The Father & Son Bar (Man Cave Construction)

[ruredi13]

*The Father & Son Bar*

INTRODUCTION

My 14yo son recently came home from school and told me that he’s considering a career in Carpentry when he leaves school.

I was never really taught much as a boy and my chosen career path never made up for it. I’m far from a qualified trade and I couldn’t even call myself a DIY’er. As a parent, it’s something I’ve always stressed about; not having any hands-on skills to pass on to my boy. He certainly isn’t getting any younger.

Luckily for me, information nowadays is more accessible than ever. The double edged sword is that It’s becoming ever increasingly difficult to get the kids of today outside and off of screens. So instead of outsourcing and hiring trades, I figured I’d use this opportunity to tackle putting together the “Man Cave” that we’ve been envisioning for some time. This will be put together inside the shed that is in our backyard.

By using it as a Father & Son project, I hope to try and at least teach him something and bond in the process. I’m sure it will be far from perfect, but I’ll give it a shot. The lesson here is that perfection is impossible, and you don’t know if you don’t try. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes, but those are part of life.

Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing the progress of our project as a bit of a keepsake memento. Something that I can look back on one day. I encourage anyone with any know how to share your advice on any of the stages as we progress, and to tell me if you see me making any fatal errors. No doubt there will be some of you that will receive a call/text to ask a dumb question somewhere along the way.

*A little about the shed*

Footing: Concrete Slab

Construction: Steel Portal Frame, Gable Roof and Colorbond Steel Cladding

Dimensions: 3,160mm (W) x 6,210mm (L)

Wall Height: 2,400mm

Roof Pitch: 20 degrees

Stay tuned.

[JacobZ]

Hi @ruredi13,

I didn't expect to have my heartstrings tugged as much as they have been by this.

It is fantastic to hear your son has shown an interest in carpentry and that you'd like to encourage that interest with a shared shed-building project. 

Funnily enough, my first real construction project was building a shed with my dad. He bought it to house my growing collection of tools and to encourage my growing interest in carpentry. 

That shed, and a cheap tool belt he bought me for Christmas that year, was his way of encouraging me to follow my heart and find a job as a carpenter. The time I spent in the construction industry ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I hope to pass on some of the things I learned to my kids one day.

It's a simple shed, three metres by three metres with nothing too fancy about it, but the sentimental value it holds is far greater than I think even I realised. Years later, it's still there in his backyard and is a reminder of a wonderful time we shared.

I am extremely excited to see this project become a reality and am happy to help in any way I can. 

I'm sure our wonderful members such as @Nailbag, @Noyade, @Dave-1 and @Jewelleryrescue will also be happy to help.

Thank you for sharing this and I look forward to the next update. 

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @ruredi13 

Oh man! Now how I wish I had this in the past Seriously it would have been a lot of fun.

I had my grandfathers tools to play with and his containers of nails/screws but mostly nails.

My grandmother enforced teh rule of if I left a tool out and she found it then it was gone and I would have to do chores to earn it back (the chores were hard lol) I ended up with only a ball hammer for months!

Best Christmas pressent from her was a 2kg bag of 4" bullet head nails

Cant wait to see how the projects unfold, really constructing anything let alone a shed teaches you so many tjhings without even knowing its not funny!

Dave