This shed makeover shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoofedItMyself #CollectiveBias
In 1959, a little ranch house was built. At the time, it was probably a very nice house, with just the right amount of room for the little family that moved in. Two bedrooms, one pink and blue tiled bathroom. Under 850 square feet. The family built an adorable little house in the backyard for their daughter. It was white with black trim just like the main house. It even had the same black and white striped aluminum awnings over the windows. It had a little mail box, and the house number nailed to the door frame. The perfect place for a little girl to play!
In 2008 a twenty-something named Dave bought the house. It was still tiny (even for a single guy) it still had those aluminum awnings, it still had the pink and blue tile, and it still had that little playhouse–no longer adorable, and no longer used as a playhouse–in the back yard. Dave had big plans for the house. Fresh paint, tearing down the awnings, and the overgrown rhododendrons became his first mission. Then interior work began. But that playhouse, now a shed, took a back seat.
In 2011 Dave married the incredibly beautiful, absolutely brilliant, and just generally amazing Sarah (Hey! That’s me!) and Sarah was forced to listen, summer after summer, about Dave’s plans for the shed. Every year he told her he was going to fix the roof, add a new door, paint it, add new siding, build a little porch, add an addition, etc, etc, etc. Yet, nothing was ever done.
FINALLY in 2017, things changed. 2017 became The Year of the Great Shed Makeover!
So here we are. We’ve FINALLY remodeled the shed!
What started as a project to “just fix the roof” turned into a much larger thing, and we now have a MUCH nicer shed, with a roof that doesn’t leak, windows that open, and a door that isn’t broken!
So, let’s take a look at where we started, shall we?
OH! Oh my. That’s bad. I’m actually a bit embarrassed to even show you guys. It looks like something from a horror movie. You know, where the not-so-bright college kids are running from the killer and they say “Oh! I see a random shed in the middle of this forest! Maybe there is a phone in there and we can call for help!” and they bust through the door to find meat hooks hanging from the ceiling, and items made from human skin, then they all scream and turn to run, but OH, surprise! The killer is there in the doorway! Yeah, that’s what I’ve had in my backyard for nearly ten years. That’s where our lawnmower has been living!!
Anyway….
It’s clear that this old shed really needed a makeover. After almost 60 years, she deserves it, and we were not all that confident that it would survive another winter, or another hurricane!
So Dave got to work. Remember, we were originally planning to JUST do the roof for now. Maybe a new coat of paint. And then do some more work next summer. Well, it didn’t go as planned…
While taking our measurements for supplies, we realized more work would need to be done. Like, now.
It turns out that whoever built this shed in 1959 didn’t really know a whole lot about building sheds. And while they did a good enough job, I mean, the shed IS still standing all these years later, there was a LOT of water damage, and rot, and mouse nests (Mice nests? Meese nests?) and bumble bees…
After we got all our measurements, we ordered our GAF roofing supplies from Lowe’s and had them shipped to the store! About a week later, they arrived and we headed to Lowe’s to pick up everything we needed to complete this job!
For the roof we used:
Once home, we got right to work on the demo…
Once the demo was complete, Dave framed a new roof and added new windows.He also popped up the new siding, and started some of the trim work. And check out some of the interesting “artifacts” we discovered while dismantling the old shed! Once Dave had the new roof built, we were able to start the shingles!! First we laid down the FeltBuster® . .The FeltBuster® rolled out easily onto the roof, and was easy to secure in place with plastic capped roofing nails. Once that was done, it was shingle time!! The Timberline® Natural Shadow® Shingles look great and they are really durable, which explains why they are the best selling shingle in North America! And while GAF is customarily thought of as a professional product used by contractors, the average DIYer can feel confident using them, too!
Laying out the shingles was actually the easiest part of this entire shed makeover! The roof was small enough that we could compete it with just a hammer and nails. No special roofing nail-gun is needed! Each sheet of shingles lined up perfectly with the next, and the excess was easy to cut with a utility knife.
Once the regular shingles were complete, Dave applied the TimberTex® Premium Ridge Cap Shingles to finish the roof!
Next we added trim, and Dave made a new door. That’s right! He MADE this gorgeous barn door!! Then it was time for paint!
OMG! LOOK AT IT!!! LOOK!!!! Isn’t it incredible? What a change!
And look at the pretty new roof!! Our old shed, has new life!! Our Backyard Shed Makeover is complete!!!
Well, almost… We still have a bit more work we’d like to do. Little “extras” like flower boxes, a new light, some landscaping in the front (I’m going to transplant those lillies) a ramp from the side door for the lawnmower, will really complete this job. (And I’ll show you those updates in a future post!!) But for now, we’re so very happy that we no longer have that old eyesore in the backyard, and that we aren’t inconstant fear of the shed collapsing, or the things inside being damaged by the weather!
This project was a much larger scope than we’d planned, but the roof was still the priority. We were really happy to see that we could do the roof ourselves, with quality products from GAF!
Do you have any big summer roofing products planned? A shed makeover, perhaps? Want some ideas and tips? Learn more about GAF Roofing products on their WEBSITE & FACEBOOK What kind of project would you use GAF Roofing on?
Backyard Shed Makeover