Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The roof! The roof! (July 2012)

Last October we'd intended to replace the roof. We had scheduled a weekend to tackle the job not once, but twice. Both times we were washed out with record amounts of rainfall. So the leaky tin roof remained until Mark, Chad and Ray had time to work on it over July 4th, 2012. After stripping the tin off, we could see that several pieces of plywood needed replacing. After that, we added drip edge, installed ice and water shield over the entire thing, added a ridge vent, and installed shingles. One of the first things people ask us is why we didn't use new tin instead of shingles - the answer is simple: the shingles were free, found curbside in CT :-)

Replacing rotten plywood


Temporary skylights


Looking a little better, as a storm rolls in


Waiting out the storm


Cousins, up to no good


Drip edge


Shingles started :-)


Meanwhile, Buzzy, Chad and Ray worked on freeing up one of my windows

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Foundation Pier Reconstruction (November 2011)

In November of 2011, my dad went up alone and spent some time digging out and reconstructing the foundation piers, filling around them with crushed rock for drainage. It survived the winter very well and didn't shift from the frost at all.

My dad's block pier construction - hole dug


Crushed rock and cement pads


Rest of the cinder blocks


They held up well over the winter!

Monday, September 17, 2012

More demolition (Mid-September 2011)

For a just a few minutes we actually gave some consideration to leaving the interior paneling the way it was and painting or staining it. I am so glad we came to our senses and decided to take it down to studs! Nasty, nasty, nasty stuff was behind those boards. We salvaged as much of the paneling as we could, but some of the planks were pretty stubborn. We left the rigid board insulation in for the time being, but I took that out the following spring.

Nasty!


Found some rot in one of the walls that will need repairing


Dad cranking on a stubborn plank


The salvage pile in the front, the burn pile in the back


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Jacking it up (Mid-September 2011)

One of the things we wanted to get done before winter was to jack the shed up and get it up out of the ground and onto cement blocks. It was sinking into the ground pretty well, but in mid-September of 2011 the boys used some handyman jacks and started cranking on anything that wasn't rotting. They managed to get three pressure treated 6x6s under it. My dad came back later and improved the foundation piers (blog post with more details to follow...)

One side up


Canine supervisors, Hobbes & Nieko (RIP :-( )


Other side


This wall is in rough shape!


Out of the ground!