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Tag: diy

  • Shed-Building

    When thinking ahead to my planned sabbatical this year, I wanted to include a large project that would challenge my ability, improve life around the house, or equip us for the future.

    Ultimately, I landed on building a small garden shed to house my growing collection of yard tools and reclaim that space from our garage. It fit into my interests of working with wood and would serve the purpose of finally figuring out what to do with the shady patch of land along our back fence, where I’ve tried and failed to grow plants for a few years now.

    At one point, my heart was set on the idea of building a teardrop trailer and hauling that around North America for road trips. I quickly came to realize that it wouldn’t receive the kind of mileage I had envisioned and it becomes less simple to pack up for the open road when you’ve planted enough roots.

    In order to get this project underway, I had to complete a variety of tasks in the yard:

    • Remove the underground sprinkler system – It came with the house but I’ve never felt fully comfortable with the ongoing water usage so it doesn’t get a lot of use. This year, we’ve been planning for drought conditions and relying more on rainwater collection to keep our plants healthy so it was time to finally move on from what was in place before.
    • Deconstruct raised planter box & transplant surviving perennials – Despite our best efforts to fill in the shady spot by the back fence, most plants struggled under the constant  shade of the two trees we have back there. I could have doubled down on shade-loving plants but instead chose to find a different use for the area and save the existing plants by moving them into pots so they could enjoy more sunshine in other parts of the yard.
    • Dig area to extend gravel foundation – Digging is exhausting work. I moved a lot of dirt and laid out landscaping fabric + new gravel. The most painstaking work involved was tamping and levelling the ground to avoid building on a slant.

    In all, the prep work took me nearly 2 weeks. Once those tasks were complete, I was able to start on the fun stuff. The building process!

    Below is a quick gallery to showcase the progress made in the chosen spot.

    In all, I’m proud of the end result and glad to have more space for my toys tools. It was a great opportunity to try new things, like roofing, and put them into practice.

    Thanks for reading! 😀

  • Wooden Mountain Art With Scraps

    After taking on a bigger project in building a wooden swing for our deck, I wanted to work with wood in a completely different style from following a step-by-step plan and consideration of structural integrity. The idea was to “cut loose” and allow myself freedom and flexibility in how to complete the project.

    The Plan

    With a small pile of wood left over from the swing project, I thought it’d be fun to plan something that would help me use up as much as possible (pictured below, left). I started by scribbling down a rough draft of what I wanted to build, which was essentially a frame of wooden mountains (pictured below, right).

    With enough of an idea of where I was headed, I got started with cutting 45 degree angles in the wood. Despite this being a more creative endeavour, I have a habit of placing limitations on myself to narrow focus and rely on a consistent style for the full piece. In this case, I opted to make all cuts using a fine Japanese pull saw. After relying on a rotating cast of power tools in my last project, I wanted to simplify the approach and hone my skills in making consistent cuts by hand. It was a great practice and felt like I was able to minimize sanding by taking care to make straight cuts. Without the added noise of power tools, I’d say my time in the garage has been a lot more peaceful in recent weeks.

    Once I had enough angled cuts, I went through a cycle of glue & sanding for each of the 4 planned peaks. Sanding is still the area where I feel I could benefit from additional patience but I was content to extend the timeline to compensate and insure that I’ve given it the proper attention.

    The Frame

    I learned that the frame was a bit trickier to line up with handmade cuts but some angle clamps (below, left) really helped to keep everything lined up while the glue dried & I could secure the corners. There were a lot of steps that required me to wait for something to dry but I was able to bounce around to different pieces and make the most of it. I was so relieved when the frame could stand on its own after being assembled because it felt like a small accomplishment to line up all the pieces up.

    Mountain Stain

    Next up, after the initial layer of stain, I sanded down the tops of the mountains in order to add in a second colour that I hoped would provide a bit more depth and shading to the row that would be in the front & most visible in the finished piece.

    The Final Result

    With all the components assembled and stained, it was easy to get them attached inside the frame. Since the plan was to have it hanging from the siding in a well-sheltered area, I relied on a dremel to carve out grooves for the frame to rest on two screws. I added a bit of stain over top of the carved out area to even the colour. I’ve included a zoomed out shot of

    All in all, this was a really fun project and exactly the kind of change of pace that I was hoping for ahead of some bigger plans for the yard.

    I’ve already begun the chain of events that will help me prepare a foundation for my new shed. It’ll likely be the biggest woodworking project I tackle during my sabbatical and one I’m very excited to start working on. First, I need to put in the work, so that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. Thanks for reading.