Friday, January 6, 2012

Salvaging a Shed





Along with the salvaging we have been doing on a house that is slated to be demolished, we were able to salvage a shed.  This was much more of a process than it originally looked to be.  We got permission to use a fork lift to move it, but it was just too big.


 We tried to strap some dunnage 4x4s onto the tines to be able to span the distance to the back wall.  As you can see by the picture, the shed was way too heavy and snapped two 4x4s in half.  We gave it a few weeks to think about it and came back with a plan that ultimately worked.



 We were able to get some tube steel to attach to the tines that spanned all the way across.  We also tied the shed onto the fork lift to keep it from rocking.

 We were lucky that the shed balanced out.  Finally we were able to move it out of the back yard and 6 blocks away onto our new lot.  The shed will be a temporary storage while we are building.
 Along with making sure we didn't hit any power lines on the way there, the scariest part was that to get it out of the back yard we had to lift it over one of the houses.  Luckily both houses are going to be torn down.  I don't know if I would have dared trying that stunt over an occupied house. We did loose a few shingles on the yellow house.


I almost forgot, we also flattened a chainsaw in the process.



Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Stained Glass Bountiful Utah Temple



This year for Christmas we had Sarah’s brother Joseph and his family to give presents to.  So, following the traditions of previous years, I made them a stained glass picture of the Bountiful Utah Temple where they were married.  I wasn’t able to use much recycled glass on this one, only the windows, but I was able to put to good use some of the wood floor we have been salvaging to use as a frame.  The floor boards are tongue and groove.  The stained glass fit nicely into the groove.  So, I sanded off the old paint, trimmed off the tongue side, routed an edge on it and turned it into a picture frame.





 Another innovation this piece has on it are a couple of female ends to chain locks.  I have been struggling to find a secure way to hang heavy stained glass on a wall and I hope this will finally be the solution.




 I bought an LED light bar from IKEA to mount on the back.  The problem is that there is n o sign at IKEA that says that when you buy an LED light strip, you have to buy a plug to go with it.  So, I don’t have any pictures with the light working.   In fact, I haven’t seen it work yet.  We sent the plug to them after the picture was delivered and haven’t had a chance to see the whole ensemble together.





Look Ma, no plug