Shed--Two Steps Back

We didn't get the shed set up last weekend because it rained all day Saturday. That was ok, because it allowed us to watch football ALL DAY LONG...until about 9pm, when I took over and we watched "Return to Snowy River."

Yesterday, Scott and I finally decided that there is just waaaay too much gravel, and that if we put up the shed as is, the gravel will shift, and it will tip. So we have decided to take a couple giant steps back, and basically start over. Scott moved almost all the gravel OFF the area, and today we built a box for our gravel pad.

This was a bit exciting because neither Scott or I have a lot of experience actually building things! We have watched a lot of HGTV, but not actually done it. We borrowed a circular saw (we don't own one because we have no place to store it...yet), and this morning went out and bought supplies, then came home and started working! My mom came over as well, and spent part of the day working on some writing on her laptop inside, and part of the day outside working with us.

Step 1: Level on the lowest area! Sorry about the fuzzy picture...Mom came out and used our camera, and didn't realize it was set for extreme close-ups.

Step 2: Level the sides, keeping the corners nice and square, so the high side of the yard almost falls even with the top of the gravel pad. Pound in 18 inch rebar with a sledgehammer to keep everything in place. Go Mom!

Step 3: Eat Casey's Pizza on the card table in the yard for lunch.
Step 4: borrow neighbor's 18v impact drill to drill in the 6 inch screws when your wimpy battery powered drill can't handle it.

Step 5: shovel gravel back INTO the pad and tamp it down! We ended up wrapping up before the gravel was totally replaced, as we had supper plans with friends, and we were all exhausted. We'll be getting up early tomorrow morning to finish up putting in gravel, and then to FINALLY set up the shed.

We are working in our yard, but it's nothing compared to what went on in our neighbor's back yard! They are putting in a "man cave" in the basement, with a screened porch on top. Here is what was going on next door all day:

They offered to build a tunnel to the man cave connecting to our basement, but we declined. Couldn't afford the $50,000 price tag!