A Long Time in Posting

The Carpenter's shop floor has been swept clean. The tools are silent, a fine sheen of dust visible as the shaft of light from the open door falls across the way. There is a feeling of sadness as you walk through the workspace. For a shop isn't quite a shop when it's not being used.

It's been a long couple of months. Winter is always slow for the small business owner in construction. Especially in a tough economy such as we now know. A lot of work for this carpenter is being done at the desk; year end paperwork, bidding jobs, searching the classifieds for job leads and wondering if life is taking him in a new direction. That was our January.

December had the Carpenter in Oregon as he delivered and assembled a pre-fabbed building for a landscape nursery. A week out of town, with the wife, it was an enjoyable work experience.

November the Carpenter traveled to Japan with a group from Steppin-Out Missions hooking up with Samaritan's Purse  to help in the rebuild after the devastating Tsunami nearly wiped out villages along the coast. (read more about his adventures HERE)

In between the paying work, there have been ample "kingdom building" opportunities. From helping with a foundation on an addition to general maintenance, for people in need, it's been a rewarding, exciting, interesting and at times puzzling last quarter.

Spotlight on Us!

What has the builder been up to lately? Working on getting the new Coconut Kenny's ready for opening day. Project management is just one of the many services our company has to offer.

the inside of Coconut Kenneys' features a Hawaiian beach theme

lots of bamboo

installing thatched roofing

Always quick to support other business's we're pleased to brag on Everlasting Decorative Concrete's services. They did an sweet job on the floor and logo.

 and then, an extra sweet reward for hard work.....

featured in the business section of our local paper; the Bellingham Herald.

right place at the right time. thanks!

We Can Build That!

Check out this link for a tour of an  unsusal home that works amazingly well for this family! They have caught the vision that Dream Space is all about.  The company that built the home for the family in this video is located in Arkansas and there are  many many construction companies jumping on the band wagon to offer affordable living options. Be sure to investigate thoroughly before making a decision. Affordable does not always mean Quality. There are building companies out there who do offer both. Shelter is one of those.

There is an interesting principle we've giving some thought to. It's called the Triangle Principle.
 
You usually can only get two out of these
three options. Here's why:
If you want it fast and you want it cheap
it wont be good.
if you want it cheap and you want it good
it wont be fast.
if you want it good and you want it fast
it wont be cheap.

It's food for thought (and speaking of food, we think eating out Mexican is the only place this principle does not hold true; it's always good, it's always fast and it's (almost) always cheap.)

Whether it's storage for you or your stuff, our buildings are limited only by imagination. At Shelter , we love to build, especially UnUsual structures. Challenge us.

Straw, Sticks, Bricks

A light hearted Friday post...

with a Sincere message...

We probably all are familiar with the story of the 3 little pigs and their houses. How the big bad wolf came and blew their houses down...

first the straw house...

then the house made of sticks...

 Until he came to the last house, the one made of bricks.

huff and puff all you like...

Well, we want you to think of a Shelter built building as a brick house. We may not build with bricks but we do build with integrity, using high quality materials not usually found in small storage  structures.


You can huff and puff all you want, but our structures were built to last!

and that makes us all want to dance a little jig!

A Day Off?

has anyone seen my tool belt?

What does a carpenter do on his day off? Good question.

For Bruce, most of his days off revolve around either catching up on things at home or getting ready for the next round of work. And while he loves to see projects get done around our place, he also loves to help others.

Awhile ago he started a group called "Kingdom Builders' which is for anyone who has a willing heart and helping hands. Building experience is not required even though the primary focus has to do with construction. Like Habitat for Humanity, Kingdom Builders is about a hand up for people in need.
A few months ago about 15 guys got together with Bruce and spent a day helping with repairs and maintenance on a woman's home that had been vandalized. She couldn't afford to hire someone to come in and do the work and she didn't have the contacts needed for pulling a work party together. But Bruce did.

The team of guys spent the whole day at her house, replacing broken windows, fixing up interior doors and trim, pressure washing the house and roof, repairing caulking, and several other things. Just because they could. and what a difference it made in this woman's life. She said it proved to her and her children that miracles still happen today. Wow.

 Other projects the volunteer group has worked on was building a garden shed for the Garden Group  from NCCTK.

They spent a wild and wet day early this spring assembling one of Bruce's panelized shed's at the site of the NCCTK community garden. It was a great day of camaraderie. Everyone who came out and participated, left feeling like they had done something worthwhile. And they had!

Last Saturday Bruce started on a new blessing project; repairs to a tiny little house in Kendall. Plumbing and electrical are the priority repairs but some general clean up and TLC are also on the list of things planned.

There are also a couple of other projects on the list of needs for Kingdom Builders to get involved in. If you are looking for a way to help others give us a shout. We'd love to have your help.

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27 NLT

Do It Yourself Means...

The custom built storage space delivery on Saturday went just dandy. The customer was pleased, which means we were pleased!

You may be asking, "What materials are included in a Do-It-Yourself Kit?" Excellent question. Lets take a look at a standard order for a Cottage Style Shelter. A Panelized Framing Kit for that would look like this:

• All the necessary Preframed floor, wall and roof panels to frame your particular Cottage model. In other words all floor joist, floor sheathing, wall studs, wall plates and headers, wall sheathing, roof rafters, roof sheathing and ridge beam.
• All roof eave trim: Cedar fascia, barge and rake trim
• Treated floor girders per Cottage design.
• Installed R-30 foam floor insulation
• All necessary fasteners
• Installation instructions 

In Addition you may add the following items to the Panelized Cottage Framing Kit:

• Roofing Materials
• Windows
• Doors
• Siding & Soffits
• Panelized Deck
• Preframed entry steps
• Gutters & Downspouts
• Wall and Roof insulation
• Interior T&G 1x6 pine for ceiling and wall surfaces

finished example of our Twin Sisters model cottage

 Wouldn't you love one of these in your back yard? Or maybe you have vacation property that you hope to someday build a small structure on. Whatever your dream, we can help you achieve the space to do it in.

Shed Delivery

Bruce is getting ready to deliver a panelized shed today. The panels are already loaded on the trailer so gathering all the smaller details (nails, screws etc) and making sure the package is complete is what remains for this morning. The customer will be assembling this shed himself. 

typical layout of a kit form storage space

panelized for easy DIY assembly

We are committed to building to a higher standard than is common in today's storage building marketplace. Our storage space is designed to be visually attractive and carries extra features that your average building supply store shed does not have. Things like vaulted ceilings and lofts offer 33% more interior storage surface.


In short, this is what we do not build:

shed-noun
  1. a slight or rude structure built for shelter, storage, etc.

Remember we are here to help you define the storage space that best suits your needs.