So much to be thankful for...

The last week went by wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too fast!

We did, however, get to spend some time with our incredible new nephew and that... was just perfect.  :) Thank you, *Sister-in-law* for making the trip to town!

Next week is, of-course, TURKEY DAY!  Wow! Can you believe it is right around the corner?

In addition to some regular posts, over the next week I will share some little projects (kid distractions) and holiday fun over the next few days. If there are any special or unique supplies you may need, I will try to give you a heads-up (because who has time to take extra trips to the store on a holiday week)?

Supplies:

• Hang onto an empty spaghetti sauce jar or peanut butter jar (plastic or glass is just fine) WITH SECURE LID -- don't toss it to the recycle just yet.
• Also, grab a small container of heavy whipping cream when you take your weekly whirl of the grocery store.

This project will (both) add some thing special to your Thanksgiving table and occupy the kiddos for a bit.


In other news.
The husband and I made some progress on the shed and wanted to share what we learned. Remember, this 'shed' could be used as a playhouse, greenhouse, tool storage, teenage hangout, man cave, she lair, or any other number of things. Sheds are beautiful in that they are so readily receptive to your creative in-put.

If you recall, in the first shed planning phase we called the city to find out the rules and regulations. Then made sure we knew where the property line fell. We decided on the size of our shed (10' x 12') for one main reason-- lumber length. Lumber already comes in lengths of 10' and 12', so we will have less cutting to do... and that is very appealing! Finally, we decided on the best location for our shed at the Rubber City Homestead.

Alright. Now that we are all up to speed, how do we procede?

First, grab four stakes (tall stakes make this easier). If you find yourself short of stakes, grab some long, narrow pieces of wood from the hardware, slice them up to the length you want (height of stake you want). Also, throw the tape measure, a mallet or sledge into your wheel barrel, some gloves, some kite string or fishing line and head on over to your *future building sight*.

Since you have already decided on the location for your shed, you should just throw down some lumber and get to work... right?!?! 
Not so fast, neighbor.

First we want to make sure we have a solid foundation for the structure. Take one last glance around and make sure you are confident that the building site is not in an area that will collect water if we get hit by a ton of rain (it is Ohio, afterall). If you are feeling good about that, start kicking around the type of foundation you want for your structure. This is where your particular building plan will come in very handy.

Let's not get the cart before the horse, here. First thing is first. To begin, measure out the space where you want your shed. Do your best to give 90 degree angles to your measurement. When you are rather confident that you have squared-up the space, drive a stake into each of the four corners. Measure the lengths again. Run the tape measure across the space to compare diagonal length, as well (these should match). There is a theme here, as I am sure you are picking up on... measure, measure, measure! and measure again. It will save you a lot of headaches down the line.

If you squared your stakes on the first attempt, great! You did better than we did! ;)

Once your space is staked, take the string or twine and run it from stake to stake around the perimeter. This will come in handy, as you will need an illustration of the space in the next phases.

Next, consider how you would like to level the space that will house your shed.

• Some folks will opt to dig down approx 6" and lay gravel to help with drainage
• Others will simply rest the shed base on the ground or on treated 4" x 4" boards
• Others will adapt the ground foundation and rest the shed on cinder block (adding height to the foundation)
• Still others may opt for a pole barn construction (dirt floor) and will simply set the 'poles' in the four corners as the initial framework

If you have not already done so, this is the time where you will make the final decision on the type of construction for your shed.


At the Rubber City Homestead, we opted to rest the base of the shed on cinder block. This is some what of a combination approach. To begin, we measured the space, as above. Next we dug down about 6" in the spaces where the cinder block will rest. We placed the cinder block in the recesses, leveled each block and leveled each 'row' of block.

*Whichever foundation method you choose, try not to become impatient about the leveling and measuring. It will pay off in the long run. AND just imagine, each following step will go a lot faster-- hang in there!

After each individual block, each row of block, the entire mess of block were leveled (ugh!) we were pretty satisfied! *Shed victory #1!

The following week, we headed to Lowe's to grab our foundation lumber (yay!!!).
Our list included:

• (17) 10' x 6" x 2" treated
• (2) 12' x 6" x 2" treated
• (30) single joist hangers
• (4) double joist hangers
• carpenter's pencil
• joist hanger nails
• 4" nails

Lowe's had most of what we needed, but came up a little short on lumber. We headed over to Home Depot and lucked out! They were just due to open up a new bundle of 10' x 6" x 2" and we were there to pick through it and select each piece we wanted. Being careful to select lumber that was not bowed, full of knots or otherwise damaged, we and picked each and every piece with smiles on our faces. With the vehicle full, we headed home with our goodies!
Shed victory #2!

Given the season, we were sure to stack our lumber on extra cinder block to ensure that it would not soak up too much moisture in the weeks ahead.

***This is where the husband and I learned a little lesson, so I will pass forward what we learned.


First, a little background. Our very kind neighbor offered us some cinder block left over from a job site. We accepted with enthusiasm because we knew we wanted to use cinder block as the foundation of our shed.

If you happen to consult a professional builder about the cinder block, above ground, or 4" x 4" foundation, they will caution you about the 'shifting contents' that will occur. The reason for this is the low temperatures and high moisture of our area. The cinder block will shift over time, due to the variety of temperatures in Ohio.* Given our shed needs, we still felt we wanted to press forward with the cinder block-- consider your options before you begin your project :)

What we FORGOT to do was to consider the width of our building materials when we recessed and leveled the cinder block.

This simple illustration is of the shed base (view from above). As you can see, when you apply the 12' x 6" x 2" boards to the 10' x 6" x 2" joists (boards across), the base is actually 4" wider than the perfect rectangle we had initially imagined.
Lack of planning and experience on our part.
As with all things Rubber City Homestead, we were able to remedy the challenge, improvise and move forward just fine.
Hopefully, we can spare you the 'improvising' step in the process!

In short, we built the frame...

...we used 16" centers (the center of each joist is 16" from the center of every other joist), which seems to be the accepted length all around.

We hung the rest of the joists and now we are ready to lay the floor boards!

Shed victory #3!