I have a lot of tools for someone who has never worked in a building trade. Also boxes, bags, and cans of nails, nuts, bolts, screws, and miscellaneous fasteners that seem to collect over time. Also extra parts from plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall, framing, trim, carpet, tile, and sheathing projects. Also various miscellaneous things like a generator, chipper, power washer, ladders, and pool vacuums. Don’t forget all the gardening tools. Basically, a lot of stuff that’s useful when I can find what I need but otherwise useless.
When I sold my house about 7 years ago I moved into an 8’x8′ storage room so my tools and stuff were distributed across a few places; some went to my son’s business to use, some to a storage unit in my former city, and some to a shed on my property. Since I moved into my new home I’ve been moving stuff here but without a space to organize everything it has been shoved into whatever space was available at the time. It has been frustrating to want to work on a project but not be able to find stuff I know I have.
When I bought my property there were 2 sheds approximately 10’x12′ in the northwest corner. They were in very poor condition but it would have been more expensive to replace them than to fix them so I immediately had metal roofs put on to prevent further water damage. Other than that they’ve just been used for storage until renovating them rose to the top of the time and money priority. Which finally happened this fall.
The southeast shed had been a full bathroom when the previous owners camped on the property 30 years ago. I wanted to use it as a work shop but it was more than 2″ out of level, too dark, and there were holes in the floor from removing the plumbing fixtures. During October a carpenter leveled it, replaced the door, added a couple windows, and repaired the siding. I got as far as I could on the exterior and interior painting before it got too wet and cold but can finish that in the spring. Fresh power was run to both sheds during the greenhouse construction and there’s a junction box on the outside of this one. Hopefully the electrician will have time in the next few months to wire some lights and outlets.
Over December I’ve been building shelves, installing window casing and flooring, and (slowly) moving in and organizing the stuff that’s been spread around for years. Today I was, finally, able to find everything on-hand to complete a (small) project! That included the shop vac and 2 different attachments, a #1 and #2 phillips driver, a magnetic cup to hold small screws, a can of WD-40, shop rags, an over-head light, and a clear table. Two weeks ago I didn’t know where the 1-1/4″ diameter shop vac attachments were. Last week I couldn’t get to the box that had the #1 phillips. It may seem like a small thing but this was a huge milestone in progress made and frustration avoided.
There’s still a lot of work to do including to build more shelves and the workbench, get help to move in the rolling boxes, and organize stuff within the room. But today I’m celebrating a win.