Wednesday, July 24, 2013

World’s worst garage slightly better

When you’re dealing with something this bad, almost anything is an improvement.

Here are the first real repairs, involving cutting out the termite-damaged lower parts of studs and replacing them with pressure-treated studs.

In the corner is a 4 x 6 pressure-treated timber that’s been lying around the yard for years. I knew I’d use it if I saved it long enough.

This is a lesson we can all learn: Never get rid of anything!

garage REPAIRED STUDS


Come along with me
Using a come-along (right), I pulled the leaning structure until it was vertical. It’s easy: you just pull until your wife yells that the bubble is in the center.

garage first SIDING


Four sheets to the wind
Four sheets of T1-11 plywood are installed. Careful observers and nit-pickers may notice a slight stair-step effect. Trust me, it’s about the best I could do, and it certainly meets minimum expectations.

garage four sheets SIDING

The facts: the old garage’s stone foundation is probably about 70 years old, it’s remarkably level in most sections. But the Allstate Insurance garage is not quite the same, so I had to make a few compromises.

Other things you need to know if you want to be a better person
T1-11 plywood
is also known as texture 1-11. It has a rough finish with grooves at four inches on center. You can find out more at the Georgia Pacific website.

texture 1-11 plywood

A come-along is a mechanism using pulleys, steel cable, and a ratchet crank to pull with tremendous pressure. It also puts tremendous pressure on me as I listen to the creaks, groans, and cracking as the building yields to each click of the ratchet. Scary.

Comealong


Next: Restoring the law of gravity

garage back corner

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