

True, each piece has to be cut according to the four foot level instead of simple measurements because of the crazy multi-directional slopes of this crooked little carport.
True, the siding is very heavy and awkward to hold level with the previous piece of siding.
True, I didn't get to paint the siding before I put it up like I planned.
True, it didn't fit under the metal roof until I took out all the self-tapping sheet metal screws.
True, we now have a noisy, floppy, flapping-in-the-brisk-wind metal roof.
True, the neighbors saw more of my blue-jeaned rear end than my arm chair! But it's progress. Hallelujah!

Walls make boring photos, so I added "Mr. Scarecrow," pumpkins and the mums that are on our front porch. 

It's been a long, messy day...

Fusion

We knew from the beginning that the wood walls would need to "fuse" to the metal posts of the less-than-lovely carport.  My first idea was metal strapping. I like that product. It's like, one step up from duct tape. *wink*

Problem is,  when we tried to nail the wood siding to the studs and sill. The bottom sill kept moving inward. Not good.

Time ticked by and I got, what Ford calls, a better idea. "Bolts!" I blurted out. "Let's try that."

Tired, cold, but determined, we drove eight miles into town and discovered Lowes has a nice selection of bolts....kind of pricey, but nice.  We got 8" bolts with hex nuts and washers at the tune of about $4.50 per set X 16 sets, add tax.

Ya know what? It worked great. Those wooden studs fused with the metal posts. Plus, I got to learn how to use a crescent wrench and socket set. Yay! Anyone else ever use a socket set? Way cool.

 












I bought one of these iron stars at Hobby Lobby  for the workshop or barn house. They were originally used as large washers for the bolts and nuts that held old brick buildings together.  Plus this old table would make a great little workbench, don't you think?
 

Measure Twice Cut...Uh Oh

It's clear, but in in the low forties with a brisk wind. It made our teeth chatter.  The sun stayed out until about 10:00, then it hid like a coward the rest of the day.

We both wanted to see what the facade will look like, but no matter how much we measured, our numbers didn't translate. The "measure twice, cut once" rule just was not working.

It took hours to realize that the carport actually SWAYED in the wind, taking the facade with it - making measuring...well...tricky.

We had to figure out how to stabilize the facade to the carport, without swaying in the wide with it.

"We're all out of our brain food: Cheerios and almonds," I called out from the kitchen. 

"I think we're going to need more powerful brain food," my honey said sadly.

"Wal-Mart has donuts on sale," I suggested as I stepped outside.

"Done deal. Get in the car."
 

This darling apron has nothing to do with this post except it's got blue in it (like my collage). The apron is found at AnniesAttic at Etsy. You should be able to click on the photo to go to the site. I'm eating donuts...several.

 

InSPIRE-ing?

"What are you building?" my honey's elderly aunt asked.

That isn't  what you want to particularly hear during construction. I was hoping more for..."Wow! What a manly workshop you've got going!" *small sigh*

However my honey chirped, "A church with a steeple!" Yes, it did look a spire; that or a redneck-hillbilly lighting rod.  "Nah, it's going to be a workshop slash garage," he beamed from the top of his ladder.

Now it's a workshop slash GARAGE?

Aunt Bessie who was raised on a large farm just 4-5 miles away from Old Sweetwater, squinted. Then she turned her gray-haired head this way and that, and said sweetly, "Well, I am sure it will be nice when you're done."

She shuffled off and I trudged back inside to the drawing board a-gain.  I also poured me another bowl of Cheerios with almonds.  

 
















My "brain-food" Cheerios, would taste even better in this fun mango wood bowl from K-Mart.

What's Your Angle?

Remember when adults told you to pay attention and do good in math because you'll need it when you grow up? They weren't lying. 

On the plan we wanted a "Western" barn front facade, which would blend with our Dutch barn that has a gambrel roof. My CAD program didn't have any roof that matched the western barn  criteria, so I had to design it based on all the barns around the Old Sweetwater area.

Seemed simple until I had to figure compound degrees and angles that would not just work on paper, but on a crooked little carport (see yesterday's post).

 "Let's see, I'll make the shed roof sides at 15 degree angles to cover the crooked angle that exists, but the end boards will have to be 12 1/2 degrees to be 90 degrees square - in a perfect world. Then the center section, which is 8 feet wide by 3 feet tall will be 40 degrees, but the center board peak...."

"I  need brain food!" I cried out.
"Cheerios will have to do," my honey replied.

"Add almonds and pray."

"Yep, because you didn't figure on the double door header either," he mumbled.

Back to the drawing board, literally. I wonder if Miss Brusike, one of my best math teachers, is still alive and teaching?

   

I'm going to light a soy candle and soak in the tub. We bought this one at Lowes (where I've spent a lot of time lately).

There was a crooked man...

Yes, those are studs for the facade wall. Yay!  We're doing a little happy dance.

"Let me see the drawing and plans," my honey said as he concentrated on something else.

"This can be altered," I reassured him. "Of course, we'll have to adapt it to the carport..." I mumbled because he wasn't looking at me, but the carport's metal posts.

"Did we put a level to all these?" he asked.

"Yes. The first corner post. It was dead level."

He walked the length and width of the carport with four-foot level in hand and replied, "Well, it's the only one. It's leaning north to south and it's leaning east to west. Every metal post is not evenly spaced..." he drew a breath...."and it slopes down hill. Where were our minds?"

Dancing ceased.

