Last weekend, I was called upon to supervise the construction of a lean-to off the back of the shed - the purpose of the lean-to was as a place to store firewood... beary good. There is nothing that a stuffy likes more than lying in front of a crackling fire, sipping hot chocolate and watching Paddington Bear on television (ah-hem!!!).
Sooo... last Saturday, the weather looked cooperative - so the lean-to mission was a go...
Mama had gone to buy some supplies... some 2x4 holder thingies and some 4x4 saddle brackets... (no back alley deals here - pure Home Depot).
This is the proposed location of the lean-to. Off to the right is the Back 40 otherwise known as the garden waste pile (weeds, etc.). The 50 gallon drum is our experiment in composting feline waste (that is a whole other blog - indoor cats, wheat based litter (high carbon) and Starbucks coffee grounds (high nitrogen) - for flower gardens only!). The black compost bin is Stage 2 of feline manure...
This is what the spot used to look like... A beary long time ago!
So... back on track here... A few months back, Mama had dug a couple of concrete bases into the ground. They have a hole for the saddle bracket rebar...
And here we have some salvaged 2x4 pieces to use (yup... back alley deals!).
Alright... so the mess is cleared away and we are ready to go,.
Then we cut the rebar a bit shorter... and the saddle fit perfectly!
These are pressure-treated 4x4 posts (no back alley deal).
Voila - posts in saddles... 2x4 to beam... and 2x4s to posts...
By the way, while it may look that we worked in unrelenting sunshine... it was a mixed weather day...
15 minutes of sun followed by 10 minutes of rain. I really had to keep the humans in hand as they wanted to toss up their hands and give up for the day...
There we go... some siding on the sides and open plans on the back (firewood needs airflow apparently).
All we need now is a roof!
So.. not too bad... It blends nicely with the existing shed wall...
It might not be pretty... but it works! The land slopes away just in front of the lean-to and so we didn't take it flush with the shed... so many variables to consider. At the end of the day, everyone (other than me) was covered in mud and heartily sick of the rain!
Roof pictures coming soon!
Wow...that's a big project! I hope you are being well compensated for your supervisory efforts.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely an ambitious project... I think my crew worked pretty well and I pushed them through their low spots when it rained!
DeleteThat is a big project, much bigger than I supervise at my house. Maybe I can subcontract your services to come to my house and help my roomates build a garden shed. Can I pay you in Salmon?
DeleteOf course I accept Salmon... not sure I could get it all back across the border though...
DeleteGreat job. I hope your crew had a celebratory beer after the work they did. Did you get a celebratory salmon for supervising?
ReplyDeleteOh yes, a nice honey beer around the campfire... which someone reported to the fire department. Who then showed up... they inspected our fire set-up, sw we had marshmallows and were burning dry wood and said it was a legal cooking fire. It's a good thing Mama reads up on the bylaws!
DeleteLooks really good Sandy! It was really luck that you were there to supervise--that way, everything gets done right!
ReplyDeleteI know - they seem to be on a building frenzy now that I am here to supervise!
DeleteYour work crew looks like they know what they're doing! That is probably due to the beary good supervision work that you did Sandy! Looking forward to the final results.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's all about supervising with a light paw you know... let them think they are making all the decisions while I insert some hints and suggestions along the way.
DeleteBut why is it called a Lean To? Why not a Lean From?
ReplyDeleteNow that is a beary good question! Or a Lean-on or a Lean-off??? All I could discover is that is from Middle English...
DeleteAnd why a Lean? It's not like the structure is leaning like some old seKretary (Jerry and Ben suddenly look at Papa). Shouldn't it be a "study-stand-alone-well-built-by-a-talented-little-bear-structure"?
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