Building a Potting Shed – Interior Walls
Interior Potting Shed with wall insulation,
Turning the pole barn into a Potting Shed for the Posh Market Garden is an ongoing endeavor. I blogged in January about building the floor. We are approaching the floor construction like we would if we were building a deck. The reason being the ground inside the barn is uneven and we don’t have the equipment to level the ground. So, we created anchors using cement, metal brackets and wooden posts that we cut down to size; this allowed us to create the framework for a level floor. Once we finished this stage of the floor, I noticed we had space between our anchors and the wall. To help reduce this space, I opted to hold on the floor and decided to build the interior walls first. My working theory is, this will bring the walls and floor together which should provide better stability when we finish the floor.
To build out the interior walls we first cut and placed additional vertical support beams along the inside left and right walls. These boards create more surface area on which to attach the plywood that will finish off the walls. Because the back walls are constructed with railroad ties as the main support beams, we did not do this for the back wall. The cross bars that run behind the ties should allow for enough surface area to apply the plywood. We will then treat the ties as an architectural element and build the interior walls up to them while keeping the railroad ties exposed.
Next, we purchased “house wrap”, a high density polyethylene (HDPE), to waterproof the shed. Usually this goes on the outside of a building and then the exterior surface is placed over it, however our exterior was already in place, so we took the reverse approach and wrapped the inside of the building. As it is a barn, soon to be potting shed, there will be gaps throughout, so this added layer should help cut down on moisture and hopefully critters getting inside the shed.
Interio walls left and back with plywood going up
With the wrap in place, Andy and I measured and cut to size the plywood. Given how expensive lumber is currently, we are trying to use what left over scraps we have from deconstructing other outbuildings on the property. Once those are used up, we will have to bite the bullet and invest in additional building materials. We will need to purchase more supplies to finish off the floor so no matter what we will be making trips to our local lumber mill and Lowe’s.
Because the fourth wall or the front of the building is currently nonexistent and because my contractor gifted me two beautiful eight feet by six feet windows, I will probably reach out to said contractor and hire him to finish that wall. My original plan was to collect old windows, much small in scale, and build it out myself with the assistance of Andy and a lot of videos from Instagram and YouTube, but gifting of the windows changed that game plan. They are fantastic and will let in a ton of like but they are huge and way beyond my skill set!
Overall, it is exciting to see the changes and even the smallest progress is satisfying. My view is, as long as we keep moving forward, we will get there eventually and when we do … it will be fabulous! Until then, stay tune for more updates!
