Two geezers and a shed--part 2

After 10 years, the shed needed some work.

Our shed had a noticeable tilt after ten years.
In the foreground, the pot sits on the top of the septic holding
tank and the septic drainage field mound is to the left.

In 2012, my husband and I moved the shed that came with our house closer to the garage so that it would be more useful. I documented how we moved the it using pvc pipes as rollers and pulled it slowly across the yard with our van to its new location. That was quite a project and my "Two geezers and a shed" article is still one of the most visited posts on this blog.

These days the shed is heavily used for tools, pots, and other gardening supplies. But the oak tree to its left had grown and had tilted the whole shed a few degrees, and on the right, there were large roots also touching the bottom of the shed.

At first, we thought we would have to move it a foot or two to the right, but after clearing out the leaves and sticks from under the shed, we decided to just raise it in place. We know that this is not a permanent solution because the trees' roots will continue to grow. 

Jacking up the back corner of the shed.

We removed everything from the shed and swept out ten years of accumulated dirt. Then we dug a hole deep enough under the back right corner of the shed so we could fit a board and the jack under the floor. 

We jacked it up until the back of the shed was level. We were somewhat surprised to see that the whole shed was rigid enough that the front of the shed was also level and hanging there in mid-air. We quickly slid an extra paver into the space under the front corner to relieve the stress on the structure. It was just the right thickness. That was lucky.

Checking the level as we jacked up the back corner.

When it was level in the back, it was also level in the front, and we slid a paver under the skid on the left side.

We replaced the block on the back corner paver with
one that was twice as thick, and we rammed
stones under it for more stability.

The back corner needed more work, so we moved the jack to the side of the structure to relieve the stress and to give us room to work in this area and to replace the single thick paver with one that was doubly thick. We solidified the soil under that paver with volcanic gravel and rammed it in place with the end of the board until the level of the cement block was high enough to keep the shed level. And we thought that maybe the soft soil here was another factor that had caused the shed to tilt. (The gravel was from the former rock-scaping feature.)

A newly leveled shed. Now it was
time to put the tools back.

Okay, now it was time to put the shelving, containers, and tools back into the shed. Another gardening project crossed off the to-do list, but there is always more to do. I hope you've been crossing projects off your gardening to-do list. 

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt