When one comes into the home stretch of a race, it seems like they get a second wind or a little turbo boost that makes them run a little harder to try and finish, whether they're in first place or not. Such is the case with the shed. Coming so close to the end, we step it up a notch to try and get things finished so we can log in another finished project. With the door done, I had to figure out a way to help seal the door. The way I came up with was to use rubberized PVC sheeting for shower pads. I cut this into two strips and secured it in place over the hinged side of the door so when the door opens or closes, the sheet would fold and stretch as the door moves but ensure a covering over that side of the door to help in shedding water. As an added bonus, along the top, I took a length of sheet metal about a foot wide and secured it over the door like a mini awning, which will also help in shedding water over the door, so it won't run in between the door and the door opening. Another added bonus is a latch added to the door. This latch set is actually from the gate kits used for the perimeter and chicken yard fences, as we only needed one set of locks for each gate pair. The latch is attached with hex head self tapping screws versus the phillips screws we were using. Hex bolts are just a little bit of security as everyone isn't walking around with a hex driver compared to a screwdriver. This latch is able to be locked with a padlock for added security. With the door sealing issue more or less addressed, there was the sealing of everything else. This involved applying more can foam around the inside corners, then applying caulk around the seams where the short and long pieces of sheet metal meet, as well as the multiple pinholes from old nails that held these panels up a long time ago. I exhausted two cans of foam and tubes of caulk and am only about half way done with the sealing of the shed. There's still plenty more to seal up that I'll get to, but in the meantime there's the matter of the electrical system. The start of the electrical system is a salvaged extension cord with both ends chopped off. This was hardwired into the outlet box at the power pole by the chicken yard gate, then buried in a shallow trench as the cable goes across the gate, alongside the cable feeding one of the chicken yard circuits. Afterward the cable runs above ground along the bottom of the chicken yard fence over to the corner of the shed, where it goes up and into the corner of the shed, through the foam. At this point a square junction box is installed where the cable goes into. A length of Romex cable is routed from the junction box, after the ends are tied together, up the corner frame and along the horizontal tube of the frame over to a spot just above and to the left of the doorway, if one was looking from the inside out. This square box is used to hold a switch, which controls an outlet. The cover used had to have extra holes drilled to secure the lid to the box since the box was not matched up with the cover. In addition to this, another length of wire was connected to the power input and routed through a hole going just outside of the wall. Where this cable comes out a base is anchored in place for a dusk/dawn/motion LED light fixture, mounted just under the awning next to the top corner of the door. A standard T8 shop light with LED bulbs is hung at the middle of the roof from the frame and plugged to the outlet, to be switched on and off as needed. The outlet/switch box with everything hooked up. note the plug in place for the shop light and the black cable coming from the box going through the wall for the flood light. Also note the two screws applied through the corners of the cover to hold it in place on the box due to the mismatching of the available components. With everything technically done, we can start placing stuff inside the structure. There is still plenty to caulk up and foam up, and there is the matter of figuring out a ramp for when we have any kind of rolling stock to place inside, but for all intents and purposes this project is complete. There might be other little extras I may decide to do to this shed to make it better in the future, but the main thing at this point is to start using the thing for its intended purpose.
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