Even though it was still a little chilly, Saturday was a gorgeous day to take care of some long-neglected tasks on the homestead.
Unfortunately, one of those tasks was to deal with a sunken floor in the shed that holds the lawnmower and other garden tools.
From this angle, it doesn’t look so bad.
But this angle shows a completely different story.
The upper part is poured concrete, but the rest of the shed has a regular plywood floor.
Brian originally built this shed more than 20 years ago, before learning why pressure treated wood should always be used in floor joists. It’s lasted without issue until about a year ago. What started as a little dip, turned into a safety hazard very quickly.
As one could imagine, the thought of fixing the floor in an existing building seems to be a pretty daunting task. We spent Saturday morning hauling out everything from the shed, and then looking at that dip. Finally, armed with a couple of crowbars and a long screwdriver, the first plywood panel came up.
Yikes.
Panel 2… then panel 3…
The verdict? Termites.
The fix? A quick trip to town for some pressure treated lumber.
(Thank goodness Lowe’s didn’t fuss at us for the super muddy feet)
And here’s where the “American Engineering” quote came up. In the not so distant past, we were a nation of inventors and engineers and industrialists who built things that could be fixed instead of simply thrown away. And along those lines, these things that could be fixed by someone with basic tools and a basic understanding of how things work. Brian said, “I’m glad this building was designed with American Engineering!”
In this case, the floor was fixed by taking out the bad joists and putting new (PRESSURE TREATED) ones right back in their place. The fix isn’t fancy, but it is incredibly effective.
I’m so grateful that I have a husband who fixes things instead of just throwing them away. I’m also very grateful that he is an American Engineer 🙂
I am also very grateful to have a stable and level floor!
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