Thursday 10 September 2009

Fixing up the shed

When we moved here, one of the main pluses for me was the fact there was a decent sized shed at the top of the garden which was shouting 'workshop!!' A big minus was the fact that it had no door, was really damp inside and was full of junk left from the previous owners. The big question was could I get it dry and keep it dry enough to put yarns or fabrics in without ruining them? This is still the big question I want the answer to but I just won't know till all the work is done.

The first thing we did was to seal in the roof as it's asbestos. Safe enough when sealed but I'd rather not take any chances:-) so its been sealed with waterproof ply. The most major thing was to get the shed weather tight as soon as possible. Summer should be a good time for drying out and DIY but we haven't had the driest summer here in the UK so its been a bit challenging;-)

As you can see, there is no door and this window wasn't held in by much. When it was time to take this out, one little push and it parted company sooner than was expected. I've been trying to keep the rain out from the missing panes with polythene which worked somewhat but mostly dribbled down the wall and soaked the floor on a bad rain day - sigh. But now they are gone and new windows are in place. Progress pics tomorrow:-)

Now the inside. To the left of the door, under the window, there were some mouldy old woodwormed kitchen units - I took great pleasure in ripping them out! And when we cleared a lot of junk away we found this little enclosure for compost on the right. I never even knew it was there. No wonder the shed smelled so - earthy! But its now nurturing my plants in the garden although it took a lot of trips to empty it completely. Then we had to knock down the wall with a sledgehammer but I still have to get rid of all the stones - added to the ever mounting pile of rubbish needing to go to the dump.

On the right side, There is mostly rubble bags under the window - outside now - and the chimney sweep brushes have found a new home as I don't intend to use them when the chimney sweep man has a hoover thing to do it a lot more efficiently - with no mess! But I don't use the open fire much - too messy.
The shelving unit is mine and is storing my knitting machines and tables. The tables have suffered a bit with damp but are still useable. Very annoying but I just didn't have room inside for everything and I didn't think the shed got as damp as it obviously does.

On a parting note, see the little wet patch? Yes? Well, that was a present left by my cat who, we've found out, has been using the shed as her inside toilet!!!!! Yes, a lot dryer than outside but I hope she can tell the difference between manky old shed and nice, clean new workshop. I don't want it being christened, thank you very much!

Tomorrow, I'll take some pics of where we are now - the windows, ceiling and door. It still needs a lot of cosmetic work visually but once I can get the walls dry I can get the paint out and make it look more like a workable space - fingers crossed. But its taking a long time.........

9 comments:

  1. with a good foundation anything is possible. It looks to be a good amount of work ahead of you but doable. We had to replace the basement windows in our house as they were rotted and we just got some premade windows and weather treated wood and got them in our selves. Certainly make it warmer when we get hit w/our winters.

    I would think that with a door and windows that should take care of most of the moisture issues. When that's done take a candle and check for drafts that need to be sealed. Also someone outside w/a light in the dark will expose holes as well.

    If it has electricity, a dehumidifier may be a good choice in the dampest of days. I have to use one to get a early head start on my candy making in the fall as our falls are so wet here.

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  2. Hey Sis, great to see your shed 'before' picture! Can't wait to see the pics of new windows and door. I'm sure you'll make it a very fine workshop soon. Hope you are taking some rest in your lovely garden between times.xx

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  3. I love your little shed and can't wait to see it turned into a proper workshop. It's going to be so nice! I second the dehumidifier idea...they're awesome here for leaky basements. I think it would help on rainy days...I'm not actually comparing your workshop to a basement.

    I love the updates so post more please!

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  4. I must say, it looks very charming with the garden path going up to it! You must have a very pretty property.

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  5. I've got a dehumidifier up there at the moment drying the walls out but hopefully if I get the electrics done I won't have to run 4 extension cables all the way up the garden:-)At least it isn't raining right now...

    I must admit to spending more time doing up the garden since I moved in:-)) The bit to the left was a huge pile of rubbish, weeds etc that covered the lot of it. It took a long time to clear it all, make a raised bed and get the plants in. It's still not finished as the plants are still growing but it's looking a lot better than before. I do like the windy grass path but it gets a bit slippy when its wet! I have some stepping stones I may have to use soon until I decide what would look best there permanently.

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  6. Thanks everyone for the advice - I'll definitely try the candles and a light at night as well as the dehumidifier.

    To be honest Crystal, the shed looked as damp and sad as a leaky basement:-) But it has potential! I'm taking pictures of the progress and hopefully we will be sealing the outside tomorrow - Yey!
    Will post soon:-)

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  7. Hey sis! I have been resting on and off but its tiring work sanding and wirebrushing walls! Think I got a bit of sunstroke today so I'm having a quiet evening. Mad dogs a scotwoman living in england labouring out in the midday sun:-))

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  8. we had to do the light 1st in our basement. Our house is about 70 years old and the basement had holes wide open to the outside.I went out w/a big flashlight and we turned off the light and plugged all the holes where the light came through with steel wool (keeps out the rodents) then insulation. the candle revealed the smaller leaks.

    Maybe a combo stepping stones and grass would be a pleasant solution for the path.

    I hope you don't mind my suggestions/posts. My mind just starts to spin when I see PPL creating stuff.

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  9. The garden looks so inviting. Hopefully the shed will be inviting soon as well.

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Hello and thanks for stopping by. Do stay a while and visit. Please do leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you and be inspired by all your blogs out there too:-) elaine xx

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