Slabs and Short Sheds

We went out this morning and ordered pavers for the north side yard of our house.  They will be delivered on February 17.  God help us!  Three pallets of pavers may be the death of us yet.

While we are waiting for that delivery, we got to work on our next project.  Last night, after dinner, we drove to Home Depot to pick up two 12-foot 2 x 4s to frame our concrete slab in back in preparation for our sheds.

Yes, I said sheds (plural!)  We were going to put up one eight-foot-tall 8 x 10 shed, but Rick's research and phone calls to the companies that manufacture the sheds taught us that both companies have had trouble with their sheds.  Because of the height, they do not tolerate high winds well, and their roofs sag due to the hot Florida sun.  If a homeowner tries to strap down the sheds, the side walls bow out and the straps void the warranty.  Do I want to pay almost a thousand dollars to have a shed that will either blow away or warp in the sun?  Nope.  I don't think so. The space at the top of a tall shed tends to be wasted space anyway, so I am not sorry we chose not to buy the tall shed.

Rather than put up that shed, we have decided to erect two smaller sheds like the one we already own on the north side of the house.  The shed is lower, so wind in not a problem.  The lower profile also makes the entire structure more solid.  The top has a piston-activated lift system, so we know that they operate well.  Also, Steve told us to protect them to just put on a good coat of car wax a couple of times a year.  Since the sheds are lower, we can easily treat the top without having to climb on ladders.  Our current shed holds several large machines from our garage, and we have never had any trouble with rain leaking into the structure.

We have purchased two more storage sheds
like the one we already use.

The new site of our sheds will be near the south
side fence. The fence and the live oak tree
will help shade the sheds from the hot sun.

To keep the sheds level, we have decided to pour a concrete slab on which we can place the new sheds side-by-side.  They will take up only a small footprint in our yard, and they will not be visible from the street.  If no one knows they are there, no one will be tempted to break into them when we are gone.

Rick pulls out chunks of the Brazilian Pepper tree
roots that he sliced out with the SawsAll.

Rick put together the frame for the slab this morning.  He then took out the transit (thank you Steve and Chris) so we could make sure that the frame was level.  We put it back near our oak tree, so of course we encountered roots.  Strangely enough, the roots were not from the oak tree but rather from a large Brazilian Pepper tree that we removed more than six years ago.

The round paver stone that was completely
buried under the shed site.

Rick also found one other treasure: a round stone paver that somehow got buried near the now-removed patio blocks.  Gladys gives up yet another of her buried treasures.

Having three sheds will give us the storage room we need to free our garage of clutter.  We will keep items that we do not use often in the two sheds in the back yard, and we will keep the more frequently used items in the shed on the north side.

Sheds are not our first choice, but without basements in these Florida houses, storage is at a premium.  The sheds should work well for us.