Our new house has no garage, so storage for garden tools and such became a priority. As we were re-roofing and repairing and painting the Studio to which the lean-to is attached, it would also be a shame to have this ugly mess next to a refurbished Studio.

cleaning.JPG

This is the earliest picture we have. It shows the lean-to with the old shingles already off. The lean-to was just a roof that someone built using two existing fence posts as supports. The roof extended past the fence post on one end which caused a droop and the fence was seriously deteriorated and sinking into the dirt.

Step One
As part of the Studio re-roofing, we replaced the sheathing and shingles on the lean-to roof. See the “Studio Roof Saga Drama Epic” article in “Old Articles”.

leanto.jpg

No More Droop
Next, we removed the fence while simultaneously installing three new posts to replace the old two. You can see the start of framing. Three posts give additional and balanced support.
We removed the old fence in two big sections and used them to fill in a gap in the back fence.

leanto2.jpg

Craftsman Detail
In this photo you can see the vertical green and white lattice detail borrowed from below the roof of the house. We repeated that detail on all three sides of the lean-to. In addition to the eye appeal, this also gives the lean-to ventilation.

allwalls.jpg

Carrie Detail
The slats that make up the detail required Carrie’s steady hand for the painting.

Carrie bars.jpg

Doors and Walls
Here is the finished lean-to showing the main pedestrian door open.

lean-long-2-06.jpg

All the doors open.

lean-side-2-06.jpg

In order to allow maximum access flexibility to use the space as storage, or work space for something like a sandblasting cabinet, we enclosed one end with two doors, and one side with half door half wall. We were discrete with our design so two of the three doors look like sections of wall when closed.

Scroll back up and compare this picture with the first one. Quite an improvement, yes?

lean-side2-2-06.jpg

Open and Shut Case!
Some finishing details: There is door hardware and a lock. Rain gutters were added after the fascia was repaired and painted. We painted the interior walls and ceiling white and mounted two fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling. Inside we added some wooden shelves, cut sanded stained and sealed by Carrie, on massive shelf standards and a bunch of hooks for hanging tools and ladders and stuff.