If you have been following this blog for awhile, you know I purchased a small mountain property with an old dilapidated cabin on it. A year ago August upon the advice of my lawyer, I had to break the contract with a structural engineer I just signed due to a lawsuit my ex-husband was threatening. Since that time the lawsuit has not materialized, so I went with Plan B, or was it Plan C?. This new plan called for a she shed to be constructed on the property as a writer’s cabin, much like Thoreau’s . The shed would be somewhere I could stay while working on the property, savoring its solitude and using it as a place to write. It would be aptly named Sherry’s “she shed.”
After doing some research I found out I could build a 10′ x 12′ shed without a county building permit. Electricity would also require a permit so I decided the shed would not have electricity. I contracted Tuff Shed to build my shed once I designed it. On July 10th I ordered it online and the build date was scheduled for August 20th, just two days before my 60th birthday. Perfect. I was excited.
Leveling
Before the shed could be assembled on my property I had to have the ground leveled so I rented a bobcat for the job and called my son-in-law. He operated the bobcat moving dirt for the leveling and rocks from around the old cabin and place them along a bank to form a rock wall. The highlight of that work day was having my grandchildren and daughter there as well.
Build Day
On August 20th I headed up the Big Thompson canyon to my property and waited for the installers. They were over two hours late. Without phone reception I was unable to call them from Glen Haven so I got in the Jeep and headed out to where I knew I could call and find out what was going on. I got about a half mile down the road and encountered the installers parked alongside the road adjusting their load. They left late as they had several issues while loading my shed that morning but they were there now.
Day one was finished but we still had several issues. They included missing parts like the transom windows, the door knob, and the roof vent, as well as they had the wrong paint for touch ups and some of the siding was cut wrong. The installers did what they could on site and worked until 7:00 p.m. I was disappointed as I spent nearly $7,000 for a shed which wasn’t finished by my birthday. No way to lock the door and windows not in meant it wasn’t safe to stay overnight in. I gave the installers a door knob off another door I had in order for the front door to stay closed.
Customer Service, or Should I Say Lack of Customer Service
It took another two months of emails and phone calls to finally get Plan B, or was it C?, completed by the installers at Tuff Shed. During this time I:
- caulked all the joints inside and out to try to keep out spiders, bugs and the weather,
- laid sod around the shed to replace the native grasses we scraped off during leveling,
- fine tuned the rock wall,
- installed solar security light,
- planted some perennials and spring bulbs, and
- installed insulation in the shed.
SHErry’s SHED
Well, now that the shed has windows and the door locks, it is too cold to stay overnight in my new shed, but it will be ready for next spring and summer. I am hoping my son-in-law will build me a little deck off the front and I can finish the shed’s interior. Then my writer’s cabin will be complete except for maybe adding a fire pit. Then I can “live deliberately” in Sherry’s She Shed on occasion.
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