My workshop disaster

From the outside, the closed door looks OK, if and when I actually do some washing of the metal. You can see the opening at the base that needs to be closed to keep the weather out. For the front carport, I used a heavy flashing plastic so corrosion wouldn't be a problem. It's worked OK out front and only once in a while do I have to put it back in place at one of the ends.

The interior still has lots of clean-up to get done. Maybe it will get done - another "round to it".
From the inside, the new tin shows more color difference because the smoke from years of cooking on the old gas grill covers the tin. Need to do some washing in here more than the outside.

Ran out of propane a few days ago and had to substitute a 30 pound for the usual 20 pound propane cylinder. Had to finish the steaks on the grill.

This gas grill looks OK from the outside, but there have been a few explosions while trying to light the damn thing. The interior is almost completely rotted out and the igniters don't work. Too many grates to remove to light the thing with a striker. The heavy propane drops into the under cabnet and detonates eventually. A scary situation!



Well, it's another day and some small accomplishment. This is the replacement gas grill that looks quite similar to the old one. Close, but has more stainless inside - like stainless burners, supports, and igniter covers. Last one that Sears had on the floor for this model that I felt comfortable with the price. Most of the accessories for the old fit the new. Still don't have filled 20 pound propane tank, so I haven't changed it's virgin status. When I tried to load this monster in the truck under the cap, it was too tall. The sales clerk realized that it was simple to remove the top and it fit nicely. The next issue was getting it out of the truck at home. Fortunately, a neighbor was at home to help. I can't lift anything like this yet, so I used a 2X6 10 feet long and both of us slid the thing to the ground. Problem solved and no one was hurt. No dents in the new gas grill either!

This is always the nasty part, where I have to look at the mess inside that I have yet to clean up. At least all the tools, etc. are now out of the weather.

A pretty productive day for this old fossil as I got one of the pond filters changed (the fish like it) and did my care giver stuff for the Mrs. Also got some "woman's work" started, but the wash needs to move to the drier so more bedding can get washed. The after math of visitors - always added work for some reason. A labor of love?


The door project is looking OK from my outside position. A few things, like making drainage away from the front of the door and other projects for the sides and the house end. Maybe wash the panels? Not a super professional job, but for me, it's OK.

It's Friday and the rain stopped, maybe for now. I'm waiting for the hay to dry so I can use the riding mower. Had to stop the project as it's too hot for me and I tire easily - likely lack of exercise and vino tinto.

This pictures the manual lock that is on each side of the door.

May 12

Nothing looks square to my eye? Maybe the world is cockeyed? No matter how I try, getting a piece of tin over my head is always a pain in the ass. I wonder why there's such a difference in distance? Anyway, one piece on the left is pre weathered, ha, ha. Unfortunately, I must drop the left piece and trim to fit. Gave up on the right hand piece. The several pieces for the sides will be simple.

Ha, ha, everything is simple. That's why it takes me so long to get anything done.


No matter how much I measure, the damn thing never fits! :( Lots of free tin to make it fit better, but it's all the lifting and trying to get the boards to hold the damn thing in place. Had to quit for the day, maybe more later to finish this one piece. The tin cutting blade in my circle saw does a quick job, but what a dangerous tool. Glad I have some wrap around shooting glasses to deflect the shards.










My son Hawley got up at noon; however, I mushed from 7 AM and got most of the hardware assembled and made other adjustments to the door rollers. With Hawley working with me, it took about an hour to get the springs installed. Later, I made more adjustments and now the door works fine. Even has manual locks, one on each side. The spring assembly has a cable inside to prevent pieces from flying about if there's breakage. The lift cable took quite a while to figure out the routing. We soon realized that we skipped a pulley.

The first door installation saw my Cowboy Action steel become overgrown with weeds. Hmm, what's different this time? Oh, the forest is gone and the trees are 100 yards distant. Ha, ha, the rusty round thing isn't a steel target. It's an old bird stand that is tipped over. The square plates are the shooting targets.

Hi Pards,

The construction project came to a close as far as the door is concerned. Had some electrical problems with one of the beam sensor wires because I may have hammered the insulated staples too hard. Found the shorted wire with my VOM and replaced it. All now works fine except for the remote. I want each door to operate with a different button of my remote. Maybe . . .

Hi Pards,

While this blog is related to my carport construction, there has to be some relaxation.

My foul weather target is close to the ground and the trees that are left are more than a hundred yards distance.








My practice targets seem to have disappeared into the weed growth while I've been working on the carport.















The right image shows the front of the house. Fairly wide at 95 feet, so the picture is difficult to present.










Sure hard to keep up with the blog site and how it posts pictures. But, here's a side view of the carport nearing completion. Keep in mind that this is a temp structure that has a life of less than 10 years.

Haven't had a lot of discretionary time to work on the yard and it shows.


I digress from the carport activity for some mental and well deserved rest of the body.

Hi Pards,

Can't believe I spent near 10 hours on each of Sat. and Sun. and the picture shows so little accomplished. Hanging the door opener drive motor was only a fraction of the time it took to get the unit to run the door in the right direction. I couldn't get it to raise the door, it would only close and was about to damage the door, etc. So, I disconnected the door and the drive chain and ran the motor. Worked just fine. So, I reinstalled everyting with door in what I felt was the down position. Now, it worked like I knew it could! Then, adjust the up/down travel and finally, the reverse force setting. Of course, the electric eyes are taped together just to get the opener running. The button for opening and closing is just hanging. Sure did a lot of ladder climbing these past two days.

A time consuming job was finding the drive rail. Actually, I found two in a small metal shed out back. I installed the old one, leaving the unopened box with the second rail. Found the drive motor and accessories in the garage. Other time consuming activity was just sitting in front of the fan and drying off. What a hot and humid day.

The last effort of the day was to install a tin panel on each side of the door. Tomorrow brings a frightening activity. I watched some CAS pards reverse a carbide blade in a circular saw and cut the tin roofing. Now, it's my turn and I'm a bit leery of the practice. But, I gotta cut the tin.

I think the next pictures will show the front complete with trim and all. Still have other work to do inside, but all the exciting stuff is done! :)