Serious Progress Preparing for Winter

AT LAST!  All of the rigid foam insulation had let go and fallen to the ground under the shed...as noted before, the adhesive needs to be pressed into place and then the foam pulled free so it will off-gas, then pushed back into place.  Who knew?  So I watched as each piece let go and gave me a refrigerated floor!  I was GOING to get it fixed before another winter, whatever it took.

So hooray, Mark and Zach were free, and arrived yesterday to get us fixed up!

This is the old stuff, all out from under the shed now...you can see the glue spots that let go.  There wasn't a bit of it still on the floor where it belonged.  Somehow it didn't warm the floor much once it was all lying on the ground...

We decided to replace some of it with the 2" stuff, and double up the old...

They didn't have long enough nails with the plastic washers, so here's Mark replacing the nails with screws...Zach couldn't have swung a hammer under there anyway!

Finishing up along the west edge...Zach crawled under for most of it...

You can see some of the little fasteners here--more dependable than the glue, I hope!  And you can tell how little clearance there was...

Mark's squeezing the last bit into place...Zach's underneath guiding it in.

If I had REMEMBERED I'd owned this book since the late 80's, I could have saved us ALL a bit of trouble.  Or a lot.  It's still out there on Amazon, as you can see at the link!

A Place of Your Own Making: How to Build a One-Room Cabin, Studio, Shack, or Shed

Soooo...let this be a lesson to you if you're wanting to build your own place...nails in the floor joists BEFORE you put down the floor, at the depth of the styrofoam, as you may be able to see above. Rest it ON the nails. THEN cover.

Voila', an insulated floor that stays put! (A vapor barrier between the insulation and the sub-floor--or floor, as it turned out to be for us!--is good, too. Duh...)

So looking forward to a warmer winter and a lower electric bill!

Guess what?? It's WINTER.

I put up "guess what" photos on my Flickr from time to time--it's become a game with us!  So far no one has actually nailed this one, though they're very, very close.

I've mentioned the problem with the insulation falling off under the floor of the shed...that means there's 3/4" of plywood between my feet and the North Pole!

So what IS this?

It's the paint water in my little enameled tin pot; I left it on the floor overnight.  We keep the heat in the shed at about 48 degrees when we're not there, but it can't overcome that icy floor!

I'm thawing my paintwater in front of the little heater!  Since we have to carry water over from the house, I'm sparing with it.  It'll work just fine once it melts...

And happily, I've since discovered that if I leave the little pot on the wool RUG instead of the floor, it doesn't freeze.  Nether does Pepi's water.  We WILL solve this before next winter!!!

Today's lovely surprise...

Well, wow. This morning my husband snuck in the old painted canvas floorcloth that he'd had in his kitchen in Virginia.  I LOVE it, and loved it then.  It's beautiful (I've always liked the compass rose), it's cool on my bare feet, it's easy to clean...PERFECT for summer.

What a wonderful surprise first thing in the morning!  So who cares if I ever find the stencils? 

Got the amenities taken care of, too, at least the basics.  This is the AC, and an old water crock I'd had for 20 years...just in time, 'cause the tea set I found on eBay for $4.99 arrived today, too.  (Two Japanese-style cups with infusers and lids.)  J. found his electric kettle and we're good to go, for now.  I can take the French press over, too, for coffee.

And I got a temporary solution in place for something that was bugging me--ever have something like that that just sticks out like a sore thumb?  For J. it was how long the big yellow wires stuck out of the wall, here, before the electricity was hooked up.  It was better, after that, but I hated seeing the metal switchbox!  I hung a painting by my young friend Steve Gillispie over it for now--it always reminded me of a winter ocean, and the colors are serene and restful.  Till we come up with something more permanent, I'm happy!

Floor paint

We've decided that for now, since they don't make my favorite pattern of vinyl flooring any more and we've spent almost enough on this project, we'd go with paint right on the plywood floor.  It's a bit rough, but then so is the floor in our 110+-year-old houses.

We looked at a variety of vinyls, tiles, cork, etc., and even thought about using another layer of underlayment on the floor that would be smoother than the plywood--but maybe we're getting tired!  Just wanted done, and usable, and this was quickest.  If we decide on something later, we can always put it over the painted floor.

Soooo...Joseph just poured it direct from the can and spread it with a roller.  YEAH.  Instant serenity.

My stencils have gotten moved somewhere, so I'll either get more or find them, or make one just for this project, to add a decorative touch here...I think I'm too tired for anything very complex, and we'll be using rugs in winter, anyway.

I can haz in?

This is the end of the shed workday yesterday; visiting kitty Peppy can't understand why he can't go inside, as usual!

This morning while it was still decent outside, J. did the second coat, cutting in around the perimeter with a brush; the remaining gap will be covered with a simple baseboard.  (Knee pads helped with this step!)

Then he did the second coat like the first, with the roller, after smoothing some of the rougher spots that were easier to see once they had the first coat of paint on them.

I sat on the deck and supervised  er, sketched while he worked.

OH yeah.  Looking GOOD.  Love that morning light...

We're planning to keep it pretty simple and uncluttered inside...a shelf at the top of that far wall, the desk, a couple of chairs, wastebasket, shelves on the south wall for books and art supplies, the coffee/tea/water station next to the French doors on the south, heater and that's it.

For now.  :-P