Finally, 50 bows are built and ready to start getting turned into a building. I found that process quite unpleasant, but having them all finally out of the way is decidedly a good feeling!
Here’s the stack, ready for trimming and erecting:
The next step is, as alluded to above, trimming the top of each bow to correctly attach to the ridgepole. I’ll be doing that tomorrow, or that’s my plan. I’m hoping that I can get it done quickly enough to take a stab at getting a couple of them erected, since I’m looking forward to seeing what the shed looks like, and it really comes to life once a few bows go up.
Hopefully I’ll have a cheerful update with some good photos tomorrow.
Another 8 bows made for a total of 25, with the same number to go. Slow going, but at least there is progress.
A beautiful weekend in Chester melted much of the snow we got last week, and encouraged me to get more bows built. Although 9 on a Sunday may not sound like many, I’m pleased, and if I can keep going at a decent pace the remaining 33 will be done in a few weeks.
Not very exciting updates, but at least progress continues. More soon!
Today I spent the first part of the day clearing out the space under the long table that I built to make the bows on, so that I could move the wood they’re built out of inside. An unusually early snow, as well as several weeks with below-freezing temperatures overnight made me realize that if the wood wasn’t brought in I’d likely find myself unable to get pieces off of the pile when I needed them.
So in it came, as you can see.
Other than that I got three more bows, for a total of 8 constructed.
8 down, 42 to go.
With delay in getting materials and other distractions keeping me from progressing on the shed, I find myself getting started in cold weather again. I say again, since this is what happened with the first shed – I started with ground preparation in December, actually – after the first snow – and only got the shed covered in the spring. I fear that this time will be similar, even with a somewhat earlier start, since this shed is larger and each part of it is already taking longer to build.
So it goes.
On the bright side, I’m very happy to report that construction has begun again, and I have some progress to show!
The biggest delay this summer was in getting the material for the bows. I decided after attempting two bows with 8’+12’ 1×3’s that the shed wasn’t going to be as strong as I wanted it without using full 20’ lengths, and after discussing that with a couple of lumber mills, I decided on 20’ rough-cut 1×4’s, which are significantly larger than dressed 1×3’s. All well and good, but because of a particularly wet spring it was well into September by the time I saw my lumber.
Work and other commitments prevented work from starting until a couple of weeks ago, at which point I started on the knee walls. They went up reasonably quickly – I followed my previously-stated plan of doing them short (1’6”) and out of 2×6 for greater stability. I ended up with a double layer of 2×6 for the top cap, for strength, and lag-bolted the 2×4 sill (on which the bows will land) from the bottom of the top 2×6, making a very rigid structure.
Some pictures:
I extended the j-bolts that were embedded in the slab when it was built using connectors and threaded rod so that they come up through the top sill of the knee wall, and tightened them down. That is one rigid knee wall now! The only movement is the connection between the 2×4 that the bows sit on and the 2×6 it’s bolted to – which is less movement than would happen with the shed’s designed sills, so I’m content.
All of the fasteners are bigger on this shed – all the knee wall hardware is 1/2”, and the bows are put together with 3/8” (the old one was 1/4”). Heavier, stronger, and unfortunately more expensive – but this is still an inexpensive way to build a large shed/barn – certainly much cheaper than stick-built would have been.
Here’s photos of the fasteners from the slab to the top cap of the knee wall:
That last one shows the size of the space aft of the boat. This area will be two-stories, with a workshop at deck level to make the interior remodelling easier to do, and storage and a seating area down below. I’m also planning a balcony off the workshop, but that may wait for an indefinite period, we’ll see.
Bow construction has also begun, and they’re coming out really nicely. I decided that two pieces of 2×4 sandwiched together made a more robust spacer block than the single piece on edge, especially since these new bows are a full 4” wide (vs. the 2.5” of the old ones). The blocks are also less likely to split from the addition of fasteners – something which happened quite regularly with the old design.
Comparing the old with the new:
I actually have 5 done now, not the three shown here, but there is no question they take some time. I need 50 in total, so this is what I’ll be up to for the next few weeks of spare time…
The cold and rainy spring is finally over, and with it the last thing which was preventing the building of the shed to get properly under way. I’m happy to report that I now have a lovely 20’x44’ slab where the boat used to be, and will soon be moving the boat onto it and building a shed around it.
