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Friday, May 10, 2013

I need a garage



I need a garage, not to keep my vehicles out of the weather, but as a dry place to build stuff.

Our long period of dry weather came to an end. I'd gotten used to day after day of zero percent chance of precipitation. My boat project and even a lot of my tools, were left outside and uncovered. Last night there was a chance of rain, so the tools and lumber were piled up on the porch.

We did get rain. The next morning I discovered my clipboard with 40 pages of boat plans were left out in the rain. Yes, I felt like an idiot. I was able to separate the pages using a sharp knife blade. Every flat surface in the kitchen was covered with wet sheets of paper. They dried and are perfectly usable. There is a back up electronic copy saved on my computer, but with the price of printer ink, who wants to print out another 40 pages?

The big problem with a garage is paying property taxes on it. My taxes are high enough, thank you. What I should do is buy a nice big tent like affair like Joel at: A Wood Man's Wanderings. Of course, he's building a huge boat. I guess I can put in with the occasional work stoppage due to bad weather as my boat is tiny.

Speaking of tiny, my boat will be essentially a 12 foot by 4 foot rectangle. 12 is a magic number. As long as the boat doesn't have a motor, 12 foot and under boats do not have to be registered. This boat will move by sail and oar. In fact, my heavy duty stainless steel oarlocks just came in the mail.

After a few days of rain, more dry weather is supposed to come in. With any luck, baring distractions, I'll be back at it. Maybe it's just as well I don't have a big dry garage to work in. Nothing else around the house would ever get done.

-Sixbears



18 comments:

  1. What [horse] power will the rowwer be rated?

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  2. I grew up with a big barn for rainy-day projects, now I have no place. As Clinton said, "I feel your pain!"

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    Replies
    1. Guy I know has a fully equipped garage just for his projects. Last time I was there he'd almost fully resstored a wooden power boat from 1962. I have garage envy.

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  3. When we bought this place it had a two car garage a shed outback and a small barn. The garage now houses Hubby's Jeep, the backhoe and an old Ford truck that he is restoring. The shed houses the tractor and other stuff. The barn is filled with the pick-up, snow blower, roto tiller, ladders, hay, feed and whatever else. My Jeep stays outside - no room for it! A friend has one of those small canvas huts and loves it. And because it doesn't have a floor and is portable, he doesn't have to pay taxes on it.

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    1. I suppose if I had all those outbuildings, eventually there'd be no room to park the cars. Probably start building a big boat.

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  4. They build what they call a Pole Barn around these parts. No foundation equals no permanent building.

    They can get pretty darn fancy, as much as you want to pay but you could have a darn good sized one put up professionally for what you paid for your new stove.

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  5. I should have added they have metal walls and metal roofs.
    A simple matter of closing up around the bottom edges when they are gone.
    Being not permanent structure status is key for stiffing Mr. Tax man.

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    Replies
    1. Your local tax man's view of things may vary. Last time the tax man was at my beach, he wanted to tax my 6X8 shed with no foundation. I keep my fishing poles, paddles, and lifejackets there. I told him it was an ice fishing shack that went out on the lake in the winter and he let it go. (it isn't) Seems around here if you claim it's not permanent, you'd better move it now and then.

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  6. Would one of those $200ish fabrick carports be enough to work in ? I've seen a few Texas deer camps that use this method when leasing. I made a backyard hoop green house sticking metal pipe in the ground and bending PVC hoops above it for fabric support. Not fancy, priced inexpensively and its lasted 12 years and counting.

    Good luck with project, sounds like your wheels are turning.

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    Replies
    1. One of those car ports would be fine for my current project.

      Wheels are always turning.

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  7. A wall tent sounds like a good "work shed". It could be moved and no extra property tax.

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    Replies
    1. Anything that could be taken down and stored without too much trouble would work.

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  8. This portable alternative worked for me in the past.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog/product/view/id/8696/category/1379/
    I've also used the portable garage they sell too. I duct Taped all the joints and wired it with extension cords and portable lights. In the winter I insulated it with 4x8 foam boards and heated it with a kerosun. It gave me 5 years of hard use and I only replaced the canopy once. I sold it last fall for half what I paid for it. It was worth every penny.
    http://youtu.be/Kzbmpn5CWmA
    It would be worth it for a boat building shelter.

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  9. Tractor Supply has 20x12x8 "garage in the box" for sale for $350.00 here in Kali. I bought 2 and the are heavy duty, sorta easy to put up with 1 person as long as you have a 8' step ladder. Come with front and rear door panels and anchor kits. Much better quality that the pos one from Harbor Frieght.

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    Replies
    1. Tractor supply gets theirs from HF. It's the same thing all together.

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    2. By the way Dragon, I keep getting errors when I try to post to your site. Been doing it for a while.

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    3. I'll look it over. I'm not happy with that blog site.

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