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River Run - A Shed Build Blog

Lisa F

Mama Doe
River Run - A Shed Build Blog UD pg 13

This week my OH and I began a somewhat ambitious shed project so I thought I'd make a post here as we go, partly because it's nice to be able to put it all down in one place and also it might give somebun ideas for their own project. :D

We've had our buns since March 2014. They were RSPCA rescues and we fell in love with them instantly, despite being there for an entirely different reason (collecting some rats). They are currently in a less than perfect hutch/run setup as we needed to get them something quickly. They have a lot of time out on our fenced off decking area too but I've always felt a bit bad about their home and I definately didn't think it would be good enough for winter. :?

We came up with a few different ideas for extending their setup but none seemed ideal. Then I started eyeing up our sheds. Our garden is very small but we do have THREE separate sheds, all in a row down the side of our house. We discussed the possibility of converting one of them into a bunny shed with an attached run but all of the sheds are a bit the worse for wear. Two had come with the house and were clearly old, with warped doors etc. The third had been my mums and was fairly decent except for the fact that the cats used it as a scratching post and had actually made holes in it! Then my OH came up with the idea of getting rid of our current sheds and building one GIANT shed that we could partition off into as many sections as we wanted. The buns could have the end so we could attach a run for them. The other end could be his workshop . . . and the middle bit . . . man cave (which was actually suggested by me as I thought it would make the whole idea extra appealing and I figured it would be a good reward for what was clearly going to be a massive job!). :lol:

This new shed is going to be 2m x 11m (the buns are getting a 2m x 2m section). It's the biggest we can go in the space (with room for a narrow pathway down the side between shed and house), which is lucky as any larger and we'd need planning permission for it (one of the first things we checked). This does involve us having to shorten the eves of the house on one side (yup, clearly we are completely nuts!!) but some of our neighbours have done that too so we know it's possible. :lol:

The buns new home is going to be called "River Run". The main reason being that we live next to the river so it seemed super fitting. It's also a nod to a couple of my favourite book series (Game of Thrones and Outlander), which both have castles/stately homes of that name. :D


Edit: I've moved the first progress pics to my 2nd post further down this page so I can add pictures of the finished shed and aviary to this post, for quick reference. The step by step progress pics will remain throughout the thread, for anyone who is interested.

Ramp, hay bin and window ledge:
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Love my hay bin! I can get a massive bale of Timothy Hay in there, plus some smaller bags of Meadow Hay and my newspapers - all safely out of bunny reach!
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They finally get to have their Ikea bed which I've been dying to give them for months!
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The view out their window, they can see the garden, boat and river. They will also get full sun in the mornings, which I'm sure they'll love. :D
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Their new water bottle and the cat flap that will lead into their connected aviary:
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And finally, no swanky bachelor pad is complete without everybuns favourite pin-ups! :lol:
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That's going to be great :thumb: like the man cave bribery bit ;) good excuse for a day in a digger too :thumb:
 
MINI DIGGER ekkkkkkk ::claps wildly::

I love mini diggers :D DH took me to Diggerland for a treat once it was fab.

It sounds like you are building an amazing shed emporium, i'm sure the buns will love it.
 
Here is the progress so far (pics moved from the first post at the top of this page):


The original setup, with the three sheds in a row:
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Old sheds taken down:
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After a couple of hours trying to dig out for the foundation with a pickaxe it became clear that a digger was needed so we got one in:
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I feel really bad! We're running a bit behind as the pouring concrete is being delivered first thing in the morning, for the shed foundation, and the ground isn't ready yet so my OH is out there in the dark still shoveling dirt and getting eaten by mosquitos! :(
 
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Quick update. We got it done in time for the concrete delivery! Phew! :D

My OH was out there until 11pm last night and both of us were out there at 5am this morning. Getting the ballast all spread and levelled took a lot longer than we thought it would. We finished it 10 minutes before the concrete arrived! :shock:


The levelled ballast made it look nice and neat though:
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The concrete base is now also levelled and drying (with obligatory cat paw prints in it! :roll: )
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Wow, good progress!

What sort of design do you have planned for the shed itself?
 
What sort of design do you have planned for the shed itself?
The shed will be split into three, with solid interior walls. The buns are getting 2m x 2m, the middle section (man cave) will be 5m x 2m and the other end will be a 4m x 2m workshop. It's all going to be insulated with interior walls and electric (and water in the workshop section). We've also decided to do the outside in HardiPlank instead of wood as it's lower maintenance, lasts longer and, oddly, is cheaper too. :)
 
This is brilliant :D I wish I had time to do this sort of thing: could just do with ripping up half the concrete round our garden and replacing it with grass, veg and/or borders! Watching this with fascination: good luck!
 
A little bit of progress this week, the base of the shed is now coming together:

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We're putting a nice thick layer of insulation under the flooring too:

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make sure you fully enclose the base ends to stop anything crawling under and nesting in the insulation...
 
Eric, Ernie.......room for a little one?:D:D You boys are so lucky in having such thoughtful and loving owners.:love::love:

Can I pack my litter tray yet and my toys?
 
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