The preparation of the space began quite some time ago, and was seriously hampered by weather and the folks who were hired to do the work having more customers than just me to fit into the few weather windows that did exist. They did a great job in the end, though – Eugene Lenihan having prepared the ground by scraping away the very thin layer of topsoil and roots and replacing it with sand and then gravel to build up a level pad to pour the slab onto; and Jim Rafuse having set up the forms and metalwork and actually poured the slab.
This way of getting a foundation for the shed means that this shed already costs more than the old one, which seems extreme, but… The last one would have blown away in a storm without the boat inside, since it wasn’t tied to the ground except by gravity and the boat’s weight. It also would flood in rainstorms and was impossible to really keep clean. This shed will be possible to clean, will stay dry, will be possible to seal against local animals (you may recall that I had a mother racoon give birth to two babies inside the boat two years ago?), and will give a fantastic level and smooth working surface. It also means the she is permanent, and is worth spending this kind of money on.
Enough philosophizing – on to the photos of what’s happened since the last instalment.
The slab prep did take awhile, and there was some question as to whether or not it needed to be an “engineered” slab or not. The difference is that the engineered slab has a deeper footing and more rebar, and is usually required for slabs of over 600 sq. ft. (which this one is, at 880 sq. ft.). Given how light the building is that is being built on this slab, engineering it seemed like overkill. On the other hand, the slab may well outlast the building, in which case who knows what will go on it afterward. A standard two-storey building does require an engineered slab, so that’s what we put down in the end.
Here’s the prepared ground along with the forms and metalwork:
Detail of the rebar in the footings
Ready for the pour
As it turns out I was away for the actual pour – work took me to Dallas for two weeks and I missed it. Looking at the end result, it’s quite clear that it all went well – the slab looks great, level, smooth, solid. And so far no cracks. I gather from what I’ve read that a slab with no cracks at all, ever, is a very rare thing, so I’m not hoping for that, but I am hoping for as few as possible. Being away for the pour is a good thing in one way, since the longer that concrete has to cure the stronger it gets, and it was poured a week and a half ago already, meaning that when I do put the boat on it it will have gotten much closer to full strength (which I gather is only achieved after months of curing, although 80% is achieved after a week or so).
Here’s the slab now, ready for me to start working on the shed:
The only detail on the slab other than the j-bolts around the edge to attach the structure to is the wiring chase that was poured in. I’ll have to make sure I’ve got lots of steel wool in there as well if I don’t want visitors crawling in through the pipe!
The door end has fewer bolts.
So my next step is to build the little knee wall. Since the last entry I’ve changed my mind yet again on how to build the structure, although not by much. I will build a short (~1.5’ high) knee wall out of 2×6 which will be through-bolted to the slab. Basically it’ll be a standard stick-built wall, but short, and with a vertical 2×4 on top to accept the bottoms of the bows. I’ll drill and through-bolt the whole thing to the j-bolts, using threaded rod and a threaded connector, then a nut and washer on top. This will give the the ability to have a 1-1/2’ high knee wall which is essentially as stable as the ground, which was a problem with the last shed.
I’ll hopefully post details and pictures on it before too long!
It seems that I often end up posting about delays, changes of plans, or minor disasters that prolong this project. Happily, it’s resulting in a more Zen approach to the whole thing – it will get done when it gets done, and in the meanwhile I enjoy the process. Not as much as I’ll enjoy the results of the process, of course, but I do enjoy it nonetheless.
So – the delay. After much fuss and bother over how to get 29 8” holes drilled 4’ into the ground, I finally found that I could rent a “tow-behind auger” from one of the local rental places (MacFarland’s Rental in Halifax). For those that haven’t seen or used one, it’s a gas/hydraulic-powered auger that uses the weight of the engine (an 11hp Honda in this case) to counterbalance the auger, making it much easier to get it out of the ground once it’s in, and taking the sting out of any abrupt stops that the auger might happen to make. I haven’t tried one of the hand-held ones, but rumour has it they’re not very nice to your thighs. The tow-behind was a snap to use – I definitely recommend it for boring holes in the earth.
As long as there is earth to bore holes in, that is.
I started at one corner of the shed, prepared to work my way down the line and end up with 12 4’ deep holes on 4’ centres. The first one went poorly, I only managed to get down a foot before hitting bedrock. The second one as well. And the third. By the time I’d drilled my 6th 1’ deep hole, I realized that there was no way I was going to get the stability that the shed would need from the portion of the posts that were in the ground – I’d have to come up with a new strategy. Sigh.
I had many thoughts on what to do at this point, but the only ones that seemed to make sense to me were to either:
- get a short wall poured after having an excavator dig a trench where the wall needed to go, or
- fill the entire area with gravel and put pre-formed concrete blocks down to attach the shed structure to.
I called in a local excavator (Eugene Lenihan, great guy) to look at the situation and give me his thoughts – he thought both plans would work, but didn’t do concrete work so he pointed me at Jimmy Rafuse, who does. Jimmy came the next day and told me that it would be cheaper to pour a slab than to pour a short wall, which surprised me – I definitely thought it would be the other way around. He went off and did up quotes for both, and sure enough, the slab was less – and has the great benefit of making this essentially a finished building – easy (easier?) to keep sealed up against creatures, possible to keep clean, and possible to find things in when they fall on the floor (unless they break, which I suppose is more likely). It has one downside, which is that I lose the knee wall, so I have to get my “shoulder room” up at the boat’s deck level in some other way – more on that later.
I also looked into putting large concrete blocks on a base of gravel, which would have been another good solution – but it wouldn’t give me a slab, and it would take up more room, width-wise, since the blocks rely on weight and width for their stability. The most reasonably priced blocks are called “yard blocks” – or they are around here – and are poured from the dregs of the concrete that returns to the yard in the trucks after a delivery. Doing the foundation this way would have been effective and cheaper – but not nearly so nice as having a finished work surface inside the building. After some deliberation and some convincing by others, I’ve opted for the slab.
Step one is getting the drawing updated, step two is visiting with the engineer to get the new drawing approved, step three is handing in the new plans at the building department, and step four is getting the location excavated and gravel put down in preparation for the pouring of the slab. I should have the drawing tomorrow, and will get it to the engineer right away and hopefully to the building office either tomorrow or Friday, depending on how quickly the engineer can turn it around. It should be pretty quickly, it’s really a minor adjustment to the overall building – and an improvement, at that.
The last detail is around the loss of “shoulder room” due to the loss of the knee walls, which I plan to deal with as follows:
- I’ll run a sill around the perimeter, bolted to the slab – that’ll effectively give me a 6” knee wall;
- I’ll lengthen the bows by 8” or so, regaining some of the lost height;
- I’ll put more bow in the bows (increase the depth of the chord), which will widen the structure slightly while making it a bit shorter; and
- I’ll take the boat right off of it’s trailer and put it on the slab supported by 4×4’s, reducing the height of the boat’s deck, which puts it in a wider part of the shed.
I think the combination of these four things will be more than enough to give me the room I need to get around the boat on scaffolding, which is what I’m looking for.
Since it seems a shame to have a post without a picture, here’s a picture of a much larger boat than mine (Witte Raaf, an ALC 40 owned by friends and for sale in the Caribbean, as it happens) on the hard with 4×4’s supporting it – just in case anyone thinks I’m a lunatic to do this.
Since my last writing I’ve decided most of the details about the new shed, and have gotten through the necessary steps to make it legal to build it. Great!
I decided to stick with a bow shed, but to make it a lot more durable than the last one, in the following ways. It will still be a bow shed, with bows built the same was as the last shed except that they’ll be glued as well as screwed and bolted. It’ll still sit on knee walls to increase the width at deck level – but the knee walls will be shorter (3’, as intimated in the last entry) and they will be built around a foundation of 12 7’ sonotubes per side – i.e. there will be 12 concrete & rebar posts going 4’ into the ground on each side to give the structure stability. And instead of shrink-wrap for the covering I will use steel roofing.
The sonotube/concrete posts will serve 4 purposes: 1) they will ensure that everything that is in contact with the damp ground will be rot-resistant (proof? is anything rot-proof?); 2) they will hold up the roof; 3) they will be a lot more stable than the old knee walls, since they will be deeply buried in the earth; and 4) they will act as the shed’s anchor, so that I won’t need to use the weight of the boat to keep it securely fastened to the earth during wind storms.
In order to build this non-conventional (where conventional essentially means stick-built, i.e. 2×4 or 2×6 construction with trusses for the roof) structure and have it pass the local building code, I had to have it designed and engineer-approved. This sounds like an expensive process, but, while it wasn’t free, it did turn out to be cheaper than the difference in price between a bow shed and stick-built – and I happen to prefer the look of the gothic arch of the bow-shed, so it was an easy decision.
