The Shed/Playhouse

While not 100% complete, an impressive structure which we like to call

"The Shed/Playhouse" stands in our backyard and this is not a picture of it.

This a picture of our back yard before I began construction. Nice view of our neighbors' backyards and the sinking old shed blocking the view of a meadow that will probably be developed in the next couple of years. When we moved into our new home in the summer of 2005, I told my wife that I was going to level the eye-sore of a shed and build a new one. That Christmas she bought me a book named "Building Green" by Clarke Snell & Tim Callahan which really inspired me to think about the space and what I wanted to get out of it. The book was a wealth of knowledge not only about alternative building methods, but also about site planning and basic building principles(anyone thinking about building a home or smaller structure should check this book out). Check out: http://www.thinkgreenbuilding.com/index.htm for more information about this book and its ideas.

I got my graph paper out and sharpened my pencils and, by spring 2006, had come up with these plans for what was no longer just a shed.


This is how I invisioned my backyard with the completed structure:

When I took my plans to city planning, I was surprised to learn that I didn't need any permits because it wasn't connected to our house and it was too small in size to be considered a garage.

After getting a "post and pole" permit, summer 2006 found me in a old burn (forest fire) area felling charred timbers which would make the skeleton for my structure.

On Using Burnt Trees

Pros: No need to cut down living trees, ready to use immediately (no cure time) and very easy to peel.

Con: As a fire moves through a forest the heat makes the wood split along one side, I had to take this split into consideration when placing the logs so that I wouldn't end up trying to screw something into the gap.

Digging the Footers

By the end of the summer 2006, this was what my structure looked like:

I pulled this all back down, stained the logs and covered them with tarp for the winter.
When spring came, work began in earnest and generally consumed my whole summer. Check it!

I'm sorry there is no old shed demolition video. Ask my wife, it was pretty entertaining!

I recycled the floor, roof, two by four and plywood of the old shed.

Old Shed Floor in New Shed

Roof and Plywood from Old Shed on New Shed

When working on this kind of project it's very handy to have a wood pimp. A wood pimp is a friend who happens to have a small scale wood mill in his yard. Old barn wood, lumber for trusses, sheet metal roof, tongue and groove decking plus lots more wood all came from my buddy Jer's place. If you think this little structure is neat, you should see the awesome timber frame home he's built for his family. Besides lots and lots of wood at discount prices he was also there to answer any structural questions I had. Very handy indeed!

Trusses

So this it pretty much how it looks now. Next summer, I'll to build the living roof and build windows to go inside the trusses and it'll be 100% complete.