So today my dad needed me at home to help him construct a new vinyl shed in the backyard. The entire process took about all day, but it was nice to be outside in the nice weather and actually accomplish something. The way that people manufacture “do-it-yourself” construction kits is pretty ingenious. It’s almost like putting a giant puzzle together. I’ve always liked putting things together since I was younger, so doing these kinds of chores don’t really bother me at all.
We had a pretty flat surface already made for us by one of my cousins, so all we had to do today was lay down a matte that would go over the wood and keep it dry. This will hopefully keep the wood from rotting for a number of years. We actually put together another shed before and found out that it was a lot of trouble putting it up because the ground we were on was not perfectly level.
The matte had adhesive on the bottom, so there was no need to nail it or anything. It was pretty painless to put it down except at the very end when my dad accidentally let the adhesive side stick to itself. Getting it apart again was a pain.
Next we laid out all the parts for the shed. This came in 4 big boxes that was a pain to move. The entire shed weighs about 600 lbs (272 kg), so that was where most of the heavy lifting came in. Laying out the pieces and separating them into similar piles makes the construction process a lot easier. Even when I have to put together things that are small, I like to lay out all the pieces before putting it together. I used to do that when I built gundam models.
After everything was completely laid out, came the flooring. Building from the bottom up is probably the only way to construct something.
And a short while later, where there was nothing before, is now something that resembles a roofless, empty shack! The walls were actually really easy to put up, but were kind of annoying since they were able to give so easily having no support on top.
About half the roof is done already. We added doors, steal beams on top for support, and a few other things that aren’t very clear from this shot. You can see two step stools and a ladder here. Despite only 2 people involved in this construction, I had to get the ladder out cause I was too short to reach some things even with the step stools. I’m only about 5’5″ tall…maybe 5’6″ – haven’t checked in a really long time.
A shot from inside. You can see the nice foliage off to the right. There are a lot of trees in my backyard – it’s really pretty when it’s Autumn.
We didn’t actually finish making the shed today cause my dad had to leave since he, my mom, my sister, and my sister’s boyfriend were meeting some family friends in New York City for dinner. I got stuck at home eating takeout with my younger brother. Oh well – there isn’t really too much left to do though; we actually only have one part of the roof left and that’s about it. This shed was nice since you didn’t need many tools and everything is provided for you. 10′ x 10′ is actually pretty spacious, despite how small it looks.
