Oh Bother.....

Hello again everyone.

The woodshop is coming along. There are good days and bad days with it, but it could be a lot worse. We'll get to that in a bit.

But first, here are a couple of pics I promised about that funky cabinet we found in the shed.

It's a nice little cabinet made of hard wood with wainscoting.

The right side vertical board has been chewed on by squirrels so it would need to be replaced.

The part that's most interesting is the base hopper/bin.

As you can see the hopper/bin is angled downward, has a divider in the center with the lid.

We're not sure what the cabinet was originally used for but the under side of the lid has one bin listed as 'Epson Salts' and the other as 'Sulpher'.

Right now I'm not sure if I will restore this to sell, or use it in the shop. It might even make an interesting potting cabinet. Peat moss and such could be placed in the bins.

Here's a shot of the almost completed east wall.

The new window opening has been framed and that THAT was a real pain!!

I just about ruined a Multimaster blade on this little project. There were so many nails that it became ridiculous. In about two, 3' long sections (where siding and such was nailed to studs) there were about 75 nails and they were not little ones either.

This is the first sign of termite damage in the building. It isn't too bad and was easily fixed.




However, it was just a foretaste of what was to come.

This is the other side of the shed after cleaning it up and getting ready for the wafer board.




The dark stains are from water, so, I will need to be replacing the siding fairly soon.

Now, this is where the funny REALY begins.

While cleaning the floor so that we could start installing the wafer board I found another little section that had termite damage.

But that little spot would be just the beginning.....

In the northwest corner of the room there were lots of boards nailed down on the floor. So, Lee (my best friend who came down and helped us) and I decided to pry up these boards and see just how bad the termite damage was.

Turns out these boards were not hiding termite damage but rat holes!!

See how big these are - and there are several more. You can also see one of the boards covering up a bigger rat hole.

"Holy Rat Hole Batman!"

This is Lee, and yours truly, looking at the section of holes under the board in the above picture (yup, SWMBO decided to play with the camera).

It was at this point that we discover old oat husks. So, now we know that oats were stored at some point in the shed. This would also explain why there are so many rat holes!

Lee decided to go ahead and pry off all the boards so that we can get a feel for just how bad it was.

Once it was discover just how bad it was, the decision was made to get out the heavy artillery and start removing that section of the floor.

As Lee hunted for more rat holes, I got the sawzall out and took out my frustration on the floor.

After a large section was cut out, Lee started pulling up the old nails and we could take a better look.



Turns out the sill board here has been eaten away by rats and termites. So, before I can put some replacement flooring down I will need to fix this - yet another project!

Yes, this is my best side.....

I just had to take a look at what was under there.




We have had noticed indications that skunks, opossums, and foxes have lived under the shed so I was expected to either come face-to-face with one, or at least see evidence of habitation.

There was nothing there. No signs of anything! however, I could not see all the way across the crawlspace, so there might still yet be something there.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of treasure.... You'd think there could have at least been on old tin can filled with $20 gold pieces!

Blast it all...

On the bright side, we did find out that there is an additional, cement, retaining wall running the entire length of the shed helping to support it down the center. That was a big deal, still is in some cases even today, back then.

Well, I need to get back out there and continue prepping the area for the new floor.

I'll make sure to get some pics.

Till later....

Cheers!
Larry ~