The Workshop
Last Updated: Mar. 23
Finding a house with a garage was pretty high on my list when we were searching, but when CloverLock Lane checked literally every other box, I couldn’t pass it up just because it didn’t have a garage. The biggest reason was to have a workspace where tools and projects could live without taking over the living space, and I could use sanders and stains without worrying about the danger they could pose to the animals or us in the house.
We had tossed around the idea of fixing up the shed to become our workshop and it became a backburner, “one day” project. That is until January 2026, when our property, and the entire state of Virginia, turned into an ice rink. Four inches of solid ice that hung around for weeks. It caused plenty of problems, most of all, it put a dead stop on a lot of projects we had planned. We couldn’t do anything in the house or on the porch. And having a workshop space would have been a lifesaver. So, fixing up the shed into a functional workshop moved up on the list.
Welcome to the Workshop
As it stands now, the shed is only in slightly better condition than the barn. It has a roof, floor, four walls, and a functioning door. However, that’s where the ‘good’ condition stops. The roof has two badly patched leaks, a third of the floor has rotted away, exterior skirting boards have rotted away or been dug away by whoever is living under the shed, and there are SO MANY BUGS living in there. I won’t add a photo, but let’s just say Wolf Spiders are pretty common around here and have become very comfy in there.
The Goal
The goal is pretty simple, a functional space for work. The worst step will come first, cleaning out all the cobwebs and giant spider corpses. Then, big jobs, repairing the floor and replacing the roof, both deeply involved, expensive jobs, but not exceptionally difficult ones. After that, it’s a lot of smaller things. Running temporary electricity, building some basic shelving, and organizing everything. All that is on the 2026 to-do list. Next year, we’re hoping to add some insulation and a more permanent electricity source. Eventually, we hope to build an actual garage and workshop, but until money starts growing on all these trees, that plan will stay in the ‘eventually’ bucket!
