groeneaj's instant shed - well not quite - an idea borrowed from the Amish
I have long been an admirer of the community spirit of the Amish "Barn Raising in a day". Recently I watched an SBS series about the Amish, and it reinforced what an excellent idea this is.
And so I got to thinking....:think:......there are stacks of people who have a task that is too much for them, will take too long, maybe they don't have all the skills required, etc. I sent an email out to some colleagues and many of them expressed interest in a "labour exchange" kind of idea. I was also catalysed by Barterbuilt up at Coff's Harbour who has a large machinery shed to erect, and was somewhat staggered at the quotes he was given for labour only ($1000 a week just for the "boy", and there were a couple of adults along for it as well).
I had had several discussions with groeneaj (Andy) about his new and far from complete workshop over the preceding months, and I can easily recognise WWS (Woodwork Withdrawal Syndrome). Andy needs his woodwork to chill out, and has to come up the hill to my barn to smell timber.
On Sunday 2nd March we had the GTG here, and while Andy was distracted talking to Pac Man and shanesmith80 I :ninja: slipped around to those who were within striking distance and gave them a quick brief of the situation:
"Andy has moved into his new home some months ago, and getting his workshop happening is becoming a problem - too big a task for one person to execute in good time. Are you in?"
Eight "yesses" later I had a good sized posse rounded up, and strolled over to Andy to break the news. "We'll be there on the 14/15th March - better get ready". He looked a bit thunderstruck, actually. :D
So, today was the start. Mainly preparation in clearing the shop of all the irrelevant stuff for the job at hand (and which was preventing the whole job from being seen and digested). Just a couple of chaps today, but Skew wrapped his head around building a long time ago, and so after clearing we were able to get a bit of a head start for the 8 man posse showing up tomorrow.
First task was to remove the irrelevant stuff up to the covered back porch:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...5&d=1394790464
There are three walls that have to be sound insulated, studded, and then ply sheets attached to them. Andy had already made a start in the previous weeks, and was up to here (this is the biggest wall):
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...6&d=1394790470
We'll be doing some slightly fancy stuff to the front doors:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...8&d=1394790482
And then there is the third wall:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...7&d=1394790476
So that was where Andy had gotten up to. Silly me forgot to take a pic of the state of play at stumps (it doesn't actually look all that different), but I'll take one first up tomorrow morning.
In that last pic you can see the ply sheets that Andy sourced from ebay. The quality of this ply for the asking price is ridiculously good. At $25 a sheet it is cheaper than MDF and half of it has Birds Eye and some really nice grain. At least one piece even has a bit of fiddleback!
I would say that by stumps on Day 2 Andy will have the makings of a stunning looking workshop.
More news tomorrow night.....