Shed Diaries: Back to work
/
It’s been over two weeks since I made a shed diary post. That’s mainly because I’ve been working on the shed and then working on Book 4. I did intend to give folks an update, but I was so hot to get back to writing that I was eyeballs deep in the Once & Future world before I was able to formulate a post.
In the last update Speed Bumps, I was waiting for windows and electrical. I’m happy to say that both of those were taken care of in short order.
The next step was cladding the walls. We had originally planned to do paneling, but my wonderful husband saw some blog posts and videos about faux ship lap, and he was bit by the ship lap bug. It was a lot more work, but the result is fantastic.
I learned a few things about faux ship lap.
Most of these faux shiplap posts will tell you that you can get plywood ripped into boards at Lowe’s or Home Depot. While this is true, I will caution you that when ask the guys at the cutting station to rip sixteen sheets of plywood into eight-inch boards you will probably get some uneven cuts. A job that big, will often get split up around other smaller jobs, and there isn’t a guarantee that they will set their saw back to the exact same measurement as before.
If you’re going to do this, you MUST have a nail gun. Seriously, this job would have taken a thousand years, or at least felt like it if we’d had to nail each nail each board with a hammer.
Also would recommend having a table saw. Sadly we limped along with a circular saw and a jigsaw for cutting holes for the outlets. We had to rip some boards lengthwise to fit at the bottom of the wall and the ceiling, and that is incredibly hard to do with a circular saw and some sawhorses and clamps.
Also, have a speed square. It makes marking the boards for cutting straight so much easier.
Then we had a paint party. Eric and I were exhausted after putting up the ship lap all day, but we gathered the kids and put on the family playlist. We sang songs and painted the walls and ceiling making bets on whether the single gallon of paint that we bought would do the whole interior (it did). Our kids are thirteen and sixteen now, and it often feels like we’re all going in different directions. But this was one of those magical family moments that I am always going to cherish.
Next we did the trim and the floor. Here we learned that our sixteen-year-old is really good at installing vinyl plank flooring. The kid took to it right away and had our Smartcore vinyl planks installed in just a couple of hours.
That meant I was able to move in my desk and the rest of the furniture. Now, I’m working in my writing shed every day.
We still have some trim on the interior to get done, and a lot of work outside, but I’m excited for what comes next, and for how much time I have spent writing since moving in.
Happy writing in my new space.
