Workshop Doors

The only thing I had time to do yesterday was frame out the doorway and throw up some doors.

The white door is pretty hacked up but I will be repairing it later on so it will match the other one, I just needed to get a door up for now.

Next it's on to the electrical...

Workshop Windows

I managed to get both of the windows installed and trimed out yesterday.

I still need to install the head casing on the outside of the second window.

Next it's on to the doors.

Workshop Tin

Yesterday I got a bunch of tin from a friend in town. Rain was on the way so I had to hurry to get the roof on in time. I just barely finished the roof before it started raining. I did the walls in the rain.

The roof is new tin, I decided to use old tin for the walls to better match the existing structure. I had just enough to do the front and side walls but I had to use new tin for the back wall. Once the entire shop is complete I will paint everything so it will match better.

Here is a shot of the new section from the inside. The center braces are temporary, I still need to install some support bracing to the rafters.

Next I need to frame out and install the windows and doors.

Hen nest boxes

I haven't had time to get tin for my shop so no real progress there. In the meantime I built some nest boxes for my hens since they havent had anywhere to lay.

These are Black Copper Marans eggs. They are the absolute best tasting eggs there are.

As you can see they were thankful.

Workshop progress & house paint

Work has been progressing on the workshop. I've had a lot of other things going on though so it's not been at the pace I'd hoped for.

After my last post I went and got the rest of the wood that I needed and installed the floor joists...

and the flooring. The flooring is yellow pine 2x12's.

I removed the original back wall of the shed to be able to tie in the new section.

Next I started the framing.

I prefer to build my walls in place instead of on the ground then raising them up. The wide opening in the picture is for a set of double doors, each is 2' wide.

The opening on the back wall is for a window. I'm also installing one on the side wall. The windows are 3 over 1, they came from an old farmhouse in Calhoun, Ga that was being torn down.

After the walls were framed up I installed the ridge beam...

and then the rafters and purlins.

Now I just need to get some tin so I can put the roof and walls up.


Meanwhile, while I was doing all of this I had a crew scraping and primering the house.

Chickens! ...and a workshop

I've been working on two big projects over the last 5 days or so. The first is a chicken coop. We've decided that we want to try raising chickens, mostly for the eggs.

We decided to put the coop next to the barn.

The overgrown area to the left of the barn is the spot.

I completely cleared out the area and then built the coop. I dont have any during pictues but it's basically built out of pressure-treated 2x4's for the framing, chicken wire for the sides, and tin for half of the roof and plastic fencing for the other half.

The area beyond the coop and to the left of the barn will be closed in for another coop soon.

The chickens we are concentrating on are Black Copper Marans, they have very dark, reddish brown eggs that are supposed to be highly prized for their excellent taste. Here is our Marens rooster.

We also have some Dominickers, Cochins, and a few Silkies.

The other project I began working on is a workshop. I really need a place to work and to put all my tools.

The shed behind the kitchen is nice but at 11x11 it's too small.

What I decided to do it tear down the lean-to on the back side of it and add on to the main structure. I will be adding on another 11'. So it will be 22x11. The 11 is a bit smaller that I'd like but I think it will be ok.

The lean-to was so rotted that it only took about 15 minutes to completely tear down by hand. It took longer to haul away the debris.

I pulled up the old blocks to reuse for the new foundation. I had to use a few new blocks.

Next, I pulled the bottom piece of tin off the wall to install the ledger board.

Then I setup the rest of the framing for the joists.

That was as far as I got last night. I was three joists short anyways. I will get them on the way home from work today and also the flooring, I will be using 2x12's just like in the original portion of the shed.