DIYing (again)

Logs.

Long overdue, and by a significant number of years, I decided to provide the house with a log store. But instead of going to B&Q (or wherever) and spending a few hundred quid on something that is a bugger to put together, is a bit cheap and tatty, looks totally out of place (because we are so very classy), and will fall apart during the first hurricane-level storm that comes along, I have decided to design – and build – something just for us.

The thinking process took a long time. Months, in fact. I had a lot of things to think about. The thinking process started with ‘Do I use that old concrete pad a long-distant owner left behind when they took their garden shed with them, or do I locate the log store somewhere else and put off breaking that concrete pad up for a year or several?’ Common sense eventually won the thinking process.

Then there was the designing. The design process took a few weeks, several iterations and a couple of complete reworks. The final design intention was an airy, covered, timber-framed log store capable of holding the entire winter’s supply, which we could top-up, without loading new logs on top of old. I’ve seen that before; it doesn’t look good and it never ends well, usually leaving a big mess that has to be cleared out in the warmer months.

The build process took much longer than expected because I’m essentially on paternity leave. Babysitting two spaniel puppies and the two larger spanners is a near full-time job and, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that power tools and puppies do not go well together! Another factor for slower than expected build progress was that I constantly reviewed the design. And then the weather periodically screwed up my timescale.

The biggest hands-on design review was moving the first build iteration of the base of the rectangular frame up off the ground so that air could circulate beneath the stored logs.

Once I felt I had the front frame right, I had to build a replica for the back frame.

Then I tapped two side pieces across the top to check all the right-angles and sizes matched on both frames.

With the top rails fitted, the next stage was to fit the central base joist and the base side supports.

Then, when all three base joists were fitted, I started to lay out the base, side, and back slats.

Then I fitted risers to the back upper support rail, to give the roof sufficient angle for water run-off. A wiser head would have built the back higher than the front to accommodate this requirement. Ahem.

Anyway.

Then I fitted some clear perspex roofing sheets.

And then I threw in half a ton of logs and Robert’s your Mother’s Brother, I declared the log store build finished.