I have tried, since I retired, to find a contractor who’d build a small woodshop in my backyard. The first three I contacted either didn’t return my phone call or told me straight up they couldn’t get me on their schedule for six months. (I had hoped to be done with the shop in six months.)

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I found an interested builder, but I think I pressed him to do something he didn’t have time to do and later we agreed I’d move on. The next contractor quoted me $370 per square foot to build the shed. Let that sink in a minute . . . Three hundred seventy dollars per square foot! I rejected his offer within minutes of receiving it.

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Two of my friends recommended I talk to a group of Amish builders in a community a half hour away. Margaret went with me and we made a lunch date out of the trip because there’s also an Amish general store nearby. It was fantastic and we spent more than we expected on food items we didn’t know we needed. Our sandwiches, consumed on the store’s front porch, were very good and well worth the price we paid. We watched the horses in the pasture across the road as we ate our lunches. We’ll do this again. But, I digress . . .

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This week, my older son rode with me to visit the Amish builders again. We worked out the details, i.e. they’ll have to build on-site (I preferred this anyway), we agreed on site prep before the builders arrive, etc. They added me to their schedule and should be here within 3-4 weeks. Since I thought it would be at least 6-8 weeks, I was happy to hear this.

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I asked how long it would take the crew to build the 16’ x 24’ shed.

“We’ll build it in one day.”

I was incredulous and asked my son, “Did you hear what he said? One day!”

“Amish builders don’t mess around, Dad,” he said.

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I had lost hope my shed would get done this year. Now, I’m thrilled because it looks like it will actually be built in my self-imposed six-month window. I met with my favorite plumber the next day, since I’m installing a half-bath in the shed. I knew it would need some kind of pump to get the sewage up the hill to the house and into the city sewer. Again, we talked through all the details, he did the measuring and we agreed on an estimate. (His estimate was several thousand dollars less than the only quote I’d received.)

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I still need to find an electrician and someone to install the mini-split but, guys, this is happening! My friends at church want to help me partition off the office and half-bath in my shed. They want to help build the workbench. They’re even talking about having our once-a-month Saturday morning Chick-fil-a biscuits there. This shed is gonna be great.

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