Could This Be the Longest Garden Shed Build in History? - 24th August 2020
 
No don’t laugh and I’ll tell you a story, I decided during the Autumn of last year that a new shed was needed, the existing wooden one was put up over twenty years ago (yes twenty) and had done very well but was now having a few too many leaks. It was one of those sheds where slowly the items (junk) inside were overtaking the floor area, the walls & roof space, where did it all come from?
Old Wood Shed
I thought I know what’s needed as I’m getting a wee bit older a plastic one, no maintenance, no painting and no patching up the roof, at the same time the plan was to get a bigger one which of course meant that I had to enlarge the concrete base. 
Need To Enlarge the Base
Wot did he say?
The Famous Gazebo
On a cold wet rainy day last November I went along to B n Q and purchased 25 Concrete blocks and loaded them into the back of my nephews people carrier, arrived home unloaded the blocks in front of the old shed and covered them with a large tarpaulin, job done. Shed not ordered yet as I thought I would wait while there was a good one on offer at Costco, which as it turned out was a good decision.  
 
Little did I know what was heading my way in December, yes after feeling unwell for most of the year it turned out that I had to have a Triple Heart Bye Pass and with some urgency, which of course meant the shed project was once again on hold.
Think I’ll Measure It Again
More Concrete
Base Ready
My wife made Christmas as good as possible for me and had even put up a nice decorated tree complete with lights, family came round on Boxing day and before I knew it New Years had passed and it was 2020.
 
Now back to the plan, before the old shed can be taken down It will have to be emptied, I thought I’ll keep one step ahead and purchased a really good four sided waterproof gazebo and erected it on the raised decking right across the main windows and doors overlooking the garden because I thought it won’t be there long, (wrong!) Emptied the shed into it for sorting through at a later date. I was just about to start when our Prime Minister declared all the regulations needed the day before my birthday, which meant my Nephew who has seven children (yes seven) couldn’t come to my house to help and I obviously couldn’t do it on my own. Disaster! Even if it could have been taken down the tip was closed anyway and there was no way I could lay the blocks!
 
As time went by I thought we can’t spend months looking out on the garden and only seeing this black gazebo, no grass, no birds and no squirrels, something had to done, it was, I carried all the stuff tools, work bench, garden equipment and mountains of junk back into the old shed and took the gazebo down! Now this may seem like a backward step but at the time it seemed like the only thing I could do. At least we could now feed the birds and watch the grass grow.
I Don’t Know Where It Is
The Roof Goes On Here
What’s round the back
At the start of May one of our Mark Brothers working at Costco gave me the nod that the shed I had been looking at was going on offer on line the following Monday, I was there first thing tapping away and managed to grab one, (they only usually have a couple to sell as an attention grabber for their site) paid for it, saving £170 and waited for a delivery date. A couple of weeks later got a TX telling me it would be delivered in three days, I thought at last a new shed. It did arrive on the said date in three huge boxes which the guys wouldn’t take any further than to my front door jammed at the side of my wife’s car even when offered a dropsy for their trouble. Now what do we do we can’t leave it there and there is no way to the back of my house only by going through the house itself. As we couldn’t call on anyone for help we had to carry, drag these very heavy boxes up the step, down the hall, through the dining room and across the decking before parking them up on the grass before we collapsed, what did they say at the hospital “No Heavy Lifting”  Nothing could be done now until some of the restrictions were lifted, in the end at the start of August when builders were going into houses I thought this shed has got to be built, I put the gazebo up and yes put everything back inside it, I called my Nephew, he came down we chopped the old shed up and after four trips to the now opened tip it was gone. I didn’t want to overdo him coming into the house even though we both were wearing masks at all times, which are awful, so over the next few days I laid the blocks myself and covered them (& me) with concrete. (Boy I’m getting too old for this as I said when I was on the roof earlier this year)
 
Sunday came along, bright and early we had to guess which was box 1 for the floor, we chose one, that was negative but box 2 was the one. It said in all the bumf 2 men 4 hours, they were of course having a laugh, it took us all day and in fact it was going dark when we collapsed for the day. It couldn’t be finished however because they had sent two pieces for the top of the doors but unfortunately, they were both left-handed, what a disappointment. Phoned up the next day after getting no reply to several E Mails to be told they had none in stock and as they come from Israel it would take a while to get the item, on asking what exactly does that mean, oh probably two or three weeks, really I would have expected better from a shed costing £1000, but hey ho that’s modern life. I chopped the wrong one about, so it at least filled the hole in!!
I Need A Rest
Is it finished
The Sockets
The floor was a bit like walking on Bubble Wrap, on the Tuesday decided something had to be done with it, off we went to B n Q and purchased three 8’ x 4’ sheets of thick marine ply, that was another £120, returned home and cut the sheets to the exact size, fitted them down and had to drill down into the concrete to keep them jointed together. It stated one window just have a look on the pictures, how could they call that a window, when it was finally built immediately had to purchase a light because it was so dark inside.
 
Ah well I wont mention the make of the shed but I will say it was one of the most well-known, I got a plastic one to save me having to treat it every few years but if I could start again I’m pretty sure I would purchase another wooden one like the one I had which has been first class for many years.
Gazebo
Gazebo To Empty
I have fitted it out with shelves and a nice new solid woodworking bench, and several sockets, all I have still to do is put all the tools (& junk) back inside from the Gazebo and sort through it, job done.
 
It started at the end of Nov 2019 and was finished (well almost) on Sunday Aug 9th, 2020.  It looks impressive but guess what, last week I said to my wife when we had that continuous rain & wind for a day and night, “I’ll just go and check that there are no leaks in the shed” Yes there it was right in the middle, we think we may have stopped it now but I won’t hold my breath.
New Shelves                                            
Woody isn’t interested
If your still awake I hope you enjoyed my trials and tribulations of building a plastic shed and be warned if you attempt the same, I was completely shattered for three days and dare I say “Never Again”
Stay Safe.  Keep Your Distance. Wear Those Awful Masks.
 
Stay in Touch with Your Family, Friends and of course all your Brothers in the Mark Lodge.
Telephone,  E Mail,  TX  anyway you can to let them know you are thinking about them.
Here’s looking forward to my next Mark Meeting to meet my old friends and those I have yet to Meet.
MARK WELL
Austin N Fletcher.  PGStwd.  Flixton Shepherd Eastwood Mark Lodge.  N.1173