First Project!

I had the rare and strange opportunity to start working on the house before close. There were some pre-sale issues with the oil tank (the house is currently still heated with oil). The old tank, which was buried in the yard, was leaking and the sellers were required to replace it before sale. Since below-ground tanks are no longer legal we needed a new place to put the tank. Putting the tank, which is 5ft long and 3ft wide, out of the way behind the garage made the most sense. The only issue was the shed.

Really, the word shed doesn't describe what this structure was. It was built next to, and using the rear wall of, the garage and was a glorified lean-to. The only light came from one small window that had been painted over and didn't open. It was, in a word, creepy. I believe the previous owner used it as a work room as we found lots of old tools and nails and wire, but we called it Dexter's kill room.

There she is in all her creepy glory.

In order to get the tank there, the shed had to go. So after a few phone calls and signatures I got the go-ahead to demo the shed to allow for the new oil tank,

A quick run to the hardware store yielded a ladder and this wrecking bar which has been one of the better purchases I've made in my home-owning experience. I can't think of a project where this baby hasn't come in useful.

First we took off the door and window, then we used the bar to pry off wood one board at a time. After just a few minutes we could see right through.

And within an hour we had her down to the studs!

 Oh hey, who is that guy?

This is TK. He lives here too and is a mostly-willing participant in my home improvement shenanigans.

After we were down to the studs I jumped on the roof to carefully pull off the shingles and other roofing material so we could take apart the top board by board. We used a saw to cut through some of the larger pieces and, when most of it was gone, went at the studs with a hammer. The result? A most satisfying "timmmmmmmmbbbbber" and, after a little cleanup, this:

Ta-da!

No pictures of the true after, though, because the oil tank is prettttttttty ugly.