A couple years ago I wrote about building a miner’s cabin in the backyard. That idea didn’t really fly with my wife so I changed tactics. I quit calling it a miner’s cabin and started calling it a storage shed. THAT idea she really liked. We manage rental properties as a side gig, so our house and garage are always full of stuff for that. Last summer we got started on it with a lot of help from my brother and his wife (actually my wife’s sister and brother-in-law). I had my ideas and she had hers, but I got her to agree on shiplap siding. She wanted a concrete floor. Not exactly “backwoods” but it does make sense for a storage shed.
We started and everything was going great. Got the slab poured, put up the wall framing, got the roof on. Got my first load of shiplap and finished about half on an end wall. And then… nothing. It’s been sitting uncompleted since last October. My wife decided that shiplap siding was too expensive. She wants me to tear off what I’ve done and finish it using molded pressed board siding. NOT happening. Too ugly, too prefab looking, just too… modern. Not happening…
So about once a month we have a fight over it. She gripes that it’s not done yet. I say fine, I’ll go get the rest of the shiplap and finish it in a day. Then the conversation goes down hill fast…
Making do
Part of being a Backyardsman is making do with what you have. I have a mess – a half finished shed that’s worthless as a shed or a cabin the way it sits. I was in Home depot yesterday and the had pressed siding boards on sale and it reminded me I need to do something about the miner’s cabin shed. Went home and gave it a pretty hard look. Even with the roof on, it’s pretty wobbly because there’s no skin on the frame. One of the walls is along our fence, about two feet out and not really visible. I figured I could use pressed sheet siding for just that wall and finish the other 3 with shiplap.
I measured the wall height and checked level. Went back to look at the siding on sale. All the sheets were warped really bad so I picked a different type. Not on sale but I’d rather spend a little extra than deal with crappy material. Bought 3 sheets and cut them to length. Tonight I’ll get them hung.
The wife – of course – was like “why’d you buy the siding? I thought we were still arguing about what kind to use?”
Whatever. I just reminded her that it’s been sitting, unusable, since last November. I’m sure she’ll be happy I got pressed siding for the one wall. Of course I didn’t tell her it was for just one wall. Looking forward to see how much skinning a wall will stabilize the whole structure. When it comes time to get the rest of the shiplap… well I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the mean time, I’m making do with what I have.
Peace out,
porcupine