Memorial Day Weekend

One Big Step.
It was a very hot weekend temperature wise, I am sweating just thinking about it right now. I must have changed shirts about 7 times in order to keep a shirt on that was dry. So much hard work was performed this weekend and with great results. We took our time and ensured that each step of the project was completed to standards. Precautions were also taken to ensure that none of us would suffer heatstroke, so we rested and consumed plenty of liquids. So much water and rootbeer? was consumed, yes rootbeer. Lol. I really have to thank my very dedicated and beautiful wife, Krystal and my very dedicated and still very healthy 60 year old parents. It makes me so happy to have these bonding moments where we all get to work together on projects like these and without killing each other. Great things were accomplished this weekend, great things:

-moved the railroad ties
-installed new kitchen faucet.
-planted 3 new oak trees in the backyard

and saving the best for last.
-began the construction of a storage shed/mini shop!!

Railroad ties.
We must have moved about 16 very heavy railroad ties. Eight we're given to my parents for the construction of their raised garden bed and eight were kept for the purposes of mine. The raised garden bed will be a project saved for sometime in the fall. I'd love to get the garden underway as soon as possible but this heat will probably only allow the completion of the shed/ mini shop.

Kitchen Faucet.
I was really wanting to update the kitchen area. Krystal and Mom found a really nice Delta faucet from Home Depot. The old kitchen faucet came off without a hitch, I discovered that the old faucet was connected to a nine year old water filter. The dated water filter had to be disposed of and the trickiest part of the install of the new faucet was the conversion of 1/2" into the newer 3/8" compression. Getting the proper hoses and union pieces was key to the success of this sink install. For this I thank the plumbing professionals at Home Depot.

Shed/Mini Shop.
This is the largest construction job that I have undertaken in years. I was apart of building a 30x32 two car garage and workshop back in 2003 for the second half of my construction techniques class at Texas State. Upon completion, the shed/mini shop will be 21' x 12', that's 252 sq. ft. of over all covered space of which 120 of that will be completely enclosed. The other remaining 132 sq. ft. will be covered by an awning and a deck will be added. I'll be including plans on this project shortly.

Foundation.
The piece of land that we built upon is just slightly uneven, excavation was necessary in order to ensure the proper placement of the foundation concrete block. We place 12 concrete block in a 4 x 3 pattern. After the concrete block was measured and squared up in equal distance apart and level, construction of the East and West walls and subfloor was completed.

Walls/ Floor.
The East and West walls are constructed from PT 4x4's and regular 2x4 studs every 16" OC. The subfloor is 5/8" waterproof OSB secured on PT 2x4's spanned from the concrete block and secured to the PT 4x4's.

Conclusion.
This is as far as we have gotten on it. This is all very exciting and awesome. It's a big step in the right direction as far as I am concerned. Like I said before, I believe that we will be using this roomy building and covered extension for storage of items such as our surfboards, bicycles, BBQ grill, tools, finishing paraphernalia, garden tools/implements, covered parking for a future tractor mower. Projects that will follow will include but not limited to: my future woodworking bench, a future built in lumber material storage, installing electrical utilities to the side of the building and wiring the inside for outlets and lighting. I forecast wrapping the main portion of this project up this next weekend. As we progress, I'll be cutting the rough openings to add windows and doors and the framing for them.

Enjoy the pics....