In order to create...

We didn't actually destroy this shed so the title reference may not be quite on point but we did manage to sell it on Craigslist to a very nice guy who proceeded to dismantle it bit by bit and take it away to be reassembled in his yard - which leaves us with room for our future garage to be built.  We originally thought the shed could be hauled away in one piece but after a little measuring, it became clear that the 8' x 8' shed would not fit through the 8' 4" opening between the house and our neighbor's fence once we accounted for the eaves.  Before we revised our ad posting and price, though, I learned that sheds are a hot commodity on Craigslist.  Our initial post practically incited a bidding war for it and a rather random email with the observation that the shed would be perfect for a chicken coop.  Having had some unpleasant childhood experiences with raising chickens (I now find them particularly delicious in barbecued form as a result), I vetoed that idea and we found someone nearby who was willing to put in a couple days of work to take the shed down and take it away.  So, in addition to getting a little cash for it, I'm happy that the shed is off to live another life because I hate throwing good material like that into a dumpster. No word yet on the new owner's chicken-raising plans.

Progress on the house has slowed down a bit over the past few weeks - as you may have noticed from the scarcity of blog posts - as we work on getting bids for the garage (generally frustrating) and have been spending a fair bit of time watching the Washington Capitals playoff run (generally fun).  On the garage, we decided to GC the project ourselves after the first round of bids came in much higher than expected.  We then had to locate subs for and bid out each part of work that we either don't want to handle or are a good cost/time benefit for us to sub out.  If all goes well, we'll sign the last contract this evening, submit for our permits next week, and get the project underway soon thereafter.  We decided to contract out the concrete work (footers, slab, driveway), framing, and roofing. We'll do the window/door/gutters installation, electrical work, siding, and all other finish work ourselves.  It'll be our first run at GC'ing a project so I'm glad we're trying this approach out on a garage first.  Without a deadline or an impact on our living area, the garage feels much lower-stakes than work on the house itself.  That's not to say, of course, that it won't be time-consuming and stressful and lead me to ask (many times) "why did this seem like a good idea??" but I'm sure it'll produce some good pictures and stories for future posts...