There's an English nursery rhyme that goes something like...

"There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house."

Make that...a crooked workshop.
 

This beautiful door knock from Pottery Barn is $39.00

Silly Me Sunday

It stopped raining enough for us to start laying the bottom sill made from treated lumber (upper left photo). Yay! Then it started raining and the temperatures dropped again.  *sigh*

"Ya know what? This drizzling rain makes for a great opportunity to go to Barnes and Noble." I suggested.

Thirty minutes later we were sitting with two steaming cups of java as we scrunched down on two amber colored leather chairs. We had arms-full of books to look at ------ Heavenly!  A couple of hours later, we returned with rested minds and bodies...and a book.

Back to the grind!

Any other Barnes and Noble fans? Borders fans? What kind of coffee do you drink in your favorite book store?

 

A Little Rusty

No, this isn't our truck, but it represents us:  Rusty and out of gas.

It's cold and raining intermittently, so we decided to abandon the workshop project today and run to the home improvement store. We need to buy a few things like new tin snips, drill bits, a few more 2X4's, insulated underwear and ear-muffs!

"Looks like you've got a your work cut out for you," the gal at the check-out in Lowe's kidded as she winked at me.

"You have noooo idea," my honey sighed as he grimaced just using his arm muscles to write the check.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the two men behind my honey look at me and then just shake their heads in sympathy.

"How 'bout a big ol' steak at Applebee's?" I asked my honey fairly loudly. "Sure! I'll go get the car," he smiled broadly.

As we left I looked back at the men in line. They gave me thumbs-up. 

Yeah. Will work for food.

Block Head

• Day three rained like cRaZy, so we're into day four.
• My honey's wearing a hat and fleece-lined hoody because it's almost thirty degrees cooler than normal.
• Send a note to weather man to please stop all rain until our vacation is over. Check. (are you getting I like lists?)
  
• My job: Pull twisted string across floor to keep the rock level. Check.
  
• Use extra blocks we already had and a few purchased ones to shore up the base rock floor. Check.
  
• My 2nd job: Mush Down. It was my "job" to walk on the chat...er, base rock and "mush it down"  because when compacted, it provides a concrete-like base. *light bulb moment* That's how base rock is different than chat.
• Go on diet because "I'm so HEAVY I can mush baserock flat!!!" I said for the benefit of the pewter squirrels, who I suspected were measuring my backside with their little clawed hands.
• Floor level. Check.
• Tired, cold and feeling fat. Check, check and check.
  
  Those darling, little pewter squirrels can be purchased at Pottery Barn. I included them because they're cute and looked like they're praying for better weather...or praying for me not to mush them!
  

Rock On!

The carport-turn-into-workshop plan is going well.  The base rock - not to be confused with chat *wink* - is being put in on the Clorox-clean dirt. (See previous posts if this sounds silly)

It's slow work. It's a challenge on the back, knees, arms and shoulders. Why? Well, part of the reason is we're not in our 20's, 30's or even 40's. (Did I just admit that?)  And secondly, it was done one shovel load at a time by my honey.

I asked to help, but still feeling badly about the migraine incident, he said he'd rather me just sit upwind and visit with him. Beside, it won't take long. And the chill in the air gives him energy.

"That's a lot of cha...base rock to move, honey. Are you sure I couldn't help somehow?" I asked.

"It's just one load at a time," he smiled and winked.

That's one of our philosophies of Life: One load. One step. One piece. One bite at a time and it will get done and you will get through it.

At the end of the lonnnggg day I fixed him a great dinner, then ran him a hot bath and brought him Advil, extra strength. Tired, cold and sore, but we "gotter done."    
You can click on photos to enlarge

Base Rock Rocks!

"It looks like chat," I said.

"It's BASE rock," he replied.

"If you say so. It looks like chat and it looks like a LOT more than we need."

"Trust me," he said.

(Selling each other on ideas is what we do.)

Clorox clean dirt. Check.

Base rock. $130.00 delivered. Check.

Shovels. Check.

Motrin. Check.

Lanterns, Pottery Barn

Let The Good Times Roll!

I'm going to take a short side excursion from my typical posts for a few days to share our recent experience.

Here is Old Sweetwater's less-than-attractive metal carport in the bottom left corner. The half-finished well house is the short brown box in background.  Anyway, the carport inspired me. Yes, inspired me.

Did you shake your head in pity? So did my honey. Well, his was more of a "Lucy? What are you thin-kin?" -- as in the old I Love Lucy Show. Then it turned into a "No way!" shake, so I had to sell him on the idea.

"It CAN be done," I began. "Beside honey, you'll need a workshop if we build the barn house. AND it will be a 20X18 workshop. Imagine THAT!"

Sold. Check.

This photo is day 2 of our "vacation." The weather was cool but beautiful and we were ready to, as our southern friends might say, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!" Aye-eeee.

A couple of week prior, I had drawn up CAD plan (Computer-Aided Design) and made a project list. Check

Purchases and delivery. Check.

Remove 6 inches of bark off the "floor." Check. No! I immediately got a migraine, I mean a full-blown ugly one. Discovery: there was about 1 inch of powdery mildew on the ground just under the bark. I'm super-allergic to mildew. I spent the day in racking pain while my sweet honey cleared and sprayed nearly a gallon of Clorox on the ground.

Mildew removal *sigh*. Check.

Day three will be better.

The light barn-inspired light fixture is Pottery Barn.