The first step was to build a small room inside the shed and insulate it well enough that I could keep it just slightly above freezing for my paints, etc, that I don't want frozen. Here is a photo of that:
After that was complete, the next step was obviously to bring all the paint, and liquids, etc, up and shelve them into my little paint room; none of this was that big of a deal, just labor dragging buckets of liquids up from the basement, the perfect chore for my little cheerful minions -er, children.
What has been really overwhelming, though, is the re-organizing of all my tools! When I brought everything up and into the shed, and had everything spread out in order to "take stock" of what we had, Wifey and I recollected that when we were first married we had no outdoor storage, and no basement to put tools in, so we squirreled my stuff into a little space in our "Honeymoon Cottage" to put my tools into, and it took up maybe 4 square feet of floor space- total! It pretty much consisted of a tiny air compressor, a sawsall, and one finish nailer. Here is a photo of the beginnings of my new and improved highly organized tool life:
Now the thing that blows me away is the expense of disorganization. If I could refund at full price every tool that I have in duplicate (or more) I could have built a shed to keep them in. That may be something of a hyperbole, but you get the idea. I won't bore anybody with anything close to a detailed list of total inventory, but I will give you a quick rundown on some of the more ridiculous items:- 7 caulking guns
- 6 chalk boxes
- 6 bottles of chalk (one is 1/2 gallon)
- 15 pairs of tin snips
- maybe 10 partial rolls of tape; duct, masking, electrical
- 4 multi-meters
- 5 framing squares
- 2 Sheetrock squares
- 8 putty knives
- 5 partial little propane torch bottles
- 8 utility knives
- 7 pipe wrenches, 4 of which are 16"
- dozens of tape measures
- hundreds of PVC fittings
- dozens of blue plastic electrical boxes
- hundreds of shotgun shells I didn't know that I had
- dozens of pliers
- dozens and dozens of screwdrivers, 20+ of which are still in the package
- 3 pneumatic finish nailers
- 3 angle grinders
- 6 or so partial cans of WD-40 or P-B Blaster
- 6 or so partial cans of starting fluid
- 4 partial cans of wasp spray
- 4 partial gallons of antifreeze
- new saw blades I didn't know that I had
- 7 cordless drills
Now, as embarrassing as all this is, I have to defend myself somewhat and say that some of this stuff isn't really my fault- I have a nasty habit of loaning things out to people and forgetting about it, and then when I need something, I cant find it, so what else am I to do? Buy another one of course; then when it shows back up, I have multiples! I have also learned that if I come up missing something, it often yields results if I go accuse my brother of never returning it, even if I have no recollection of loaning it to him. And I have on several occasions thought that I lost or got robbed of higher ticket items like the cordless drills, only to find them in strange places later, after purchasing another, of course. I also have a hard time passing up a good deal on a sale item.
Anyway, NEVER AGAIN! Now that I will (hopefully) soon have a place for everything, and everything in its place, I am going to be totally organized and will know instantly whether or not I still own a tool. I will be so much more productive and so much more wealthy, not buying all these repeat tools! I am embarking on a new era! I always tell the story about if I ask my Father in Law if he has a tool I wanted to borrow, his reply would be: "Sure, in my shop, second drawer down on the left, about halfway towards the back". If he asked me if I had something that he wanted to borrow, my response would be: "yes, I'm pretty sure I have 4 or 5 of them, and I don't have any idea where any of them are." Well anyway, I hope to do better than I have done, because after only 11 years of marriage, that means we will need about 3 more sheds by the time I am 70...
By the way, anybody need some screwdrivers?
