Starting

Started the deck - approx. size is 18m x 6m (huge). Making it up of 3m x 3m sections - easy for me to manage by myself.

Decided to build using H4 treated 200mm x 50mm x3M pine sleepers. Building a deck then building the pods on top.

First post in! Soil is a bit clayey which is good for the posts and about 800mm down it is starts to become rocky (great!) each post hole takes me about 15-20 mins. Buying a post hole digger!

A 3m x 3m section joises are 50mm apart.

Going up pretty easily - considering its a one man show.

Anyway it's not all work.

Brought myself a professional yabbie pot.

And its works - got about 12 of these little guys and they were delicious.

Won't be doing anything for about a month - working on my suburban house.

But stay tuned for completed deck and a 30m flying fox!

The Idea

The old shed is gone - it was built well!

Hopefully the project will look something like this.

Fruit Trees

What a fantastic effort 12 fruit trees and 2 blueberry bushes planted, mulched and watered in 2 hours - Tara the planting machine.

Will all be fenced in eventually - but wanted to get the fruit trees in so we can have some fruit next season. Looks great.

TaDa

All finished!

Another solo effort this Sunday. Finished - step, planter box, cladding, steel edging, loft and guttering.

Video is a bit Blair Witch

Architrave - made from the same treated pine fence palings.

Put a small loft in for storing camping gear, tools etc... and somewhere to hang my tool bag.

Shed in situ - been so busy showing the shed that I forgot the reason for doing it - the beautiful bush that surrounds it (below)

Love it - I roughed out a path to the dam - plan to have alot of little paths and sitting areas dotted throughout - still have to build the pier. Want to catch some yabbies.

Tara and I will be spending a solid 4-5 days up here next week - plan to knock down the old shed (should be fun) and start on the deck. Tara is keen to get some plants in - so maybe we will have to build the garden fences - who knows.

The eyesore! You are not long for this world my friend!

Lockable Shed/Toilet

The shed/toilet is now lockable - which means we can knock down the old existing shed and get to work on the holiday house/pavilion (will post plans/ideas for that next time).

Travelled up with the entire family - Mabel and Grace very noisy and giggly in the back - Liam singing and gesturing to his ipod songs - funny and sometimes distracting. Had to do the Dad thing a couple of times - "if you don't stop annoying your sister I will turn this car around and we will go straight home" or alternatively "do you want me to leave you by the side of the road and pick you up on the way back". As always Tara was a symbol of tranquility rubbing my leg and selecting music to soothe me.

Property was dry and the weather was crisp and sunny. Got the BBQ out and started lunch, Liam was in charge of cooking the sausages - good job - although 2 were sacrificed to the god of the ground. Feed them put the swing back up and they were set.

I just brought a small generator from ebay but it hasn't arrived yet, so everthing had to be cut by hand. I sawed while Tara nailed.

Front cladding finished - still have to finish around the door with some architrave but still looks very neat.

Finished details around the window and put the steel edging on - the edging has made it look really professional (hides all mistakes)

Back detail - still need to put guttering on.

Plinth boards on starting to look finished.

The money shot - weather wing has its supporting post - all the cladding done - plinth boards on - door on (lockable) - steel edging on two sides. Remember, this was a build as you go - no plan - next time I will definately draw up plans - have learnt alot from this little project. 

Total cost in case you wondered was just under $600 dollars (AUS). Not Bad!

Liam and Mabel helped paint the door black - good job again (although Tara did have to go over it again). All that's left to do is some finishing touches - architrave around the door - a step - a small planter box for some blueberry bushes - cut the weather wing down to the just above the height of the door. 

I am wrapped - I think it looks great. Have decided to let it weather naturally to grey to blend in. Will post a 360 degree movie when finished.

Here is the toilet ready for use - knocked up a little sawdust toilet out of some packing pallets - humanure (love it). 

A poo with a view

Big days work - travelled up to the property on Sunday by myself - such a relaxing drive, not to far away (1 hour). Went through Woodend, Tilden, Springhill much quicker than going on the Freeway.

Anyway, I was determined to get as much done as I could - and I did! Worked hard all day, up and down ladders, monkeying my way around the frame and roof of the shed, 625 nails (all by hand) and it was all worth it for the lovely view from the shed/toilet. (below).

Missed having Tara to talk to (and hold things/and nail things).

A poo with a view - this is our bargain buy, glass doors ($19 for 2) from the Ikea bargain area. Which I have cut down the make a double window (originally 3 panes of glass). They work perfectly.

The weather was nice but I still wanted to get the roof on first just in case it rained like last week. 

Tin fitted perfectly and was easy to fix to the batons - bit scary on top of such a small high structure. Still have to put up the fascia around the roof - tidy everything up.

Really happy with the way the roof came out - just need to attach guttering.

Positioning the window - had to knock out some framing to make it fit - reframed around it. Oh and more cladding done.

Window in place - looks really good (surprised!). Cladding done on this side except for a few detailed bits around the window - but that will not take long to do.

Ugly green door (painting it black) is hung and swinging freely - while I was putting the door on it started to rain a bit - the sound of rain on a tin roof - love it.

Underside of the roof is clad - very hard holding and nailing above your head but managed to do it. 

Detail from inside the shed - very neat - no gaps - looks professional!

Next time will be finishing off the cladding, installing the step and planting some tomatoes - nearly finished.

Rain, Hail, Shine…

Second weekend of building the garden shed. We hoped it wouldn't be to rainy - but it was - the property was soaked (we had 48mm of rain in a 20 hours period) so understandable.

I brought a swing thing from Ikea for the kids so first job was to hang that from a tree.

Kids loved it - fell off a couple of times into puddles but thats the fun of it. Kept them amused for ages.

Tara and I started on the cladding (my wife is so patient - love her)

It was wet and muddy.

But we managed to get nearly two sides done of my mock ship lap cladding (fence palings) - I think it looks quite good. We are thinking of staining it black or maybe leaving it to weather to grey.

Close up of palings (a mix of 150mm and 100mm treated pine fence palings)

The box with it's wing (actual size of the 1.8m Depth x 2.4m Width x 2.4m Height (wing 2.4m x 2.4m)

Precision work

A close up of the foundations (H4 Treated Pine 100 x 100 post set in concrete to about 90mm)

Next job is to fix the rest of the cladding and the window and door then the roof.

A good days work

We knocked up the foundations, floor and frame for the garden shed/compost toilet in a day - we felt like superheroes. I managed to keep my cool for once accepting that my beautiful loving wife is all the help and support I need. Love you Tara.

Anyway, the ground has more of a slope than I thought but the shed (although it doesn't look like it) has a naturally flat path leading to it - much easier for Liam to navigate.

Next time I will hang a tyre swing and get the pier foundations in, so the kids aren't to bored?

Beginnings

My beautiful partner and I brought a lovely 5 acre plot in Denver (between Daylesford and Mamsbury) in late 2009, with a the idea to build our dream home - if not a summer retreat for school holidays etc...