Comments on: Timelapse movie of building a shed

By: Charlie B

Charlie B — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 03:30:00 +0000

Do you have any pics online? I’m a fan of timber framing… more difficult than balloon or platform construction, but it makes a fundamentally stronger structure (and more beautiful, in my eyes).

By: JimEJim

JimEJim — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:11:00 +0000

I’m sorry, but there is a HUGE difference between teaching your kids to believe that an imaginary friend created the universe and teaching them how to use a power tool. A lot of kids don’t get the opportunity to do stuff like this because so many just go buy a pre-made shed at this point.

I agree that there are some things you have to let your kids figure out for themselves in life, but even if he forced them to help him with the shed it’s not a bad thing to occasionally make your kids help with projects around the house or do chores. Part of growing up is learning that sometimes you have to help even if you’re not interested.

These kids are likely going to grow up being better adults just for having been a part of this, whether they were forced into it or not.

By: Sean Nelson

Sean Nelson — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Searching for the dislike button…

By: Ray Perkins

Ray Perkins — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:33:00 +0000

I built one using aluminum extrusion (from the edge of our old inground pool), a stepper motor from an old floppy drive, and a Canon camera running CHDK. The trick is to have the camera take a picture just before the camera advances, so you don’t end up with the odd shaky image. https://plus.google.com/photos/115317717741614936245/albums/5779103264985406833

By: Ray Perkins

Ray Perkins — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:27:00 +0000

Your construction techniques are very good for a first-time build. Our outdoor curling club built a clubhouse and everything looked very familiar ( http://www.outdoorcurling.ca/ ).

By: rhrh

rhrh — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:28:00 +0000

Music from Brad Mehldau Trio’s “Live” album

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 04:34:00 +0000

Troll in that sense has been around since the Middle Ages.

By: koanhead

koanhead — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:13:00 +0000

I don’t even like the Oasis version, but tis a lovely bit of jazz there.

By: koanhead

koanhead — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:11:00 +0000

I think you meant “trawling” the internet.
Trawling is more in the sense of cruising around picking stuff up.
Trolling is more like what I’m doing with this comment.
<3

By: AwesomeRobot

AwesomeRobot — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:47:00 +0000

My kids piss wherever they want, I’ll let them discover the toilet when they’re ready.

By: Charlie B

Charlie B — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:29:00 +0000

How well do you know Pedro the Cruel, anyway?

By: Charlie B

Charlie B — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:27:00 +0000

It’s western platform construction. Very simple set of rules, and it results in a strong building despite being made of weak individual components. A good book or a week spent trolling the Internet will teach you nearly everything you need to know – except how to not cut your self with the saw or nail yourself with the nailgun. First time out you probably want an experienced friend and a medkit.

By: lasermike026

lasermike026 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:16:00 +0000

The music, who is the artist and what is the album?

By: rtresco

rtresco — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:12:00 +0000

There is some merit to what Mike is saying – he’s only taking issue witht he word “install”. My dad was/is rabid about golf and thought it would be a good way for us to spend time together - making me love what he loves. And we can agree that golf is a benign and joyful-to-some activity, not religious indoctrine. Long story short though, I hate golf. And 20yrs after the fact, just this past weekend I got the sense from him that he has no concept of my quitting golf in HS because of un-interest. He believes my uninterest is the product of bad coaching. Upon learning this I wanted to tell him that I had a very good HS coach because he was able to infer that I didn’t want to be there and so foucsed on kids that did. But I’ll save that argument for a rainy day or heated game of Monopoly. Anyhoo – what I’m saying is, Mike has a point about kids vs parental interests. Do things with your kids, but avoid “install”.

By: rhrh

rhrh — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:20:00 +0000

RH here. You can’t see it in the video (a lot was cut out in the interest of short attention spans!) but I did add some collar ties to the roof structure after the OSB went on. I wasn’t sure about how the lofts were going to go together at the time the trusses went up, hence the wait. I also opted for no underlayment due to the steep pitch.

By: JohnQPublic

JohnQPublic — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:10:00 +0000

also, edited out is all the footage where the kids accidentally kick the arduino-controlled motion camera rig down on its side.

