We really needed a garden shed. Our garage was packed with lawnmowers, bikes and all sorts of other stuff and it was driving me crazy. So one of this summer’s projects was to put a shed in the back yard.

I found what I thought was a pretty good deal on a wooden shed kit from a local business right in our end of town. The price was right, and the sheds were large, attractive and well-made.

But what a nightmare it was building the thing! First, the floor boards were peeling so I had them deliver me new ones. Then, I found one of the floor skids was terribly crooked, making it impossible to level the floor. And then the trusses turned out to be incorrectly built – in TWO ways. Argh!

So, after several tries, we finally finished the shed and painted it. The first picture below is of the shed the day after we painted it. The second was taken this weekend – right after I landscaped around it with some nice, grey shale. We are very happy with the shed, and the timing for finishing it could not be better – it snowed one day after it was done!

What a lot of work this was! But, I think, worth it.

Our front entrance bugged Lori and I for many years. The steps leading up to our front door were narrow, making it difficult to enter, and they were dangerous to negotiate in the winter. In addition, the poor design of our roof gable and gutters made rain and snow accumulate right on and in front of our steps. It was a pain in the ass and a safety hazard.

So one of this summer’s projects was to fix all of that.

We hired 1st Step Stairs to replace our steps and they did a great job – a joy to work with every step (pardon the pun!) of the way. Greg looked after all the consultations in a very responsive, warm and professional manner, Heather responded to email inquiries very diligently and quickly, and Steve and his crew did a fast, quality job with the installation. I highly recommend 1st Step Stairs!

You can see the before and after look of our home. Of course, the before looks worse than it actually was since Lori didn’t plant any flowers in front this summer due to the upcoming construction, but you can still see how much nicer our front entrance is. It’s going to look great when we finish the rest of our exterior upgrades (new siding, new better designed gutters, new front door, new garage door, new shingles, landscaping and the addition of a white pergola to cover the structure). You might also notice that I removed the ugly chain-link fence and dying hedge in front of our house. Lots of work!

Click on the photos to enlarge