I managed to get in more coop work this week, thanks to another unseasonably warm day. It was perfect demolition weather and I made the most of it.
The floor of the shed was in bad shape and needed to be removed. Each sheet of plywood had significant damage thanks to a crushed roof, mouse/raccoon families, and heavy furniture items exerting pressure on soaked wood. After clearing out the larger furniture items I got to work with my hammer, bashing holes in the rotted wood so I could see which direction the floor studs ran. It was hard work and frustrating – felt like I accomplished very little in several hours time.
After sleeping on the problem, I remembered my reciprocating saw. I purchased the tool several years back when I bought a house – a home maintenance class and This Old House (love that show!) showed it to be a highly useful device. I strung an outdoor extension cord from the barn, put on protective eyegear and got to work. In about an hour I had the 10 x 15 shed clear of plywood.
Some nails were rusted into the boards, others removed easily, and still more have yet to be removed before installing new flooring. I leveled out the dirt below, after removing more leaf and animal nest debris, and started thinking about the next phase of the project.