Shed Refit or Some Jobs Just Keep Growing

[Chris Parks]

Some time ago I invested in a new saw and knew that I would have to change things around to fit it in. Plans sort of got pushed back and the saw sat at Felder for nine months while I got my life sorted out enough to start work.

You know that feeling you get when you work out that what seemed simple at the time just keeps growing? I knew I had to basically empty the shed to get to where I wanted to go and that meant that the firewood pile had to find a new home so I built a stand for that and thought that I could then start dragging stuff out to where the firewood used to be. You should never let the missus into the shed as it generally leads to problems so I found out.

I had a shelf that was above head height and she decided that we no longer needed it but one thing that was on it was my pile of wood in a rack I had built. The shelf was 7 metres by 2.4 metres and built of steel channel 50 x 100 so it was solid. Out with the Oxy and angle grinder and down it came and then I had no timber rack and the floor was covered in timber. The obvious solution was build a timber rack out of the steel channel as I already owned it. Cutting all the channel and doing the weld preps has taken hours and then having to piece offcuts together to make usable lengths has taken more hours. The MIG hasn't worked this hard for years nor have I.

So for the last two weeks that is what I have been doing in between all the other stuff. I reckon I will have the steel work finished on the weekend and then I have to pretty it up with the plywood that was the floor of the shelf and install the storage units under it that have yet to be built. I reckon the whole lot from whoa to go will take about three months doing it as time permits. I knew there was a good reason I retired!

[Pat]

Chris, I'll be around this arvo to inspect the "progress" from last time I was there

[wheelinround]

Chris, I'll be around this arvo to inspect the "progress" from last time I was there

Take photos you know what he's like is this the 5th refit Chris? I know its never ending I am the same just wish I had your amount of space

[NCArcher]

I say it didn't happen. You know the rules. No photo.....
And getting Pat to vouch for you is no good either, everyone knows he's dodgy

[Pat]

Chris, exactly as I expected, no further progress from last time I was there.

Tony, you are right

Ray, no pics nothing happened . . .

[Old farmer]

Chris, Pat is your mate??!

[Chris Parks]

Chris, Pat is your mate??!

Dodgy acquaintance and business partner of my wife.

[wheelinround]

Poor Hillary hope he doesn't breaks quilts like he breaks bowls


I am surprised Chris knows how to download but not up load maybe its just to high for him to reach

[Chris Parks]

The problem with uploading is the smoke signals they use here haven't got enough bandwidth.

[Chris Parks]

Ray has no confidence in my ability to firstly master the task of taking pictures and then getting the internet and the forum to understand what I want it to do so I can upload them. I am never one to shy away from a challenge so here are the pics.

I need to explain something here. I needed more drawer storage in the workshop as well as the timber rack and I wanted to combine both. it might be a good size but if I keep robbing the floor space it will not be. Also my son and I race superkarts and I have to have some space allowed for working on the kart.

The technical problem was I could not cantilever off the wall as I was fairly sure it would fall over so that was a no no. As i no longer need the shelf at the size it was I decided I could make a floor standing rack that could have cabinets built between the bottom shelf and the floor and the steel channel from the shelf combined with a MIG welder would do the trick. It will be 4.8 metres long simply because I can cut down the flooring of the shelf from 1200 wide with one cut and the sheets are 2400 so no cutting needed. if the length is not needed in practise it will be a simple job the remove one or two steel uprights with no problems. I suspect it will be too long but the proof is in the use. On picture shows the remains of the shelf with crap piled on it. When I was involved in Clearvue this shelf saved an enormous amount of floor space as I could get six cyclone boxes on it as well as other stuff.

All the steel will be hidden behind plywood so it won't be seen. I will be building four cabinets with drawers and shelves in them under the rack. I was going to buy more steel multi drawer cabinets as seen in some of the pics but I have to justify the purchase of the saw so decided I will make them and use some of the stuff I have laying around. They will be skeleton cabinets that only look complete from the front. By that I mean the sides will be a frame and no backs will be necessary just bracing to keep them square and no tops either. If it can't be seen I see no point in making enclosed cabs.

I still have a few months work ahead of me but I have been looking forward to it for some time. After I finish it all I have to re-install the ducting permanently, until then it gets a few flexi lines as needed. I had to use the thicknesser the other day so I dragged it out of the corner, taped some flexi to it and the duct and plugged it in. The power hook up was a bit dodgy as it needs a 15 amp plug but it worked and I am still alive. Pat shook his head and didn't look at it twice.

[NCArcher]

That is a good space. I never doubted you Chris. (It was all Ray )

[wheelinround]

Now Chris somewhere on this forum is a cry for help in uploading photos deep in the archives

Damn I wish I had recorded those phone calls some time back also. If you recall my words were along the lines of encouragement in knowing that you could download VERY well I said to stick with it and you'd get it in the end.
How often did Pat call round take photos on your behalf (no pint sized joke intended)


Low and behold it may have taken some 4 yrs but there's the proof looking forward to many more in the future

Oh Pat your right not much has changed the piles have gone from one side to the other and back by the looks

Chris you know I envy your Man Space and its views

[Chris Parks]

That is a good space. I never doubted you Chris. (It was all Ray )

This is the top floor of a two storey workshop, or that was the original intention. I decided back when I was young and gullible that no task was too big and having worked in a shed where I bumped my elbows every time I moved that the time had come to build a shed, a big one. The problem was no one told me exactly how much it was going to cost and i stopped counting at 100K. BTW I worked six days a week and two jobs to pay for this and had a heart attack to boot as I was doing several night time tech courses all at the same time. I built the whole thing myself apart from retaining walls as I am in no way a bricklayer.

Anyway after a few years I had a two storey shed with my workshop underneath and the garage above and the whole thing was bigger than the house in floor area. I eventually sold my business I had bought during this time and decided I had had enough of cars and the motor industry and emptied the bottom workshop of everything car related. The bride too one look at it and decided that as the family was growing the bottom part could be used as a rumpus room/guest accommodation and another project started. I have recently had to renovate that are as being underground it was getting water into the sub floor and it has now totally morphed into Hilary's sewing room that is 9.5 x 7.0 metres, some sewing room!

When i migrated into the top floor the cars got the boot and lived outside for a few years, I added a carport to the front of it later on to overcome this. Hilary decided she wanted a deck out the back of the lower floor so that has been added recently. We were going to sell a few years ago but could find nothing anywhere that gave us the same as we have now so that idea got quashed PDQ.

My backyard backs onto an annex of the Royal National Park south of Sydney so we have a few trees etc around. My camera has not got a wide enough lens to take a back view of the whole thing but the pics below might give you an idea of how it is situated and a few of the outlook from the house.

[A Duke]

Nice set up.
Regards

[NCArcher]

I'd better come for a visit and have a good sticky beak in the new year.
I think it might be time to throw Drew on the roof to clean the leaves off before Summer hits.