Ive been holding on to this post for so long, I even drafted it out well over a month ago and then life got in the way, August turned into September which then turned into October and I decided to get my backside in gear and stop ignoring my blog. so, here is the tale of what took over our lives over the Summer and beyond…
For years we had been umming and ahhing about what to do about our mismatched sheds. One of them had a fresh coat of paint this year (the other was made of plastic covered boards and corrugated plastic, yuck!) and was looking quite nice (from the side view) with hanging baskets
But, we just weren’t happy with them, they were too big, too open, too mismatched, too ramshackle and in a lovely sunny spot in the garden. So after lots of pondering and internet searching we decided to go for a shed with an attached covered seating area to make the most of the lovely late afternoon sun we get on that part of the garden. We set about ordering it and then the real work began. Once it arrived it needed staining before putting up, so many many hours were spent:
painstakingly painting the panels…
dismantling the old sheds…
digging a bloody great big hole…
levelling the ground,putting in the concrete edging stones and filling bloody great big hole with 7 tonnes of hardcore:
levelling again, then filling with another 5 tonnes of gravel:
levelling again, beginning to lay the flagging stones and realising that the old flagging stones you were hoping to use for part of it, weren’t actually exactly the same size and having to buy yet more stones! Then finally laying the newly purchased flagging stones, brushing sand into the gaps and levelling yet again!
Then deciding that the bit at the back(that no one except us will ever see!) needed stones laying too, cue my groan and another a days painstaking work (we may have fallen out about this slightly but I do have to agree that it does look better now and yes the weeds will have a harder time growing through so may save us work in the long run!)
I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished groundwork/ patio look fabulous! It almost seemed a shame to put a shed on top.
But plough on we must, through several days of shed construction and finally, drum roll please, the finished result…
Doesn’t it look fabulous?! It still needs another coat of stain to ensure it stays weather proof and the feminine touch adding (I’m thinking bunting, seating and hanging mandalas) and then we can finally enjoy begin to enjoy it.
The man hours (and woman hours!) that have gone into this mammoth task have been incredible. Even the neighbours got involved and helped with shed dismantling and shifting piles of bricks. The whole family spent many hours shovelling hardcore and gravel and even little Miss got in on the act with her little wheelbarrows and shovels, as did Dad when over for a visit(not with the mini tools I hasten to add!) But, the meticulous planning, sleepless nights and many many hours of hard work have been down to my lovely hubby. It was all worth it in the end but lets just say woe betide me if I suggest any more home improvements in the near future! I think diy may be a dirty word in our house for a few months, hehe!
Karen x x