The designer recommended to me by a friend is Lisa Tondino, of houdini designs – she did a great job of getting my ideas down into a drawing while making sure that it could be approved by the engineers. I’ll share her drawings once the shed’s built.
The structural engineering firm I used is The ABLE Group – they were very quick with turnaround, and very professional.
So. I have the plans, I have engineering approval, I have planning approval (the Municipality of Chester needs to agree that the structure is in keeping with the planned use of the land), and I have a building permit (the last link in the chain). Now I just need to build it, and build it in agreement with the plans so our inspector can approve it.
So far not a lot has happened toward that end – but I did only get the building permit two days ago. What I’ve done is to decide where it’s going to go, and to partially clear the area (it was an old roadbed, so it didn’t need that much clearing, but there were quite a few very small trees, and a few larger ones), and built a perimeter out of 2×4 screwed together in the size and shape of the shed-to-be in order to see what I’m dealing with. The perimeter ring sounds like a waste – but it, in conjunction with the laminated sills that will go on top of the concrete pillars and beneath the bows, will serve to firmly locate the sonotubes prior to filling them with concrete. Once the concrete has cured the same ring will be part of the structure of the knee walls as well – so nothing is being wasted – and I get to see the footprint of the shed in a more concrete way than just stringing rope around (which is where I started yesterday, as it happens).
Here’s the photographic evidence, for what it is:
This is the shed’s home, viewed more or less East to West. The area is an old roadbed, so it’s covered in gravel, and I didn’t have to kill as many trees as I would have if that weren’t the case.
Another view, same direction.
Looking in the opposite direction – West to East – toward our neighbour’s property. This looks across our driveway, past a small metal shed of theirs, and into their driveway. They will notice this shed, but I don’t believe it will be a prominent feature from their perspective, which I’m glad about.
This one is looking up our driveway and into the shed space – probably looking close to North, or a little West of North.
Looking down the driveway and into the shed space – roughly SW, I expect.
Next step – get the rest of the clearing done and get the sonotubes in place.
As I plan for the building of the new shed I have been tossing around all of the thoughts mentioned in my last post, as well as getting input from several people on the Plastic Classic Forum and elsewhere. One of the good ideas was to purchase a pre-manufactured tension-fabric structure (which is basically what the bow shed is) from Clearspan, probably the best manufacturer of these structures in the business. I’m investigating that, as they do make an 18’Wx40’Lx16’H structure which would do quite nicely – but it’s a little on the pricey side, especially when compared to building myself. That particular building has been quoted at $7600USD + tax + shipping, which would bring it to me at pretty close to $10,000… A lot of money. I should be able to build a new bow shed for around 1/4 of that, even including windows and a better foundation, I think.
There were two significant problems with the last shed. These were:
- The knee walls weren’t stable enough without the bracing system I put in after the fact, and
- The shrink wrap was only going to last 3-4 years, requiring too-frequent replacement.
Other than that, I really liked it, and would do the same thing again (slightly longer to give more space at one end for workshop-y things). So here’s my thoughts on addressing the two flaws.
1) Knee walls. By going from 18’ to 20’ bows, I can reduce the knee wall height from 4’ to 2’ or 3’ – that alone will significantly increase their stability – but not enough, so here’s the idea: make the knee walls into a small triangular structure at the base of each bow wall. Like this (very basic drawing!):
The idea is that the knee wall is inherently stable – and I will put anchors in the ground which I can tie into from the top of the triangle every 8’ or so. I can also sheathe it from the outside and store stuff in it from the inside (covered or not – hinged lids would be nice to cut down on clutter). I think I can make these 2’-3’ tall quite easily and get the additional height that I want in a better manner than the old shed.
2) Durability of the cover. While the shrink wrap was brilliant, and didn’t let me down in the two years the shed was there for, it was going to fail eventually, and there was no good way to know when that would be, which always bothered me. This time I’d like to have a shed which can last indefinitely. Making the whole shed rigid is one idea, but exposing any kind of material which isn’t usually used as a roof to the sun and elements is likely to create a maintenance issue, so going with a UV-stabilized fabric that will last well and be “easy” to replace is still a good idea. I was conveniently reminded of a company in the states which sells used billboard tarps in large sizes. They’re 17 mil tarps (more than double the thickness of the shrink wrap I used) that should hold up for several years (10-ish, I’d expect) – and quite reasonable to buy (although I haven’t had a shipping quote yet…). If I get two of them and put them both on then I’ve got a sacrificial outer layer and an inner layer which will keep the shed tight even if the outer layer fails. If it does, I can replace it and I’m back in business without ever having compromised the integrity of the shed. I like this idea.
