Here comes our shed

Sooner than we had expected, our new shed got delivered. It is such a smooth process and totally painless for us.  Thankfully the foundation or shed pad was ready. Just a couple of days before we had added a little bit of clear stone to top up the sand and gravel foundation that we had filled in previously and I had posted about in my last update.

The finished shed pad

A heavy 4x4 pickup truck with a trailer that had two sheds on it pulled up yesterday. On it sat one shed for us and another one to be delivered to someone else in Leamington. 

Our shed has arrived

The driver had no problem backing into our lot and smoothly went along the fence and in-between the mature trees to get to the gravel pad.

Skilful maneuver along the fence and between the fence and trees

With a hand held remote control the Mennonite driver maneuvered the shed with the help of the high tech hydraulic on the trailer smack into the middle of the pad. He brought two guys with him who directed him where he could not visualize the position and proximity of the foundation border.  It all went very smooth. 

It's a marvellous trailer that can slide in all directions

Meanwhile our next-door neighbors struck a conversation over the fence with the delivery guy and his helpers as they discovered that they are all Mennonites from the same area. Small world.

Our trailer is loaded up with 2x4s, generator and tools, ready to go!

So here is now our new shed. I think it is a cute one. It has vinyl siding on the outside and should be maintenance free. The entrance doors are located just in-between three trees with enough clearance. There are a couple of vinyl window boxes in front of the two windows. The shed is tucked into a corner where the trees will provide a shady canopy in the summertime.

Benno is already busy inside wiring the shed up and preparing it for some inside insulation and paneling. Good thing he is working inside as it is pouring rain off and on today.

I am sure I will post more pictures of the shed and other beautifications on the lot, so stay tuned.

Hope you all stayed dry and had a good day today.

Another project on the go

After all these days from the beginning of March through the end of April that had us sitting idle at home Benno and I are ready for some outdoor activity. 

Last year we talked about setting up a shed on the new property we had been working on for most of the summer. First of all we wanted a fence because once the shed is in position there would be no room to erect one. We built that fence toward the end of October, just before the weather turned cold and wet. You can read about it  "here"

Last year's fence project

Now the time seems right to tackle that shed project. Of course we could build one ourselves. It is not that difficult and there are so many different kinds of options to build one. Likewise there are just as many readymade sheds available to purchase. There are metal, plastic and woodsheds sitting at most building centers. However, if you recall we bought a readymade shed for Benno from Wagler Mini Barns to have his little shop inside and he is so very happy with it that we thought we would look at what else this company has available.

Benno's shed we placed in October 2017

Wagler Mini Barns is run by Amish/Mennonites in Aylmer, Ontario. They manufacture just about every size and shape of a Mini Barn. From our house we took the Talbot Trail along Highway 3. It is scenic, has almost no traffic (even before the Covid-19 restrictions) and is a very relaxing 2 ½ hours spent driving while looking at rural Ontario. 

Talbot Trail through rural Ontario

Once we got to the Wagler Mini Barns place we were amazed at the shear volume of mini barns that were on display ready for purchase and delivery. I estimate maybe 200 barns were lined up on various lanes. It didn’t take us long to find what we had in mind and the price was good too. 

Just some random pictures of sheds available for purchase

Close up of a shed I liked but we didn't purchase

More sheds going the other laneway

Also a nice shed I could call my own

Only a few of the many sheds on the property

So with the shed purchased we better get going on building the foundation or shed pad, which is a bit more complicated than the last time we did it because of the Covid-19 lockdown of all the building centers. However, we managed to order on-line, waited for our pickup confirmation and then a day and half later went and got the materials to build the frame for the shed pad. I didn’t help much with that as Benno had it all under control.

Benno making sure the frame didn't shift while gravel was added

The next step was to get some gravel delivered to fill the frame and that happened today and we started with the filling in job right away. This task requires some physical labor, because we had the stone delivered and dumped in front of the property, as the ground is still way too soft for such a heavy truck to drive all the way to the frame. Also there is not much room to maneuver, as the shed will be in a corner surrounded by some trees. So some shoveling is involved.

Benno and Dave reducing the gravel pile

I am measuring to make sure the frame is square

Dave, our very nice neighbor, gave us a helping hand with the shoveling of the gravel into the little green JD dump trailer that is being pulled or pushed by the JD lawnmower and then the gravel being dumped into the frame and shoveled by me into the three sections of the leveled frame.

A bit labour intensive but doable

Another load in the JD dump trailer

The good news are that our garden centres, hardware and building centres will be allowed to open up again in a couple of days as the curve of new Covid-19 cases has flattened here in our area.

While our work is in progress, stay tuned to my next update to see how we get on with the new shed. Thanks for following my blog. Wishing everyone a great weekend and a Happy Mother's Day to all moms!