Some recent building projects, 1

Been busy for the last 6 months with house renovations. There was the shed project in early summer, that looked like this:

The old plastic shed behind the maple, dark and cramped.

Tore that plastic thang down, and framed out a level floor....

Framed out the walls. Aaah, the weather was sooo nice.

Stuck a roof on it -- clear polycarb. Let the sunshine pour down!

Sheathed it, popped on a $45 recycled door, and wrapped it in my favorite stuff, Tyvek.

Found some used cedar siding and $20 windows at Community Forklift (same place I got the door).

New shed, for about the same price as a pre-fab piece-a-junk. And a nice place to work, it is.

Well, Memphis go and Memphis come back.... Fall ushers in the Days of Awe, and then Sukkot. Decided to build my first sukkah since moving to DC. About time, eh? I started off by cutting down about 30 saplings that a neighbor was glad to get rid of. Hmmm, how to make this thang stand up? Well, why not start like this -- one 2x4 with a couple of holes drilled in it:

I didn't plan to frame the door with it, but I needed to stand it up to figure out how to proceed.

No nails required. I drilled out a hole in the post, stuck a cutoff branch in it, and leveled the 2x4 that way.

Oh right! I forgot. Sundry simple tools and materials, especially a drill, razor, and jute.

Instead of nails or screws, jute does a nice job of binding posts...

or binding posts and "beams".

Cut to the chase. Here's the finished sukkah. A great place to hang out, eat a meal, or chat with ushpizin.

Side view. It's very stable and still happily standing, having stood up to a couple of good storms. Only storm that will bring it down is Nancy. "Time to take that thang down, boy!" "Ah shoot, Nan. Ah like it."