Hell Week in the MMP

[Johnny_L.A]

Posted in the previous MMP thread:

@Johnny_L.A

Mrs. L.A. decided she is going to empty her storage unit because her new business is off to a very slow start and she can’t afford $65/month to store her stuff. She wanted to put it in the ‘canopy garage’ with my MGB. Fine, as long as I don’t want to drive the car. :dubious: So I’ve ordered a 7-foot by 12-foot canopy shed.

But where to put it? We have the area that was underneath the travel trailer that was built onto the house, and which we had demolished last Summer. It’s uneven dirt, and wet (because we live in Rainland). So being the incredibly awesome husband that I am, I’m building a platform. I have four concrete piers with brackets on them, and a dozen concrete piers with slots. The plan is to put the piers with the brackets at the corners. Two slotted piers will go between each pair of bracketed piers so that there will be four piers on each side and on each end. The remaining slotted piers will go in the middle. I’ll put a 12-foot 2x6 on each of the four rows, and a 7-foot 2x6 on each end. I’ll use 2x4s for two rows of cross pieces. Then I’ll lay down three sheets of plywood and paint it with some of that textured deck paint. Then I can screw the feet of the new canopy shed to the completed platform. When the tent eventually wears out, maybe I’ll try my hand at framing a wooden structure.

Yesterday I put a bracketed pier in the lowest corner of the area, dug out an area for the bracketed pier at the other end, and dug out places for the middle two slotted piers. I put down the 2x6, made sure (several times) that the board was level, and nailed the ends at the brackets. Now the hard part comes. I need to dig out the other two corners and not only make sure they’re level, but also square. I’ll probably use a sheet of plywood to check for squareness. Once that’s done, it’s just a matter of digging eight more shallow holes and finishing the floor.

And it’s only going to cost about the same as Mrs. L.A. is paying for ten months of storage. :rolleyes: (Between my Prius failing, and now this, I’m never going to get out of debt!)

I thought I’d finish the platform/deck/floor/whatever you call it yesterday. I went down to the hardware store for some plywood, and found them closed. Some sort of holiday yesterday, I guess.

Anyway, here’s what’s done: The corner piers (with the brackets), two non-bracket piers on each side and the front and back (2 each) are in, the side boards are nailed in, the end boards are cut, and everything is level. I still need to dig four holes for the piers in the middle, which will support the two 2x6s there. Once that’s done and the boards are on, I just need to nail everything together, lay down the plywood, paint the thing with deck paint, and wait for the canopy shed to arrive. I was going to dig the holes, place the boards, and do the nailing after work today, but it’s going to be raining today and tomorrow.