Just the Garage...

 About three weeks ago, I started a Spring To Do List

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 The top item on the list is to put the lattice on the side entry - but there has to be a let up in the rain before we get out there doing that! The second item on the list is Build Shelves in the Garage.

Before we could head out to buy the materials I had to have a little panic search, during which I couldn't find my plans for the shelving (and my list of what we needed to buy in order to build the shelves). However, when I calmed down, I remembered where it was. (Isn't that always the way?)

After I found it, Barry and I went to Kent Building Supplies and bought the wood, which we strapped it onto the roof of the Jeep. Our stock joke (only I'm pretty sure Barry is NOT joking) is that the Jeep is NOT a truck... That was pointed out, yesterday, as we drove home with 14 one by four spruce boards that were 12 feet long.  We did manage to get them all here without blowing over (the wind was wicked yesterday) AND without getting rained on. Which is why we went out in the morning! We moved all the 'stuff' away from the wall, and into the middle of the garage floor.

We had bought some beautiful industrial brackets at The Home Depot in Dartmouth. They didn't have enough for us that were all the same size - but there were enough (we thought) for three shelves.  The bottom one would be deeper than the top two. (It turned out, we have enough for another shelf - that'll be on the other side of the garage, but I haven't broken the news to Barry yet!)

Barry desperately wanted to use his laser level, so after some 'discussion' in which I pooh-poohed that, we gave it a try. And what do you know - it worked slick! We used the chalk line (which was my idea) to connect the dots - and had a lovely line on the wall to get the brackets lined up. I forgot to bring the camera out at the beginning of the process, so I don't have a picture of the lower shelf's line before we put the brackets up (and I wasn't convinced that the laser level was going to be a useful tool at that point anyway!)

 

We had to move Barry's work bench out of the way (heavy!!!) and we moved it over far enough that he could put his white tool box into the corner. The bottom shelf is shorter than the top two. We wanted, specifically to put the two or three tools we have on tables (the table saw and the belt sander) UNDER the shelves. At the time that these were being built, those tools were under the canoe, which is hung on the back wall.

Barry has a chop saw, which is the handiest tool going!! He did all the cutting, I did the design, measuring and marking. At one point he took the pencil from me. I gave him the 'look' and he handed the pencil back immediately. 

When we do these projects we ALWAYS, INVARIABLY forget something when we buy the parts. It doesn't seem to matter how careful I am when I make the list, I just don't seem to be able to list everything - and this was no exception. I forgot to buy screws that would join the shelves to the cross pieces to make the shelves into one piece. However, Barry found some exterior quality screws of the right length that would do the job. It took us about half an hour to figure out what we had bought them for initially (the lattice, as it happens.)

Here I am figuring out how the small shelf goes together. We put the small braces across, and Barry screwed them together.

This is one of the long shelves. We also screwed the shelves INTO the brackets, using a proper length wood screw AND a little washer. We had JUST enough washers in the package. There should have been 36 in the pack and we used 33 and there were none left.... Hmmm.

Barry told me that there was no reason why he shouldn't sit down while he did the work! :-)

So we got all the shelves made. The two long ones are resting (in fact, attached to) a two by four that is attached to the wall studs on the back wall.

Barry made sure they were attached really firmly!

And when we got them all done, we put the 'stuff' on them. I have a pile of stuff to get rid of, and I might have a couple of other things to go on the top shelf. But once you put the ladder away, getting the top shelf's stuff down or up, is a bit of a pain.

We swept the garage and there is so much dust in the air that it looks like sparkles in this picture! The stack of give aways have the yellow life jacket leaned up against them. When they are gone, the garage will have so much space!! Barry is going to take the chop saw downstairs - he is concerned that it will get rusty in the garage (and I think he is right!)

Barry spent part of the evening (while I went in and made dinner) disassembling some old shelves, and went back out this morning and did some more. When we get the stuff that is to give away, taken away, I'll take another picture. It looks SO good!!!