After lunch yesterday (and before the storm arrived!) I finally emptied the shed, unscrewed the bolts holding it to its concrete base, and tried to demolish it.
I tried taking the shed apart, but many of the self-tapping screws that were used in its construction were so rusted that they proved impossible to move. In the end I managed to remove the roof ... and as a result the walls lost all their rigidity and I was able to split them into two separate sections.
This morning I telephoned a local scrap metal dealer to come and remove the old shed ... only to be told that the company had changed owners and name, as a result of which they had had to reapply for new operating licences in all the local government areas they serve. Unfortunately the London Borough in which I live – Royal Greenwich – is one of the few who has not yet issued a new licence, and I will have to wait for about a week or so until the new licence is issued, at which point the old shed will be collected and removed.
I could not wait that long before replacing the shed with a new garden store, so I moved the remains of the shed from the bottom of the garden to the driveway that runs alongside our house. The bits of the shed can stay there until the scrap metal dealer can come to collect them.
Once that was done I cleaned the concrete base as best I could ...
... and then assembled and installed the garden store on it.
Whilst I was clearing the shed I found several plastic tool boxes. I assumed that they contained tools ... although I could not, for the life of me, remember having that many tools.
I was right; I didn't!
Two of the toolboxes contained my very old O-gauge Hornby train set. The tracks are very rusty, as are the locomotives and rolling stock ... but I suspect that with time and quite a bit of effort they could be restored.
The third toolbox weighed a ton ... and when I opened it I found that it was half-full of more wargames figures ... some of which appear to have been painted.
I am not sure what I am going to do with this latest find ... but I suspect that sorting out the contents is likely to take done time.
I tried taking the shed apart, but many of the self-tapping screws that were used in its construction were so rusted that they proved impossible to move. In the end I managed to remove the roof ... and as a result the walls lost all their rigidity and I was able to split them into two separate sections.
This morning I telephoned a local scrap metal dealer to come and remove the old shed ... only to be told that the company had changed owners and name, as a result of which they had had to reapply for new operating licences in all the local government areas they serve. Unfortunately the London Borough in which I live – Royal Greenwich – is one of the few who has not yet issued a new licence, and I will have to wait for about a week or so until the new licence is issued, at which point the old shed will be collected and removed.
I could not wait that long before replacing the shed with a new garden store, so I moved the remains of the shed from the bottom of the garden to the driveway that runs alongside our house. The bits of the shed can stay there until the scrap metal dealer can come to collect them.
Once that was done I cleaned the concrete base as best I could ...
... and then assembled and installed the garden store on it.
Whilst I was clearing the shed I found several plastic tool boxes. I assumed that they contained tools ... although I could not, for the life of me, remember having that many tools.
I was right; I didn't!
Two of the toolboxes contained my very old O-gauge Hornby train set. The tracks are very rusty, as are the locomotives and rolling stock ... but I suspect that with time and quite a bit of effort they could be restored.
The third toolbox weighed a ton ... and when I opened it I found that it was half-full of more wargames figures ... some of which appear to have been painted.
I am not sure what I am going to do with this latest find ... but I suspect that sorting out the contents is likely to take done time.
Serendipitous!
ReplyDeleteIs there such a word?
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteIf there isn't such a word, there should be!
All the best,
Bob
So the shed is dead? I for one will mourn it's passing.
ReplyDeleteTim Gow,
ReplyDeleteYou might mourn its passing ... but I won't.
We bought it because it was maintenance-free. We didn't realise that water (and mud) would run under the door, that it would be very hot in summer, and very cold in winter ... and that the door would constantly jam shut!
All the best,
Bob
Stu Rat,
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, not yet!
Had you asked me how big my pile of unpainted lead was before I looked in the shed, the answer would have been 'reasonable'. Now my answer would be 'huge'!
I keep finding more stuff that I had forgotten about. When will it all end? (Fairly soon ... I hope!)
All the best,
Bob