Summer of Maintenance & Repair: Garden Shed

 We didn't plan much project-wise for this summer. Food production and preservation are ongoing, of course, as are seasonal chores. Even though our infrastructure projects are pretty much finished, maintenance and repair are ongoing. This summer we decided to focus on upgrading appliances and working on things like fence maintenance and other repair projects. 

One such blog worthy project was the new driveway gate. Another one is repairing the garden shed foundation.

We got the shed our first year here, purchased with tax return money. Ten years later, we moved it to put up my clothesline. 

photo from June 2019

When he moved it then, Dan used pallets for the base. This worked well for awhile, but eventually the pallets began to break down. The floor became mushy and the building began to list.

photo from May 2024

This wasn't unexpected and we knew we'd have to replace it someday. Two years later was even worse. 

photo from July 2026

You can't see it in the above pic, but something dug out underneath it! We've had families of groundhogs and skunks live under there from time to time. Finally, this summer, Dan has been able to repair the foundation. 

After sliding the shed off the old foundation, Dan cleared away the pallets and then used cap blocks as footers to build the floor framing upon. The frame itself is outdoor treated 2x4s and one-inch OSB board.

To deter diggers from making new homes under the shed, Dan cut corrugated metal panels to use as skirting. They are buried about 6 inches underground. The exposed OSB (which makes a very nice step) is coated with roofing tar. Flashing protects the OSB edges from rain damage.

Here's how it looks now. . . 

The path on the right goes directly to the garden.

It's wonderful having a firm floor under it again. Once again it can become useful for storing garden and seasonal items. 

So nice to have another repair project done. 

Summer of Maintenance & Repair: Garden Shed 

© Aug 2026 by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Buck Barn: Roof and Walls

 More progress! (Continued from here.)

Rain was in the forecast, so we were anxious to get the roof on.

The slabs leaning against the back are going to become the exterior walls. 

They are waste slabs from Dan's previous lumber milling projects. 

Because the slabs don't fit together without some gaps, plywood from the torn down buck shelter was used for inner walls. 

Continued here.

Buck Barn: Roof and Walls © January 2021

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Buck Barn Progress

I've got more pictures than words for this post (a good thing, right?!) Progress (always weather permitting) is continued from here. 

Dan's old pick-up still has some use.

So far, we've had to purchase very little for the new buck barn. Almost all of the materials have either been milled from our property, or re-purposed from other things (like the buck shelter). 

Ridge beam

Dan "treats" the bottoms of the posts with fence paint.

Posts are set on cap block instead of a footer.

Dan drills holes in both the cap block and the bottom of the post and inserts rebar to stabalize the posts on the blocks. 

Roof rafters over the buck side of the barn.

Where the bucks' door will go.

Knee braces and roof rafters in place

Most of the roof rafters came from the demolished
buck shelter. The rest Dan purchased.

Continued here.

Buck Barn Progress © Jan 2021 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Buck Shelter Demolition

The buck shelter has been a feature on our homestead since 2013. Hard to believe it's been that long! But with the building of a new shelter, the old is coming down. Two reasons: to reuse the wood for the new shelter, plus the roof leaks. Dan's current nice weather project has been to disassemble it.

All that's left is straw bedding and the privacy fence panels that made the back of the shelter. The rest of the materials will be re-used in the new buck barn. 

Even the hay feeder will find new life as a portable feeder. All it needs is the roof extended some and wheels or ???

It's really nice to have all those materials to re-use. I'll show you how it's coming along, next time. 

Buck Shelter Demolition © Jan 2021 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Dan's Winter Project

Do you remember this?

It's a photo from last February, when I blogged about heavy rains flooding the buck shelter. The boys were standing in six inches of water and we had to move them out.

Every heavy rain since then, Dan and I are concerned about a repeat performance, so we've been discussing options. Those options have all been variations on one of two ideas: do something to prevent the shelter from flooding again (like a seasonal pond), or move the bucks' home to a new location. After tallying up the pros and cons of each, we realized there are more incentives for moving the bucks rather than messing with drainage. The biggest incentive is that having them closer would be more convenient for water, hay, and feeding chores! The other problem is that the roof in the buck shelter has been leaking, so a repair would be necessary if we left them there, in addition to fixing the flooding problem. 

After discussing all the concerns and options, we decided to build new buck housing and tear down their current shelter to re-use the materials. We'll put the boys back in the old buck barn for the time being.

So Dan's winter project is building the new barn. Here's where we're putting it.

The blue above is the location of the new buck barn. We're going to re-do the chicken yard to set up an area for the bucks that will facilitate a new pasture rotation plan. Please note that nothing is to scale!!! But you get the idea.

It will be a gable roofed building. One half will have three exterior walls and a pony wall will divide the two halves. That will be the bucks' side. The other half will be open (no walls) and used for feed and hay storage. 

Here's how it's going so far!

There's no specific time table for this, but we've had some pretty weather so hopefully, it will move right along. After that, it will be fence repair and rearrangement. 

Continued here.

Dan's Winter Project © Dec 2020 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Our Eventful Rain Event

This week's rain event was one like we'd never experienced before.

At morning chores, the bucks were high and dry.
Three hours later the buck shelter was flooded.

We had to wade out to rescue them.
The deepest spot reached the top of my boots.

Piles of ants floated by.

Dry ground was gone.

The boys were standing in six inches of water
with their bedding straw floating on top.

Fortunately, we have the buck barn. It's out of the flooding, although it sits
in a dip and usually has wet floors when it rains. But it was a better option.

Goats hate getting wet, so we had to push and drag them
through the flooded area to get them to higher ground.

Dan put down pallets and plywood to get them off
the damp ground and we gave them plenty of dry hay.

There aren't many options for draining the pasture. 

Some of it we could channel behind the buck shelter. 

Our neighbor's field floods with every extensive rain,
so ours will drain off with his. At least some of it.

Our rain total was 5.5 inches. By the next morning there were only a couple of small puddles left in the pasture. The wind was blowing strong and cold, and the temperature had dropped 30 degrees.

We've had areas around the homestead collect a lot of water, but we've never had the pasture flood like that before! The wet straw will be spread out on bare spots in the pasture. Then we'll let the shelter dry out before putting down fresh bedding and letting the bucks back in.

UPDATE:

Two days later.

Our Eventful Rain Event © February 2020

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com