Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (outlets, good)

[Bones]

Lisa...this is how you stack wood.....

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by SPLIT

.Also heard the saying to Only transplant anything big in a Month with the letter " R ". So that leaves out May, June , July & August.

I hope you are right

Originally Posted by ss20ts

I love how Nikki was supervising so many projects this week! She sure knows her stuff about landscaping.

Yeah she is one smart dog, lol.

Originally Posted by temptation001

She's just waiting for the perfect moment to terminate Mike and Lisa, so she can take over.

Nah....she likes being the boss so she doesn't have to work

Originally Posted by Hawk J

In regard to hard earth/clay digging projects, in the future...perhaps you can get a good deal on a used auger or post hole digger,etc, which will attach to your tractor 3 point.

Thanks. Those are so cool....but I think we are almost done with digging...I hope

Originally Posted by cassy1

Wow Lisa pretty soon you won't even be able to see your house with those trees! Or is that the idea? Beautiful anyway, I just love your house and the view!

Thank you. Mike wanted to do the landscaping. I think he does want to cover the back of the house and the building.

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Maybe she can do the work and write the posts.

I wish I could teach her that....and to think I have typos. I can't even get her to speak people speak

Originally Posted by Furd

I fear that you are planting the trees WAY too close to the buildings. I see this all the time and when the trees mature they are hard up against the buildings and also grow lop-sided.

You may be right. Mike knew how far we were "supposed" to plant those trees but since the Leyland Cypress was the only tree in our yard that did not get bothered by the deer, that was our only choice for coverage. Hopefully we will be able to trim it all intro hedges along the house and building.

Originally Posted by Liondandy

Your updates are very informative and your story telling is superb but please, please don't work Nikki so hard next time, OK?

LOL....OK. The princess is snoring right now in her bed....oh and Mike is also sleeping

Originally Posted by Bones

Lisa...this is how you stack wood.....

Very cool. Is that your pile? BTW, I just looked at the forecast....and I saw snow for next week

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by younglisa7

Very cool. Is that your pile? BTW, I just looked at the forecast....and I saw snow for next week

Maybe on your mountain in northeast Tenn. Fortunately for 95 percent of the inhabitants of this state we will probably not be seeing snow...

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Maybe on your mountain in northeast Tenn. Fortunately for 95 percent of the inhabitants of this state we will probably not be seeing snow...

It changed to rain



Ok...I need to write a story now

[ylisa7]

Hello everyone. Mike and I have been working on building a shed on and off and in between landscaping since March. We finally have it finished so now it's time to start the story


This is an unusual shed but hey did you expect anything else from us, lol? As you know we have metal shipping containers for storage. And the one in the very back is really....really ugly and it has a lot of dents. At first Mike and I thought we should just buy another shipping container and put it next to the other one....until we went to VA and looked at the containers and the prices


New plan. Now we decided to build a new wood shed and incorporate the old metal shipping container under the same new roof. This would give us a building for "clean" storage, cover up the ugly old building, and cost a lot less than a new container.


This is going to take a lot of trips to Lowe's. Lumber is heavy
Our first load of wood.



Next we have to move the old fence that runs behind the old shipping container.

Mike taking out the old t-posts. You can see by the green 4x4 where the new shed will be.



Once we get all of the old t-posts out, we roll up the barbed wire, and start to place the old t-posts in a location to make room for the new part of the shed

Mike banging in one of the t-posts.



Good enough. The fence posts are moved and the barbed wire is back on. The 4x4 in the back is where our new shed will be.



Next we have to get the green(old) building as level as we can. It has sunk a bit over the years.


First we try jacking it up.



Unfortunately the jack isn't strong enough to do the job. So we bring in the tractor to help us.



With using the tractor and the jack we got it as level as possible without calling in for big machinery. It is level enough at least it is within the level lines


Back to Lowe's for another load of material



OK..time to get started building


We are going to use cement blocks on the ground, then add 4x4 pressure treated posts, and then build the deck for the new shed on top.

We start off by laying things out to make the base level.



The size of the new shed will be 8x20 which is the same size as the green building. We start to build the deck in two pieces using pressure treated wood.



The first deck is done but we need to dig out some dirt to level it up. We move the cement blocks and 4x4's so Mike can dig out a little of the dirt.



Mike uses the nail gun to nail in the second deck.



Now it's time to put the floor on top of the deck. Since it is only a shed, we are using OSB and we never use OSB. We used 3/4" tongue and groove OSB for the floor.


Installing the floor.



The floor is on the deck



It looks pretty ugly right now but we have a vision


Next we mix all of the sample floor paint we had from last year. We decided to use it as a 1st coat on the floor. Hey....why waste anything?


Mike starts to roll the floor with paint.



It is all painted.



Now we can start on the walls. Mike and I use 2x4 studs to make the walls. We build them on the floor and then we will stand them up and nail them in place.

Mike working on the wall studs.



We get the back and side of the wall studs done and stand them up. Niki is a prisoner, lol.



And the front wall stud is done with an opening for a door.



It's time to start closing it up. We used and exterior composite wood called barn board for the new shed.

Here is the first exterior board nailed to the studs.


Mike nailing the sides on.



And the exterior walls are done with the cutout for the new door.



It's starting to look better already...especially if you ignore the big ugly metal door, lol.


Now we have to wait for the trusses. That will be next week's chapter for our customized shed.

