Thursday, September 30, 2010

Greenhouse/garden shed continued

I (Mariah) decided to resume work on the greenhouse while Richard was taking care of his father . I knew it would take me much longer doing the work myself.
I started by establishing the inside grade by using a level on the top of the boards and How I did this by myself was to place one screw on the side of the board I had already established the grade and with using the level I raised the board until it was level, placing a screw at the other end of the board. I used treated 2X6s from each 4X4 post so the top of the board would be the top of the inside grade. I placed either 2X6 or 2X4s lumber down below outside grade.


Because of the 18" change in elevation, I decided to make the room two levels. That would make the door a more practical depth for an entrance.
When a building is being set to grade , you have to start at the lowest part first, then make a building level from there.


I hired a friend of a co-worker to help me carry all the windows from all the places we had them stored up to the greenhouse and set the south windows in place. This part really took 2 people.

We used 4X4s, 2X4s or 1X4s to create a frame for the windows to be set into, depending on the size of the window.

To hold the window in place we put 2X2s on the outside even with the 4X4 edge. We had to use this size because the openings were not true, plum and square. So where on top it would touch the right corner, on the bottom right there would be a 3/4 inch gap.
Once the window was in place we nailed quarter round trim to hold the window in place.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Pigeon feed room/coop

It is time to build a feed room for the pigeons and another attached coop so Richard can sort the different Pigeons into groups depending on the time of year.
At first he was going to build separate small cages to do this , but that would have been very confining and not as healthy for the birds. This way it will also look more organized and neat.

This building was made out of recycled material as well, except for the 4X 4 posts in the ground. Even the window is a shower door turned sideways and framed in.



Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fall Garden

The fall garden cleanup: Weeding, Tilling, getting the beds ready for the fall planting, and showing off the beautiful garden sign my son made for me from an old medal sign .


Sunday, September 5, 2010

Building a wall....

Our son and his athletic dog came to visit and helped us build a retaining wall in front of the shop slab. We started by determining the line with cynder blocks. This gave it a solid base and a straight line to follow.
We then placed the largest limestone rocks on first alternating them so as to lock them into each other.
We then backfilled from the wall to the shop side with super select, which is a mix of 3/4 inch jagged rock and fines, which lock it all together.