This past weekend I “broke ground” on a shed at my brother’s house. I love building sheds, so when he asked me to build him a 10×14 outbuilding nestled among some trees near the border of the woods in his backyard, I jumped at the chance.
Being a remodeler, I do a little bit of a lot of things, but to me, sheds are a near perfect building project. They are just enough of everything to be fun, but not enough of anything to be a drag. Think about it. A small floor structure means only humping a few sheets of 3/4″ underlayment, there are only 4 walls, the roofs are usually simple gables, there are only a couple of doors and windows to install, and the roof is only a couple squares. There’s often no electricity to worry about, no plumbing, and the inspection process pretty much consists of the town checking to see if you installed rafter ties and ground anchors.
It’s quick, satisfying work that makes a big impact on a yard.
Then again, maybe it’s only near perfect to me because I don’t get to be a framer, siding installer, or roofer all that often, and I certainly don’t get to build too many “new” things from the ground up, especially not outdoors.
Maybe a framer would cringe at the thought of spending a weekend shouldering stacks of 2x’s and raising gable walls in the backyard just for a place to park the lawn tractor. Heck, maybe the perfect project for a framer would be to build a mantel, or install cabinets, or install crown molding.
Variety is the spice of life, I suppose.
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