By: JohnQPublic

JohnQPublic — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Doesn’t it seem a little “off” to you to try to rationalize an activity as productive and interesting as this shed-building experience as something more sinister than a simple play/learning opportunity?

Also, those “perfectly wonderful people who can’t change a battery” would surely remain just as perfectly wonderful should someone teach them a simple useful skill such as “how to change a battery.”

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Could somebody please build a Baba Yaga garden shed in classic Russian fairytale style, preferable with hydraulic chicken legs. I’m fairly certain that I can promise that we’ll feature it.

By: AJ

AJ — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:49:00 +0000

yea I love these cross genre covers, so so good.

By: awjt

awjt — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Yeah, I probably would have used tyvek or bituthene under the shingles. Otherwise, this thing will be fine in snow.

By: Okapi

Okapi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:10:00 +0000

You can be loving to your kids, do things that you love with your kids, as well as select activities that you think might benefit your kids in the future. They are not mutually exclusive.

Wether you like it or not, kids will be repositories for your ideas and personality, not to mention your bad genes. Most of us parents expend copious effort doing our best not to pass the bad traits down but inevitably some get through.

By: awjt

awjt — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:04:00 +0000

I bought some books and a few issues of Fine Homebuilding. I drew plans a few times, but they were sketches not blueprints… and then I just started.

It’s a 12×12 two-story timber-framed studio. The only real construction experience I’d had previous to that was helping my landlord put a new roof on a house I was renting, in 1996. That sure was a pain in the neck.

Otherwise, I simply had an intense desire to build, and an admiration for beautiful structures. I scored some beautiful arch-topped windows from a building that was being torn down nearby and I designed around those. Did the permit, so it was legal. So then I bought some chisels and a chainsaw mill, hewed a few trees from my land and started in. Then I bought finished lumber and metal roofing for the rest of it. It’s turned out nice.

By: Okapi

Okapi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:53:00 +0000

I think the roof will be plenty strong considering its small span and the number of trusses he used. I do agree, that since he seemed to be going for what I would consider to be an overbuilt shed, some of his roof structure choices are inconsistent. Also, he could have just as easily staggered the floor boards without adding cost.

Having said that, I fully support this dude. He did what we wanted, to the best of his ability. He also created something that will serve him well for a long time – even if he has to replace the sheathing after the first roof leak.

By: Okapi

Okapi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:37:00 +0000

I cut it twice and it was still too short

By: latelatelateshow

latelatelateshow — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Whoa, lighten up there, feller. Even I wouldn’t criticize a dad for sharing time with his kids making a little harmless shack – and I’m rather, uh…cynical and abrasive.

By: SomeGuyNamedMark

SomeGuyNamedMark — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Did you have detailed plans or just learn some basic rules and methods? Things like how closely to space beams and such can be very specific.

By: Ramone

Ramone — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:09:00 +0000

I know what you mean. I come from a long line of ironers!

By: Cat Wade

Cat Wade — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:51:00 +0000

My favourite part is the jazz version of Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’. I love this video, it’s wonderful. My dad did projects like this with me as a kid and now not only does it mean I can put IKEA flat packs together myself (important for any lady student) but i appreciate how nice it is to work hard and make things for yourself (even if the thing is the aforementioned IKEA flat pack – there’s only so much I can do on a student budget!)

By: MollyMaguire

MollyMaguire — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:46:00 +0000

True, I get your point about economy of scale. I even think that’s a reasonable criticism of the Maker movement. It’s just that I think a lot of corners are cut in order to bring even something like a $2500 shed to market. The messed up and unsustainable part is that extraction companies are now operating on such huge scales that they have mostly put smaller regional companies out of business. The way I wish it worked was that you could either buy the materials yourself from a local mill – in some places you still can – or you could pay an actual carpenter who would build you a better looking, longer lasting, and, yes, more expensive shed. But you would be putting money directly back into your community, or one not very far away, instead of into Weyerhauser. At some point economy-of-scale only explains part of the reason that things can be so cheap. After that you start getting into lax environmental regulations, artificially manipulated economies, labor rights, etc.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:44:00 +0000

I guess that I should hate my mother for indoctrinating me into the cult of how to do my own laundry and iron a shirt.