Memorial Outdoor Makeover Day 1:Shed

In preparation for applying for a home equity line of credit to get a head start on some of our bigger projects, Ed and I are spending our memorial day working doing some outside makeover.  While Ed put up the missing pieces of siding and mowed the lawn, I started tackling the biggest task: The shed.  When we bought the shed it looked totally delapidated and about to fall down, complete with a hole in the roof.  The hole we believe was from a large branch from our willow tree that came down during the big ice storm a few years ago.

Our shed before:

From shed makeover

It's hard to tell from that photo, but the east side of the shed was coated in lichens:

From shed makeover

So, saturday I spent the afternoon preparing the shed for the makeover by spraying the entire shed with a 10% bleach solution (using a garden sprayer), and weed whacking around it.  Additionally, I started the process of reclaiming our shed from the wildlife: I chased out a garter snake and knocked down close to 20 wasp/hornet nests (after spraying them with wasp/hornet spray).

From shed makeover

Today was paint prep day.  We borrowed Ed's dad's pressure washer and I went at the shed.  It took several hours, but under all the lichen and the grime was some good wood!

From shed makeover

What seems to be a reoccurring theme in the beginnings of this renovation is: It's amazing what a difference just cleaning something will do!  Something that we once thought wasn't going to be salvagable, just turned out to be a diamond in the rough.  Hopefully the paint job tomorrow will bring out a little more sparkle.

Before:

From shed makeover

During powerwashing:

From shed makeover

After powerwashing:

From shed makeover

For more photos of the shed makeover, please visit my picasaweb album:  Shed Makover

P.S. After finishing the shed I used the powerwasher on the cement stairs and the asphalt walkway in the front of the house which were covered in grime and lichen.  Once you get into it, powerwashing is FUN!