A cute little project completed during the shelter in place………….. It’s almost done, we just need to add some leather straps on both ends of the doors, which I intend to make with some leather belts from Goodwill. The straps are actually going to be used to hold the doors up at a high top level if you wanted to use them as a shelf or serving top. I just have to wait until they open, they are closed right now due to the COVID thing. Then we need to purchase some galvinized tubs to set on the inside to hold ice, then this will be ready to hold ice that you can set any type of beverage in, bottle, cans, maybe even a keg. Not sure yet, but we will find out when we get the tubs.
I will be posting a final finish on this once we get those last 2 things done. I am hoping to rent it out as a mobile beverage trailer to keep cold drinks to be served at parties, receptions, reunions, company picnics, etc.
This was a project completed during the Shelter in place, watch us transform this tiny thing, so small I couldn’t stand up in it. I’m 5’3″ and inside top to bottom was 5′ so it was VERY inconvenient. Hmmmm…..gets me to thinking, what to do, what to do. So being that my husband has spent 40 plus years in a welding and fabrication shop I ask him if this can be renovated some how and lifted to I can stand inside, and one thing led to another. I got my brain going and noticed there are bolts all around the center of this fiberglass enclosure, so what do you think this gal did? Yep, grabbed a socket and started loosening them.
So I ended up with this…………..
Now I’m really starting to think about the possibility here. What could I turn this thing into?? Possibilities are limitless when, like I said you have a husband with the shop. The shop with all the tools. The shop that can do anything. The shop with endless possibilities and a man with the ability to do anything with metal, well, then of course my brain and ideas! So, I begin to look around through his scrap and see what I can find…………
I’m a bit of a scavenger in the area I live so I am always looking for used stuff, things I can up-cycle, re-use or re-purpose. So I’m thinking I can get this done quite inexpensively. I start asking for wood, old flooring, used cabinets, old pallets for free or cheap. I might add I got pretty much all the things for free! YAY, I always say free is better. So first I collected free pallets and took them apart. Taking apart pallets isn’t quite as easy as I thought and you get a lot of wasted if they are too old. Newer one are better because they come apart without splitting and breaking up the wood. I decided I am going to line the lower section with old reclaimed pallet wood.
And when I say my husband can do just about anything, i’ll just put this video here, not that is such a fancy thing because anyone can heat metal and bend it, but you know. When he needs something done and he can’t find it he will make it. He was making this for one of his projects.
Now to get back to my project.
I got some vinyl planks for the flooring for free as well, yippee. Some one was remodeling their place so I took cabintes and flooring they offered me for free so they wouldn’t need to get a dumpster.
It wasn’t all that hard to install with a bit of floor adhesive and my patience I was able to get it fitted pretty quickly.
I’m thinking, no matter what this ends up to be used for, it may need to have some electrical outlets, just in case. So, yes, I do know how to do that as well.
By the way, mu husband has done quite a bit of painting in his lifetime, he’s 75 now. I think I could let him paint this for me. But what am I going to do for the roof, what about the side openings? What about some doors for the back, the old doors were made to fit the 4 ft opening, could I put those back on? Then what do I do about the space we will have left due to the height adjustment…………..
I found this old ford door on the local Marketplace and after a bit of this Rust Kutter I was able to get it looking pretty good. I paid $250 for it, but it was cheaper than some others I had located around here.
Wouldn’t you know, I thought it would need to be modified or even welded by my husband to make it fit. But, it fit just right!
I think it turned out pretty good if you ask me!
I had 3 old doors I got from a local lady. She had taken them out of the county courthouse and they were over 100 years old. I measured them, and after cutting about 4 inches off the length they fit perfectly in the center side openings. Who would have though. I paid $50 for the 3 doors and only using 2, so okay, sounds like a plan.
Well, over 100 years and about 100 coats of paint to remove because I wanted them stained. Boy did that take a few days, and a lot of stripping and a lot of back breaking work. But I have patience. I knew the outcome would be worth it. My husband had an old piece of piano hinge laying around too!
We had to fit them up before the paint to make sure all was good. They actually fir pretty well for the first try.
Lots of work and lots of ugly fumes and if you know me, I am the biggest fan of non toxic everything! This was one part I did not like, but I had to do it. Ugly, stinky fumes for days. Good thing my husbands shop is open and airy, I was able to do it near a big 16 foot roll up door, so the fumes weren’t too bad.
Good thing my husband has a shop with lots of fun tools! I learned to use this sanding disc and an air compressor.
After staining and applying an outdoor urethane, we put them on. Attached a couple of rubber bumpers to the fender so that when they are down, they don’t get beat up.
My husband made a nice holder for the electrical cord. We painted the trim and hitch a nice glossy black.
I splurged on some baby moons! I love these, I think it added a little extra touch. But now I really had a dilemma trying to figure out what to do for the roof. I wanted a western feel to the whole thing. So, well my husband said he could build me an a frame roof that I could cover with some of my pallet wood.
This is what he made and I attached my wood to it. Then I had a friend I knew had some old rusted corrugated tine which would be perfect for the roof.
I can’t say enough about how I couldn’t have done this without my hubs and all his tools and equipment. We lifted and set the roof on with his forklift. Worked like a charm!
We had an opening on the front now that just didn’t seem right. So I went through some old cabinet doors a guy had given me and found one that fit perfectly. I painted it in the center with black chalk paint so a person could write a message or use it for a menu or something. It has hinges so it can open and closes with a regular cabinet latch.
