Outback by C. Roberts, Bonita Springs, FL
1 November 2007
I decided to dive in and complete at least one project before my neighbor came back down for the winter and I would lose use of his carport. I worked on this just one or two hours at a time in between painting the house and prepping my car for paint. The plans were great and at least I did get most of the cutting done before a summer rain storm wiped out the blueprints and made them invisible. You can see by the earlier pictures that the plans were covered in plastic but, somehow the rain was blown underneath it. I could see enough of the plans and studying the instruction sheet I figured the rest out. I had to change the roof layout somewhat because the only thin plywood in the area that had a nice side to it was door skin plywood, it bent easily and the only downside was that they only came in 3 X 7 sheets. The upside was that they cost around $7.00 a sheet. You can see at the front there was enough to complete the curve on the roof and 2 more to complete the roof (that is why the change in the ventilation cutout and extra roof brace). I also used the door skin on the interior with scraps used for cabinet and some interior trim. The project used only 5 sheets of plywood to complete everything (except if I decide to use plywood for the outer skin). I have the aluminum but can't make up my mind about the outer appearance, I still have to route wires and install the insulation so that will give me a few more days to figure it out. I hated the corrugated fasteners (they kept splitting the wood) so I went the pocket screw way and it seemed to work out. I did find the gimp at a local boat repair place and got thirty feet of it for two 12 packs of miller light, same barter for the aluminum siding. I also can't make a decision about the windows, I found a place that will sell me the storm window channel and the rubber glazing. Thinking of getting out the old miter box and hacksaw and see what I can come up with. Here are a few pictures, will send pix of the finished product.
C. Roberts
Bonita Springs, FL