I’ll also put a long row of twinwall polycarbonate along the south wall to get light in, since two layers of 17 mil tarp, even in white, will not allow a lot of light through. The row of polycarbonate will be 4’ high, and will start right above the knee wall, letting me see out to the south and letting in lots of light – but not lots of heat, since the bows are nearly vertical at their bottom. In the winter, with the sun’s rays slanting a lot it will let in some heat – although the place I have to put the shed has a lot of pine trees to the south, so I won’t expect any miracles of solar heating.
I will probably also sheathe the bottom 4’ of the rest of the shed with plywood and cedar shakes or clapboard to match the south side, and to give me a sense of security. Although any building is easy to compromise, I did used to have a funny feeling about having a bunch of tools just the other side of a 7 mil plastic tarp…
I’ll put a few more windows in to let me see what’s going on around me – it was very odd to be in a building which didn’t keep out sound at all but which prevented me from seeing the source of the sound.
And finally, I’ll put in some decent ventilation since while I never had a condensation problem in the old shed, it seems that I was alone in this – the other three people that I know of who have built either a bow shed or a Clearspan structure have had terrible condensation problems.
That’s where I’m at today, on Beth’s birthday, and that’s as far as I’m going for now!
Who would have thought that I’d be starting to write about building another boat shed, this soon after having built the first one? Well, that’s where I am, and so be it. We moved from Portuguese Cove to Chester, and the boat shed couldn’t come with us, so I’m about to build another one from scratch. What fun! That’s only partially sarcastic – I do expect this one to be fun, the last one was, and this one will go more quickly and be done better than the last, which is great.
The new house came with a perfect place to put a boat shed – it’s a road bed that crosses the top of the property near the current road, running between the road and the driveway. Being a former road bed, it’s flat and level, and is mostly cleared already – only a few trees have started to fill in, and they’re all young (although there is one nice pine in the way, which is unfortunate). The former road bed is about 20’ wide, which is slightly narrower than I’d prefer, but it’ll work out nicely regardless – the shed will fit in and will be protected on both sides by trees. It will also be accessible from the road and from the driveway. I intend to put the large doors facing the road and a smaller door facing the driveway since I’ve already proven that it’s very difficult to make the turn from the driveway into the spot the shed will go with the trailer (not impossible, however!). Backing the boat in off of the road will be a snap.
The new shed will be much like the old – it’ll be a bow shed, that is. I’m planning to make the bows a little longer – 20 feet – and the shed a little longer as well – 44 feet. I won’t use knee walls again since they proved problematic, so I will lose some width at deck level, but I think with the 20’ bows (the old shed used 18’ ones) I should manage alright. If worst comes to worst I can lift the boat off of the trailer onto jack stands in the shed which will lower it by almost 2’ and give me more width at deck level. I doubt that’ll be necessary, however.
At this point I’m also planning to cover the shed differently than last time – I’m planning on using clapboard instead of plastic. That will be permanent, and eliminate my worries over the plastic failing at an inopportune time. It’ll also stop birds from poking holes in the peak, which they were doing with the old shed (wasn’t a big deal, just small holes, but it would have eventually leaked noticeably). The clapboard won’t let in any light, so I’ll also build in some windows using sheets of twinwall polycarbonate. By facing the windows South I’ll be able to get a little heat in the winter, and by keeping them low on the building I’ll be able to avoid it in the summer.
Of course this is the early-on planning stage, and some or all of this may turn out to be unreasonable or unaffordable, but it’s what I’m thinking so far.
Another option is to build a conventional shed with stick-built walls and roof trusses. The advantage of this is that it’s conventional and easy to get permitted, will look “normal” on the property, and will be easy to apply the siding (I’m still mentally working out how to put clapboard on a wall which curves inward as it goes up). But we’ll see.
The main purpose of this post is to announce that I’m getting rolling again, after nearly a year of not getting anything significant done on the boat. Can’t wait!
