Screwdriver
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- 10,493
A few years ago, the local council scrapped the small bin units for recycling and gave us all much bigger recycle bins. So I spent a frantic week collecting as many of them as I could get my hands on. They are the perfect size for shed use and I ended up with about 50. As for the legality of acquiring ex. council stock, I managed to grab a decent handful off the local council run recycling centre who invited me to take as many as I like...
The problem was they had hundreds. All stacked up and once the pile gets say 10 high, the bottom ones either become immovably stuck, split open or irretrievably buried. It seems I was not the only one trying to find the last remaining "perfect" examples".
So far so what?
Well, they are as I said, the perfect size and made from extremely durable thick polypropylene (and of course, free!). I started building storage units to house them in the workshop. Simple benches with suitable apertures sized around this unit. Now I am making a larger, external storage unit to try and rescue some space but weatherproof so that anything stored "outside" won't rot.
I came up with this:
It took me ages to come up with the dimensions and construction details. I only have so much wood "on hand" and despite trying to make this as economical with wood as possible, it has swallowed up a HUGE amount of 2x1. It will have 6mm plywood sides and a decent 18mm worktop. I have yet to finalise the doors.
It will sit on a dedicated concrete plnth which I just managed to get done the other day.
I can't tell you what a palaver that was to get filled up. I picked up a back strain recently so lifting a bag of concrete is out of the question and I had a spinal tap scheduled which I had been told would make things worse(!) so it was also a race against the clock. i am happy with how it turned out though this simple slab also swallowed an enormous amount of material, topped up with a couple of bags of self levelling screed as a little Xmas prezzie to myself.
It needs to be slightly up above ground level to avoid puddles and of course to level things off. It sits half in front of an old concrete slab I put in years ago and the other half runs into some pavers held in by gravity alone. It will be a little bit "too high" for me at 1055mm but still a useable worktop. Today I just finished chopping up the last of my brown sticks and a few C4 timbers...
Anyone who has been following my fortunes will be amazed at the free space on my floor. A long suffering pal turned up and stayed for a week helping me to bring some order into the workshop. This new storage unit is the next step on that journey. I may actually make it a New Years resolution and this time, I may even keep to it!
The problem was they had hundreds. All stacked up and once the pile gets say 10 high, the bottom ones either become immovably stuck, split open or irretrievably buried. It seems I was not the only one trying to find the last remaining "perfect" examples".
So far so what?
Well, they are as I said, the perfect size and made from extremely durable thick polypropylene (and of course, free!). I started building storage units to house them in the workshop. Simple benches with suitable apertures sized around this unit. Now I am making a larger, external storage unit to try and rescue some space but weatherproof so that anything stored "outside" won't rot.
I came up with this:
It took me ages to come up with the dimensions and construction details. I only have so much wood "on hand" and despite trying to make this as economical with wood as possible, it has swallowed up a HUGE amount of 2x1. It will have 6mm plywood sides and a decent 18mm worktop. I have yet to finalise the doors.
It will sit on a dedicated concrete plnth which I just managed to get done the other day.
I can't tell you what a palaver that was to get filled up. I picked up a back strain recently so lifting a bag of concrete is out of the question and I had a spinal tap scheduled which I had been told would make things worse(!) so it was also a race against the clock. i am happy with how it turned out though this simple slab also swallowed an enormous amount of material, topped up with a couple of bags of self levelling screed as a little Xmas prezzie to myself.
It needs to be slightly up above ground level to avoid puddles and of course to level things off. It sits half in front of an old concrete slab I put in years ago and the other half runs into some pavers held in by gravity alone. It will be a little bit "too high" for me at 1055mm but still a useable worktop. Today I just finished chopping up the last of my brown sticks and a few C4 timbers...
Anyone who has been following my fortunes will be amazed at the free space on my floor. A long suffering pal turned up and stayed for a week helping me to bring some order into the workshop. This new storage unit is the next step on that journey. I may actually make it a New Years resolution and this time, I may even keep to it!