It’s funny how we start out on something and what we think will be “the way” for our foreseeable future and what we ultimately end up with. It is fascinating.

When I first put up the canvas shed, I thought that with care and attention, it would be around for years and years. It changed things for me though as it would you. I loved having my bike dry and out of the weather. I liked being able to clean the bike, work on it and perform maintenance out of the elements. But, the canvas shed was great and I had very few complaints about it. Minor complaints. I couldn’t hang anything on “the walls”, the wind and cold still came through it along with leaves and cats.

But it only lasted two years despite all my efforts to keep it maintained. The wind, as you know, had something to say about that and shredded the whole thing on one blustery day in November in 2018. Then I had to start over.

Here is where the finances had to manage the host of materials to build a wood structure and a lot of research went into the pricing of said materials.

I took time to draw in CAD the new shed and was able calculate the cost. Purchasing of the materials would happen over weeks as would the acquiring of the necessary permits to put this up.

In the town I live, if the structure is 10’x10′ or less, a zoning is required. Although I would have loved to have a 10′ x 16′ “garage”, building permits, inspections and opinions would be involved, so I elected to keep it 10’x10′. In hindsight, I should have gone bigger.

I had this weird plan to build the shed in sections and then stand up the parts and nail them all together. My wife had the idea to make it so I could take it apart and we could bring it with us when we decide to move. In theory it is doable, in practice…. that’s a little harder. I had the thought to screw the sections together and ultimately decided to use the framing nailer to do that and I was able to get the parts together much quicker.

Once I started putting the exterior sheething up, I got to see how much room I would have inside. Though I built it big enough for the Harley and a small bench, I soon realized that I may not have the room I really wanted. But, something is much better than nothing.

It’s when I finally put the roof on was I able to put the bike inside, even though it wasn’t water/weather proof yet. I just wanted the bike out of the driveway and “inside” something. In fact, when I first put the bike inside, there were no shingles on the roof and there were no doors. So, “out of the weather” was subjective to say the least.

Once the shingles, windows and doors were installed, I knew I had a secure dry location for my bike, tools and workbench. I felt much better about it now. It still needed paint though and without it, that exterior wood won’t last very long and that is when I found out just how expensive paint is these days.

We wanted to match the house color and we went back and forth over the color. Ultimately what we picked out ended up looking more like a grey primer, which ended up being fine since it took two coats to cover the exterior.

We knew we were unhappy with the color but were glad that the grey can act as a base-coat for the correct color when that gets applied. We waited weeks and weeks for a decent sale to come around and after a second go-round on the colors we found the perfect match.

Now the finishing touches could be applied. The trim work. This would basically finish off the exterior of the shed and make it more weather proof and of course look better. I also took the time to paint the base and ramp of the shed with a super thick textured black paint for concrete floors. What a difference!  Now I don’t have to worry about my ramp or platform rotting from getting and staying wet.

It’s amazing how a little thing like trim woodwork can make a difference on the appearance of something.

I still have a couple small batten strips to put up and the trim around the windows, but for the most part, it’s done.

The inside, well, that’s another story all together and it is in progress…. slowly.