All Cooped Up

(Page 2 of 2)

June/July 1992
By Ruth Pieper 
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Steps used in construction:

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1. Set foundations. We set the ties halfway into the ground. (This was the hardest part of the whole project, as we had to be sure they were all level.)

2. Toenail studs to railroad ties. We put them at the corners and at 4' intervals, except where we wanted doors and windows. The door sections are extremely rigid, and don't need any more support than this.

3. Toenail joists to studs.

4. Nail up garage doors. We picked the "best side out" where they would show. Five sections were put in front and four in back. One section was cut on the diagonal for the slant of the roof. This exposed the hollow core, which we plugged with wood and then glued and nailed.

5. Cut doors and windows. We put in two dutch doors wide enough for the garden tractor.

6. Install rafters on edge.

7. Nail roof boards in place. These were put across the rafters with spaces in between.

8. Nail on metal roofing and patched holes with tar.

9. Finishing touches. We boxed in the eaves and installed the window, then constructed and hung the dutch doors. We used the sections cut out for a door opening.

10. Paint shed. This took only one coat, as most of the door sections already had a primer coat.

Perhaps you won't be as lucky as we were in acquiring so many of the materials at the "right price." But the point is, we got the ma terials and then fit our building plans around them, not the other way around. If you're going to save money on buildings of this type, you must be inventive and open to many possibilities (always keeping in mind local building codes). The greatest fun of any project like this is to make something out of nothing.

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  • abby 10/1/2007 8:58:13 PM

    mother earth news is so interesting!!!i love it,you rock!!!

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