It’s out in the Open
My well kept secret is out in the open, even though I have
tried to hide it from the extended family members. It was bound to happen
sometime and I am really surprised that no-one guessed before now.
I am handy at DIY.
I have kept this secret under wraps and it was only when we
got our new house a short time ago that people began to suspect. The house
needed work doing to it such as new walls, floors and paint work. When the work
was done, the extended family saw what I was capable of.
OK some relations knew that I could use a hoe and secateurs
and would occasionally ask me to do a bit of weeding or pruning. I have no
objections to that. Now they know I can
use a saw, screwdriver, drill and spanners I am starting to get a lot of requests
for ‘little jobs’ that need doing indoors. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind
doing a bit, but life was certainly quieter when people thought all I was good
for was mowing the lawn. I just hope they don’t find out that I can fix cars
too. Apart from putting old chairs back
together with wood glue and screws and changing toilet seats for the latest
‘slow fall’ types, I have also been
commandeered to build a lean two at the back of my mother in laws garage for storing wood in the
winter.
How it came about
Before I go into a bit more detail about how I managed to
cobble together something that can withstand a hurricane (hopefully) and keep
the wood dry, I would like to give you the reason for why this came about in
the first place.
Last year my in laws decided to get rid of their
conventional open fire and install a wood burning stove. They didn’t stop there
and went a step further by putting a smaller wood burning stove in the kitchen
so they can keep their toast warm on a cold and frosty morning when they are
having breakfast. They will no doubt
still be burning coal but the lure of free wood is very tempting, so we have
all been collecting fallen branches from the woods and collecting anything that
the tide has brought in from the coastline.
Initially this wood was stored in bags on the garage floor but as the
season has progressed we have found a garage full of damp wood that needs the
air getting around it to season it and dry it out. I’ve been collecting too
this summer but for some reason we don’t seem to have stockpiled much. Like my mate Paul said this week, he will
probably save about 10cent on his heating bills with the amount of wood he has
collected whilst out walking his dog. I don’t know about warming you twice as
the saying goes, this wood warms me five times. Once as I collect it from the
muddy shoreline or forest, once as I drag it back to the car, once as I cut it
up, once as I pick it up from the garden after the dog has run off with it then
of course when it’s burned on the fire. Pretty good value for money I reckon.
Lots of planning
So we have a pile of soggy wood and old pallets to be dried
out and this is where I come in. I have
been drawing ideas down on bits of paper (then losing them) since the beginning
of the summer holidays and finally came up with something that I could build
from treated wood from the DIY shop. All
that was needed were two 4”x4”x6’ foot posts, some 5”x1” planks for the
rafters, some leftover waterproof membrane left over from one of my earlier
damp proofing exploits and 25x5’fencing planks.
After a few hours of screwing nails into the wood and wiping sweat from
my brow as the tea flowed, I had created
something that looked rather good I thought.
There were plenty of gaps (some unintentional) to let the air pass
through and I even built what looked like an old pallet on the ground to get
the air moving underneath too.
Well equipped
We are getting well equipped with tools now for cutting the
wood into manageable sizes to fit through the stove doors. I have a chainsaw for the big bits and we
have small bow saws when we are out and about just in case anything needs
reducing in length to get into the cars.
We have a circular saw for when the wood is back on the workbench so
everything is in place. I think we will
probably have paid for the tools in about 5 years on the money we save not
having to buy the odd bag of coal. But
it’s not all about the money. The trips into the wilderness give us and the
dogs lots of fresh air and exercise and there’s the bonding social side of the
family meeting up in lay by’s and shoving rotted planks full of nails and mud
into the boot of my clean car.
Of course I have the satisfaction of the family members
thinking that I am a DIY genius. When
they ask me how I do it, I tell them that there are two secrets of success. 1,
Never tell everything you know.....