I hope you all enjoyed the story and the pictures. I will write again next week.


Lisa

[Hawk J]

Looking reel good my Friends.

Fer about 5 lustrum i've reely enjoyed working in my 10x20 shed.



I'll have to take some better pics.


Have a beautiful day.

[ylisa7]

It's time for another story with lots of pictures about building our shed. Today I will tell you about the trusses and the roof.

We ordered the trusses and we told the company to 1. bring a smaller truck and 2. call us when they are on their way. Did they do that? Of course not It's a good thing the truss truck showed up when Howard and Ivalee, our cow people, where on their way in. Of course the truck was too big to get in here and on top of that they loaded someone else's much bigger and longer trusses "behind" ours. Anyway, Howard drove up here to tell us. Mike went down with them to see what to do. With Howard and Ivalee's help Mike got the truck unloaded and they all got the trusses onto Howard's truck. They brought them up top and Mike's daughter and I helped them unload the trusses onto the driveway.


OK....now we can start working This is where the tractor comes in handy again.

Mike and I load the trusses onto the tractor bucket.



Then we used the tractor to lift the trusses as high as we can next to the building.



The trusses will span both the new shed and our old metal building. We want to make both buildings look like one. It will also help with the old roof on the metal building and keep it from rusting.

Mike climbs up the tractor arm so he can start pulling the trusses onto the top of the building. This is where the metal building becomes very useful. Mike has someplace to stand and he doesn't have to straddle the trusses



We get all the trusses on top of the building and get them laid out. This is what they look like from inside.



Time to stand them up and get them nailed in.


The first end truss is up and nailed in.



And a few more. Mike stands it up on one side and measures while I hold the other end up and keep it straight.



We preinstall some of the OSB boards to help make the trusses more stable while we are working on them.


And finally we got all of the trusses installed.



Now it's time to get the rest of the OSB sheets onto the roof before we can put the shingles on. Mike stands on the metal building roof and reaches down while I lift up the boards one by one and throw them up to him.


Mike nailing in an OSB board.



Mike using the H clips to make the boards stronger. The trusses were installed every 2 feet. The OSB boards are 4' by 8' and will be installed on the trusses in a staggered pattern to make the roof strong. THe H clips help hold the open areas tight.




Mike working on the front side of the roof.



And we are almost done...well with this part



All of the OSB sheets are on the roof. Now we need to protect it.



We use the tractor again to lift the rolls of Ice and Water Shield. We get it all on the roof and Mike blows off the roof to get it clean before we unroll the Ice and Water Shield.



Mike unrolling it.



Next I help Mike install it. It has a plastic backing that you peel off and then stick it down to the roof. Mike measures the length that we need, we spread it out where it needs to go, roll it halfway back, unroll the plastic cover, and then stick it down together. Mike walks on it to help it adhere to the wood.



We get all of it on the roof. Whew....we just had enough of it left from last year's roofing job But now we don't have the shingles so we have to jump to another job. At least the roof is now protected and we don't have to worry about it.


We decided to install the front door for our new shed. Mike installs the frame.



And the door is on


I know it's looking kind of strange but it will all come together


Yay...we got the shingles. Now it's time to get the bundles on the roof Again we use the tractor.



Mike raises the tractor bucket as far as it will go and then he climbs into the bucket. I get on the roof and help him get the bundles on the roof.

Mike sliding one of the bundles onto the roof.



Once Mike slides the budges on the roof I pick them up and place them along the ridge line so we can start working.


The shingles are up



I slice open the budges and start to lay out a few shingles at a time where we will be working. While I do that, Mike installs the drip edge.



Once the drip edge is installed we can start nailing the shingles on. We get into our routine pretty quick. I lay out the shingle and Mike nails it in. We do about four full rows at a time.


Almost halfway done with the shingles.



Time for the other side. I try my hand at nailing.



Mike is much faster so we go back to our old routine.


We are almost done with the shingles.



After the shingles are done we have to make the ridge cap. We do this by cutting the shingles to cover the ridge. Then they have to be nailed down.

Mike working on the ridge cap and then we are done with the roof



Yay...we kicked butt on the shingles. We did it in under 3 hours


Next we have to get the whole shed closed in.


Mike works on the panels for the peak of the buildings. We use some old T1-11 that we had hanging around



The front peak is closed in.



And the back is done.



Woo hoo. The roof is done. Next week I will show you how we made some really awesome and huge shelves for the inside of the shed.


I hope you all enjoyed this story. Have a great week and I will write again next week.

Lisa

[Hawk J]

You both did a Fantastic job, my Friends...YIPpppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee ..Great Job.

My knee's like my knee pads.


Have an Awesome Day.

[TN Tin Man]

The " Dog" Still needs a little hard hat. With "BOSS" written on the brim !

Did you put a ridge vent or other vents in the over hang?

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by Hawk J

You both did a Fantastic job, my Friends...YIPpppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee ..Great Job.

My knee's like my knee pads.


Have an Awesome Day.

Thank you. Mike needs the knee pads....I seem to have enough padding

Originally Posted by TN Tin Man

The " Dog" Still needs a little hard hat. With "BOSS" written on the brim !

Did you put a ridge vent or other vents in the over hang?

I think I need to look for a "BOSS" bandana for the princess

We put vents in the over hang to keep the critters out and the fresh air in.