With more rain in the forecast and my days tied up with clients, Monday evening I was determined to get the two narrow pieces of siding up over the door opening and the back siding installed.  The goal is to be entirely finished by the weekend as its supposed to be beautiful and my grass needs to be cut.  If I finish the shed I can retrieve my lawn mower from my cousin’s storage locker one final time.

I decided to paint the back panels first, so I brought my saw horses up from the basement in order to paint outside.  Even though I was able to carry the full sheets downstairs to cut the side panels, it was a struggle and I decided against that just to paint.  I got one panel complete, but realized I would not have enough paint for the entire second panel.  I quickly installed the small strips above the door and decided to call it a night.  Tuesday I was able to pick up a quart of paint from Lowe’s on a lunch break, so Tuesday evening I started up again.

I painted the second panel and then proceeded to hang the first.  I pulled out my house jack thinking this would be a piece of cake.  NOT!!!  First off it was windy with winds blowing towards me, which meant the panel was being blown towards me and not the shed.  I was able to turn my clamps into helpful extra hands, but I could not get that board positioned correctly.  I struggled for over two hours, until dark.  I accepted the revelation that my wall studs weren’t level; I had a lean that was making it impossible to split the middle of the center stud.  I was real close to getting my work light, plugging it in and working until the back panels were hung, but my inner voice spoke to me and said, remember your final door, go to bed.  So I re-tarped the panels and did just that.

Rain was headed our way late morning, so I struck out early.  Clearly the walls weren’t level, but I knew my floor was, so I screwed three screws to span the 48″ width of the panel were the bottom of the panel should set.  They became my ledge.  I used clamps to hold the top as it was windier.  I got the bottom corner aligned and revealed that the top extended past the edge of structure by about 2″.  I needed to draw the structure to meet the board and that I accomplished by using my 50″ clamps.  I cranked it as far as it would go and only closed half the gap, so I grabbed my 36″ clamp, piggy backed it on top of the other clamp and cranked until the top corner was flush.  Doing so made that panel almost perfectly centered on the middle stud.

The second panel was much easier.  I did have to use the house jack as I placed the screws slightly too low. I needed to raise the panel about a half inch.  I’m not quite sure what I would have done if the roof rafters weren’t exposed for me to anchor to.

In less than two hours the back was complete, just as the rains started to fall.  I know now that placing the rafters exactly perpendicular to the wall joist is crucial.  Having level wall studs is crucial, however all in all for a shed rookie working as a solo act, she ain’t half bad.  Doors and trim and this shed is a wrap.

 

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