Mr. A’s New Work Area – Building It On The Cheap

By Mrs. Accountability on May 11th, 2010

I mentioned the other day that Mr. A found a great deal on some plywood. We have two projects we are working on for the business. First and most important is Mr. A’s work area, and second is my office. Neither of us have a proper place to work. I’m squished into one corner of the living room in a 5’ x 7’ area. It’s literally impossible to be organized because I have no room.

But more importantly is Mr. A’s work area. One of Mr. A’s businesses he manufactures the product on our property, but he has been making due with our open carport. He works with metal and it is not uncommon for high winds to suddenly gust up, which could be extremely dangerous. The carport has a dirt floor and it’s not level. Mr. A has been slowly working on a new work area and he’s been keeping his eye out for affordable materials.

He has already purchased two pallets of cull lumber containing 2×4s. We had railroad ties that we picked up cheap years ago. He has used several of the railroad ties as pillars in his new work area. He has used the 2×4s to construct the roof and has corrugated metal but needs 4×8 sheets of wood to lay on top of the 2×4s.

While at Home Depot one day buying materials for a customer he decided to pick up the 4×8 sheets that he needed, expecting to pay $8/sheet. When he saw they were $12, he just couldn’t do it.

So he started keeping an eye out in the local classifieds. Within days he found a deal that he couldn’t pass up. 4×8 sheets of 5/8” plywood. This is thicker then he was expecting (read: better) and also plywood, not OSB (also better). Initially while talking to the person by phone the sheets were priced at $7 each. Once he actually got there, the lady selling the wood said, after Mr. A said he might want 40 or 50 sheets, “If you take 50 sheets, I’ll give them to you for $5 each.”

Whoohoo! Even better! Now we have enough material to not only cover the roof for Mr. A’s area, but he can wall the area in, plus 12 sheets needed to roof my office. This plywood is used, a bit weathered, but to my thinking, this is a plus since this means there will be no off gassing in closed areas. The chemical smell that comes from OSB really bothers my allergies. Walking through Home Depot in the lumber area is akin to walking down the detergent aisle in Walmart.

Mr. A checked the prices again to find they have gone up to $16 a sheet. Wow. Prices are really escalating.

I love working on projects in this manner; finding the materials at discount prices. There are a few drawbacks, you can’t build the room on a whim over the weekend, and you need a place to store the materials while you are gathering them slowly. It takes planning and the foresight of knowing exactly what you need so you can keep your eyes peeled for the right materials.

Are you working on any home improvement projects?