Whew!  I took two weeks vacation to build a home office in the backyard.  This will give us more office space for our office and free up the third bedroom for guests.  It was a LOT of work.  I started by calling the city about permits and was told under 120 sq. feet did not need a permit.  I already had a concrete pad where the decrepit old gazebo used to be, so I decided to build on that, keeping the dimensions to 10’ x 12’ so the resulting office would be just under 120 sq. ft.  Once the site was chosen, I used my MacBook and a simple CAD program to design some drawings and plans for the office.  I wanted to build a high peaked roof to enable a convenient attic space above the office - it did not add much to the cost, but as it turned out, made building the roof much more difficult.

Once the drawings were done, I compiled a materials list and headed to Home Depot and bought a load of framing lumber and sheathing.

I did this the weekend prior to my vacation.  Once my vacation arrived, I began building the framing.

I wanted the office to be open and light, so it has two large windows on the sides and two windows and a windowed door in the front.  Only the back wall that faces the afternoon sun has no windows.  This also allows a nice flat wall for photography and video too.  That’s the beauty of building it yourself.  Once the framing was done, I added the sheathing.

I used a reciprocating saw to cut the window holes out of the sheathing.  Then it was time for the roof.  I started by building the roof framing on the ground.

There was no way I was going to hoist this all in place my self, so Carine came out and helped me set the roof framing.

Once the framing was complete, I needed to go up and nail in the roof sheathing.  As I put the first piece in place, I realized quickly it was too heavy, so I ended up cutting the 4’ sheathing in half to make it more manageable.

Once the roof was covered, I wrapped the walls with Tyvek, a moisture barrier - this will help keep moisture out and help insulate the office from drafts.  Then the windows and the door went in.

...Ryan helped too.

Next came the wood siding.  If was tougher to put on than

the sheathing, as I had to measure and cut the window spaces first and then screw the panels into place.

Then the trim was put on... this is where I fell from the ladder and broke my nose.

I was on the little ladder pictured above, with a power drill with a screwdriver insert and a level.  I was trying to push the slightly warped trim into place to drive in the screw to hold it when the ladder flipped sideways and I landed right on it.  My nose landed first and went “crunch” like a hard-boiled egg.  The top had been pushed and eighth on an inch to the right, making my nose appear crooked.  I went to the doctor and got it straightened out - the doc put a splint on and I went back to work.

My vacation was winding down and I still had the roof to do.  Because of the steep peak, I need to make a roofing rig to enable me to work on the steep roof without falling.

I got about 2/3 of the roof finished before my vacation ran out.  I plan to just finish the rest and do the interior over the coming weekends.  However the office really started looking like a building.

It took a lot of effort up on the roofing rig to get the roof completed, but I finished it just before Memorial day.  The only remaining outside work is to paint it, add final trim and rain gutters.

Finished exterior, except for painting...

Overall, I found the experience challenging and rewarding.  I was incredibly tired after some days, and noticed my endurance had improved after the two weeks when I rode my bike.  The new office has a nice feel to it as a space inside even though the inside is not finished... yet.