# Ongoing outdoor attached shed renovation (pic heavy)



## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

I recently moved into a new place and wanted to get my DIY on. My first large project is to get the outdoor attached shed into real usable condition. 

The plan is to completely renovate my side (it's shared) of the shed into a usable storage space as well as a small work shed and a place to clean my weapons so I don't have the fumes in my liveable space. 

Attached are my current and future electrical drawings

The master plan is to do the following:

Redo the floor with a garage epoxy and replace the floor drain.
Wire in a GFI outlet with the light switch
Replace the small light fixture with a large shop light
Add some industrial racks for storage space
Place a smoke detector somewhere in there

Later plans
Wall up the place with some insulation for winter
Add another power outlet for a small portable heater

Before I do anything major (besides seal up some large holes in the wall) pics: 

1: The outside door needs to oiled, repainted, and resealed. The spiders have to go, too...



















The floor needs to be swept, etched, and epoxy'ed. The drain works but the cover needs to be replaced with something less rustic. 









The next door neighbor has half of the shed. The goal is to wall off my part here. 








The power and AC lines for our HVAC units run through the shed to out back. The light fixture needs to be replaced with something that puts out much more light. The camera flash is the ony thing that makes these pics look bright. 









The light switch I want to remove and replace with a switch + 2 GFI outlets. 








Another reason I want to wall off my side of the shed to is keep my neighbor and any visitors honest (unlike the last tenant)









Dryer ducts running from the utility room on the other side of this wall. The small light fixture needs to go. 









There is also some insects that seems to of taken up host. This electrical box is off a 20amp breaker that feeds two outlets in the utility room on the other side of this wall. One is for the washing machine and the other outlet is blocked by the door. Other than that, the breaker powers the over-sink light and that's it. I may just run another line in to be safe.


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

Apparently it didn't want to attach both drawings.


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

Well the home management company (military housing) axed my idea of putting a power outlet out there BUT did approve the rest of the modifications. They even said if I submit some work orders, they will come by and do some of the work for me!

This morning I went in and cleaned out the cobwebs and reassessed the layout. Didn't get all the way out the door before this little guy attacked me! 


















I retreated when I saw my shared wall covered in these guys:


























I now have to wait for the exterminator to come or else they will come back and I risk getting them stuck in my epoxy etc. Does anyone know what these things are!? Some of them ran (jumped) to the opposite end of the shed under my neighbor's pile of crap. 

Anyhow, I am off to go see my mx rep and ask for an emergency bug genocide for inside my shed.


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

They are called crickets. Camel crickets to be exact. They are attracted to cool damp places and are a nuisance pest unless you're storing linens or fabrics, which they might try and make a meal out of.

If I were you I would put the toad in with the crickets for a few days. Problem solved without chemicals.


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

I guess the exterminator WAS correct in saying that the stuff he was spraying wasn't "exactly environmentally friendly, but it sure gets the job done"

:thumbup:


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

After the exterminator made a repeat visit I cleaned up the genocide pile and took a look around.










First to go was the small puny light bulb with a new 100w equivalent version. 










Next I used fire rated orange spray foam (designed for use here) to close off the crickets entrance to my house.



















I found out how they are getting in! (Yes that is a 1" gap between my floor and the bottom of the wall!)










I used some regular spray foam along the gap because the hardware store around here doesn't make anything larger than 5/8th inch caulk saver foam rope. 










To add a better water seal, I also used some silicon / acrylic caulk 










I also got the hand of the stuff sealing the stop of the wall









Finally, I used the real stuff; a masonry sealer caulk to finish up










Still plenty of work to be done but work has kept me busy


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## paulnixon (Nov 24, 2011)

According to me for the on going out door shed attaching wooden is the best idea. In the outside of the homes or the outside of your store wooden shed yard is the best plans. here are some instructions for the wooden attaching . The first time we bought our brick house, which had a small 8'- 8' bettered metal shed in the back yard. It was painted the same colors as the trim house and seemed to belong to there,but the tends where very truly remarkable. I talked to my wife for a couple of years before she thought to find a replacement.


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

I took some time this thanksgiving and etched the floor, twice









Looks like I can add some drain modifications to my to do list. This occured AFTER I mentioned to the maintenance folks that the drain cover sucked and it appeared the drain was clogged. 









Today was a very good day. Nice and warm outside and the sun came out

Today was a very good day. Nice and warm outside and the sun came out/

After etching:









Removing the door plate because it was loose









Cleaned up









Chiseled away these pieces of concrete 









Used a small tub of concrete pre-mix patch to cover up the holes and the cracks









Bought a dremel tool and went at the door rust (Before)









After de-rusting









It was hard to get in some areas so I brought the door off it's hinges (it wasn't easy alone, it's a heavy steel door)











http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/373/20111127172502704.jpg


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## conirwa (Oct 30, 2011)

The whole bottom was rusted out









The sides were what I was after (step 1)









Side step 2: after dremel 









Side step 3: rustolem spray paint (matches perfectly when dried)









The next problem was this drain. The top was 1/4" steel ring that needed to be taken out









Easy with the dremel, when you use the right bit!









A whole lot better than that rusty piece of mesh they were using!


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