I am posting this a whole week late, but here goes! Last year, my Dad and I spent the better part of a day moving an old shed from their farm to the campground. For quite a few years now, I had been thinking that it would be nice to have a dry spot to keep wood for the campfire. Not a total necessity, but definitely nice to have. So, as I said, we moved a shed down.
This past weekend, my friends and I were out camping, and while out there, we moved to phase 2 of the woodshed project — leveling it, and then phase 3 of the project — fixing it. Not being a creative person when it comes to buildings, I would have been perfectly happy to leave the shed as it was — ugly siding, slightly leaky roof and all… but my Dad had a vision in his head. So, with help from some of my friends, we ripped off the old shingle-style insulated siding and then started to put the new walls on.
Using wood that Dad cut in his sawmill, we alternated between support strips of wood (which will eventually fade and weather) and the end strips where one side is still rounded and covered in bark, and the other side is flat. The end result is this amazing, fort-like wall. Dad’s intention is to do all four sides this way, and then he has something else in mind for the roof. Ultimately, it will blend into the surroundings and maintain the rugged/no-facilities feel that our campground has.
Although I found working on the shed really tiring (at 80+ years old, my Dad has WAY more stamina than I have), it was really rewarding to see Dad’s design start to come together. He had tried to explain it to me before, but I couldn’t quite visualize what he meant.
It was a really good learning experience for me to see creativity expressed in another medium. I was also happy to find out that I can still swing a hammer properly (must have had enough practice growing up).
Thanks Dad! I think this may end up being the nicest woodshed a campground has ever had.