old shed renovation

When we bought our property five years ago there were two good sized sheds that were in dire need of major repairs. I decided to tackle the largest shed first (25×30). The roof and roof trusses were in decent shape but everything from the roof down was in bad shape. Since I wanted to maintain a rustic look I came up with the plan to jack the entire stucture up 16 inches and replace all the stud walls and sides. Using bottle jacks I went around the entire building raising each side a little at a time and putting temporary bracing up as I went. When I got to the desired new height I tore down a section at a time and reframed the entire structure. The framing is all 4×4 treated and the new sides are tongue and groove vertical siding panels. I built an eight foot barn door and mounted on sliding hardware. The exterior was painted barn red. Also added rain gutters with a barrel collection system that stores the rain water to be used on the garden. Recently I picked up a 45 watt solar panel kit from Harbor Freight and a 1000 watt inverter. This supplies all the power I need for lights. The new building is the perfect place to store my tractor and power equipment.

Total cost of materials was $500.00—-the 4×4’s and exterior panels I picked up from a salvage yard, paint from the local Habitat store. I did all the labor with help from my wife. Total time for this project was two months off and on as I had the time.

The building looks so nice that now my wife wants me to renovate the second building as well. Maybe that will be a step by step blog series in the spring when it warms up.

-- Those that say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.