Sunday, September 1, 2013

The Sunfish Shack

Renovated our sailboat shed, aka the Sunfish Shack. We changed the roof over to metal, added a deck and a ramp. The main function of the shed is to keep the pine needles, rain and sun(UV) off of the boats, keep them ready to go sailing without having to spend 30 minutes cleaning them up first. The old shed roof was lower, with plywood and shingles, and it leaked. The goal for shed 2.0 was to raise the front edge, lower the rear edge, remove excess roof support 2x6s, and add a deck with ramp to get trailers out of the mud that likes that shaded area.

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

Here is Shack 1.0, I designed the roof to be low so less rain would blow in, but there was not enough slope to shed the rain. As a result the water leaked through the shingles and soaked into the plywood, causing mildew and mold problems. Also water ponded underneath and the dirt turned to mud, so my intent to keep water AWAY from the stored boats had just the opposite effect :( Overall, it was a huge design failure and excess expenditure for materials, but I learned what Shack 2.0 needed. All of the old roof was cut off with a circular saw, I recommend using a dust mask and covering up exposed skin while doing that, I created lots of moldy sawdust!

From Small Boat Restoration

Salvaged lumber from Shack 1.0

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

The new shed has 3 stalls, big enough to hold Seitech dollies or our double stack trailer. The roof is MasterRib 29 gauge metal from Lowes placed on 2x4 rafters and 1x4 purlins. The front 2x6 roof joist was moved from lower on the front of the 6x6 post to the top and secured on both sides with metal hurrican ties. That raised the front of the roof. The rear joist was lowered the width of a 2x4 on the rear posts, leaving enough room for the rafters and roof to clear the top of the posts. I also added a few racks by screwing 2x4s to the posts to store our restoration project boats Chip (wooden Sunfish) and Zsa Zsa (Super Sailfish). These can be removed when the boats go into the restoration queue.

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

The wisteria likes the shed, it thinks it is one big trellis. I reused the 2x6x16s the front and rear roof joists and to frame the deck around the bottom of the posts. I had to buy the 2x4x16 rafters and 1x4 purlins to support and secure the metal roof, and reused hurricane ties to secure them to the joists. The roof is secured with a special metal roof washer and screw, screwed into the purlins. Since the roof is low I had to find a screw long enough to get fully into the 1x4 but not stick out under the roof and poke me in the head :)

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

I framed the perimeter of the posts with rescued 2x6s. Underneath the deck i used 2x4s and 12 inch square pavers to support the deck. The deck was made from salvaged 2x6x16s cut down to 12 feet, with the scrap end beveled and used for the front ramp. I ran out of old lumber and ordered 2x6x12s to finish the deck, but 2x8x12s were delivered instead. I adapted and the deck/ramp came out real nice. There is enough room under the front half of the Shack to work on projects!

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

The 2x4 deck joists are screwed into the 2x6 frame, I added some pavers mid span to prevent sag, although I don't plan to have much weight on the deck. I also leveled the dirt under the deck with sand to improve drainage. The deck is elevated off of the ground like a dock, so any heavy rain should run off behind the shack or is welcome to runoff underneath.

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

18 Mar 2015: Current state of affairs at the Shack. 3 fiberglass Sunfish, one wooden Sunfish and one wooden Super Sailfish.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

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