Woodshed Progress

I have moved on a bit with the woodshed, arriving at a point where I need to cut a few more timbers, and consider the final design that I am going to go with. As much as I would like it to resemble an old English cottage, it has to be open on one side, and it is best if it is breathable on at least one more. Since sunlight will help to dry the wood inside it as well, the south wall needs to expose the interior completely. It is positioned for that, as that is where it will need to be accessible. So it looks like it will look like an animal shelter when it is done. I will be able to just squeeze about eight and a half feet out of the top height of the tall side, the one facing south, and the back, or north side, will probably come in around seven or so. Even though the longest I could do in sills took the length of the shed down to about 17 feet four or so, I think the final shed will still be able to fill completely and hold enough wood for the entire winter, using it as the primary heat source.

So, I am foreseeing a two-bay shed that will stand on a whole bunch of cinder blocks for a foundation. I would love to be able to close that off completely, leaving the bottom as just an empty cavity, but of course there are not enough to finish fully closing it in, so I will have to be able to do with what I have got here. The idea is to build this as cheap as possible. I only anticipate buying a bag of nails to keep the purlins on and the siding on the purlins, and places like that; the flooring and such. The frame is meant to be timber framed. Every bit of wood will come out of logs and off my sawmill. As such, the wood members will be robust. I am cutting the siding at an inch thick, and even though a good deal of it will go on green, I think it will still come in at over three-quarters of an inch thick when it is dried.

When it is finished, I expect I will put up a place to hang a lantern so I can see alright when I go out to get wood. Seems like a good idea, as long as it is secure, and the lantern cannot fall and set the winter’s wood on fire!

As for my work on it today? It is raining, so I am not. Documenting the ideas and progress instead! The rest of the week shows a small chance of rain with the temps falling in at the low seventies, so as long as it is dry, it ought to be great! More progress! I’ll start with some milling tomorrow.


Interesting. There is a tree trimmer on the road cutting back trees that are encroaching upon the power lines. The truck just drove past the tree that arced and set in motion the truck coming out here in the first place. Ain’t that typical?

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