Community Brag Posts

Tablesaw, router, fliptop mitersaw, and dust collection workbench. 

My father-in-law and I knocked this project out in about 5 hours including the trip to the lumber yard. You've got a great basic design here! A few modifications we made:

1. I thought the depth of the shelves in the original plan was a little too shallow so I used 3 2"X6"s instead of the 4 2"x4"s. That made the shelves 1 1/2" deeper. Although 2"x6"s are obviously more expensive, the overall cost for the project didn't change much because we only had to use 3 boards per shelf instead of 4. This also reduced the amount of screwing and made it easier to position the shelf boards without taking measurements since we only had one middle board to deal with (instead of 2 with the 2"x4"s). We just eyeballed the spacing of the middle shelf board as we worked.

2. Since our garage has a 10' ceiling, I decided to go 8' tall with the unit. This allowed us to add a 5th shelf.

3. Some oversized tubs can be 18-20" high or more so I varied the height of each shelf -- 24" at the bottom, then 20", 18" and 16". There's approx. 24" available between the top shelf and the ceiling.

4. Due to the position of the garage door track, I had to notch out a couple feet at one side. The end support piece is only 6' high.

5. Since many storage tubs can be 16-18" wide, I made sure that there was at least 54" between 3 of the vertical support structures. This will allow us to store 3 tubs side-by-side and maximize storage. You might notice that I have two vertical supports that appear to be very close together near the back wall. I did this so I would have something on that side to attach more shelving to on that short wall where the garage door opener is. 

The only cuts we had to make for this entire project were for the 18 1/2" 'braces' or support pieces on the vertical ladder structures. The shelves are either 14' or 12' (top shelf only) and the vertical 2"x4"s are either 8' or 6'. Most lumber yards will carry these lengths in either 2"x4"s or 2"x6"s. 

We didn't use any wood glue, and I admit this may come back to haunt me. However, to get a good fit and eliminate gaps, I used clamps I already owned to squeeze the boards together before adding the screws. Everything feels very solid and sturdy to me. 

Because of the extra height compared with the original plan, I was worried about it possibly tipping over (we have a 10-year-old who likes to climb ) so I made sure that 3 of the supports are lined up with the wall studs. After leveling the entire unit, I plan to anchor it to the wall using 3 1/2" screws.

So for about $187 in lumber and maybe $20 in construction screws, I've got 76 feet of STURDY shelving that should accommodate hundreds of pounds! Not a bad investment at all...

I built a pair of cornhole boards following a tutorial on This Old House.  I used the Glidden Paint Team Colors line to get the a quart of blue and orange paint in the official Auburn colors.  I used my Silhouette Portrait machine to create stencils for the AU logo, Auburn tiger logo and "War Eagle" text.

I built this easel for my wife who teaches 2nd grade using the plan on this site. I used a jigsaw to make all the cuts which is why some of them are not perfect. All holes were countersunk and covered with wood filler as I have not yet purchased a Kreg Jig. One sample jar of paint was just enough to cover the whole project with 2 coats. Home Depot sells the whiteboard in 2' x 4' pieces for about $10 in my area. The toughest part was getting the holes to line up just right for the bolts that fix the four main pieces together. Some of them I had to use a little bit of force to make fit. The plan was easy to follow and worked well. I added a curtain rod to the top to hang a paper pad from which I bought for about $5. The big whiteboard behind the easel was hung over the existing chalkboard using industrial strength velcro strips. I bought the whiteboard material from Home Depot for $13 for a 4' x 8' sheet (it is actually called a "hardboard panel board". It works very well with dry erase markers and was an easy, cheap way to install a whiteboard over the current chalkboard.

I've finished my swing but my porch don't have enough clearance so I built A frame stand for it.

I meshed the Farmhouse Bed with the Farmhouse Storage Bed with Storage Drawers and this is the final product. Let me know if you have any questions. I learned along the way.

A few things I modified -

I knocked off the corners of the 1x8's used in the footboard and headboard as I wasn't a fan with how they butted up straight. I liked the rounded edges of the routered boards instead.

I cove routered the tops of 2x6's and loved how they turned out

When I handed my cutlist to the kid at the big orange store, he pulled OSB instead of plywood for the storage cabinets. I realized it halfway through the cutting as I was shopping for other things and didn't have the heart to tell him halfway through the job. I had to edge band (first time) the edges and the OSB soaked up a lot of primer.

 The project was used using the same plans but I extended the floor to be 6 feet wide vice 4 feet the additional 2 feet provided the perfect amount space I wanted. I also added an extra windows  to get cross ventilation.    I also insulated the coop and put paneling on the walls and lenolium on the floors.  I dropped the back wall sheeting 1.5 inches for additional airflow since the shed doesn't have a ridge vent.   The plans are easy to follow and easily adaptable.   

A friend of mine said she needed a potting table (aka bench) so I offered to make her one. Got the plan for the simple potting bench and went to work. The friend wanted a lip on the left and right sides of the top self and she wanted the top shelf to be solid. So adding the lip was no problem and I added the same but smaller on the bottom shelf. I built the solid top from three pieces of wood held together with pocket joints and glue. Worked great. With just a little sanding it is a beautiful flat solid piece of wood. Much better and cheaper than plywood. Since I do not like to rip lumber the final top self was about an inch or so deeper than the plans but that was easily adapted to. It is a good lesson to cut as you go along rather than cutting everything at the onset of a project. You make changes and it effects other aspects of the build. I added a Shaker peg on each end to hang a bar towel or a trowel whatever suits your fancy.

Most important is to continually check for square joints. Especially if you don't have the fancy tools and jigs. I got lucky and my final bench was square and level in all directions.
The build takes about 8 hours (plus a couple of days for priming and painting) using mostly hand tools. If I do another one I am going to substitute lighter and thinner wood. The 2x4 shelves and supports are over kill. I think it will give you a better and nicer looking final product. Keep Ana on The Web,,,,

I built this outhouse to go with a dry cabin I'm working on, and also as an emergency backup for my house. I used treated lumber on the base/deck and splurged on T-111 for the siding. I wanted to use greenhouse polycarbonate for the roof, but found a piece of metal roofing in my shed that was exactly the right size so I used that instead. I thought about doing a fancy cutout on the door but ended up going with a half moon because it was easy. I'm thinking about cutting out stars of different sizes all over the rest of the door to let in more light. I'll trim and stain it next summer.