Lawn and Garden the Amish Way
Finding a place to store all of your tools and outdoor supplies can be difficult. If you’re a gardener then you have bags of soil, hoes and shoves and rakes and all manner of long-handled tools, and bags of seed. If you’re a carpenter then there are your power tools, benches, sawhorses, and piles of wood that you’ve got plans for. Even if you’re none of these things, you’ve got to have a place to keep the lawnmower, the snow blower, the leaf blower, the salt for the driveway, the hoses… well, the list goes on and on.
The best place for all that is a garage. Modular garages can be added onto a house long after the house itself was built – they’re brought in on a truck bed and fitted onto the house. You can pick from any number of modular garage plans, choosing not just the shape but the layout, what access points it will have, how large it is, and where it will fit onto your house (if it will at all).
The best made garage is an Amish garage. As you can imagine, the Amish have a large amount of tools used for outdoor work, the kind of thing you don’t want to keep lying around in the kitchen or living room or a hallway closet, and so the Amish have generations of experience building sturdy, affordable modular additions to houses that need them.
Now, if you really live out in the country, you probably use a wood stove, which means cutting wood and storing it through winter in a dry place safe from the elements. The best place for your wood is a wood storage shed; your garage is already full of cars and tools, and having to contend with a few cords of wood is just out of the question.
Outdoor wood storage sheds can be any size you need, depending on the amount of wood you think you’ll be storing. How many stoves are you running, how large is the space you’re trying to heat? If you don’t cut your own wood, then keep in mind that wood is typically delivered in cords or half-cords; your shed should at least be able to accommodate that.
As usual, when it comes to building a quality, sturdy, lasting structure, the Amish have everyone else beat. Amish sheds are the result of generations of experience, made with fine wood and built to last for generations themselves. The Amish, after all, don’t plan to pull up their roots any time soon, and neither should you. Not when you’re making so many additions to your household!
Finding a place to store all of your tools and outdoor supplies can be difficult. If you’re a gardener then you have bags of soil, hoes and shoves and rakes and all manner of long-handled tools, and bags of seed. If you’re a carpenter then there are your power tools, benches, sawhorses, and piles of wood that you’ve got plans for. Even if you’re none of these things, you’ve got to have a place to keep the lawnmower, the snow blower, the leaf blower, the salt for the driveway, the hoses… well, the list goes on and on.
The best place for all that is a garage. Modular garages can be added onto a house long after the house itself was built – they’re brought in on a truck bed and fitted onto the house. You can pick from any number of modular garage plans, choosing not just the shape but the layout, what access points it will have, how large it is, and where it will fit onto your house (if it will at all).
The best made garage is an Amish garage. As you can imagine, the Amish have a large amount of tools used for outdoor work, the kind of thing you don’t want to keep lying around in the kitchen or living room or a hallway closet, and so the Amish have generations of experience building sturdy, affordable modular additions to houses that need them.
Now, if you really live out in the country, you probably use a wood stove, which means cutting wood and storing it through winter in a dry place safe from the elements. The best place for your wood is a wood storage shed; your garage is already full of cars and tools, and having to contend with a few cords of wood is just out of the question.
Outdoor wood storage sheds can be any size you need, depending on the amount of wood you think you’ll be storing. How many stoves are you running, how large is the space you’re trying to heat? If you don’t cut your own wood, then keep in mind that wood is typically delivered in cords or half-cords; your shed should at least be able to accommodate that.
As usual, when it comes to building a quality, sturdy, lasting structure, the Amish have everyone else beat. Amish sheds are the result of generations of experience, made with fine wood and built to last for generations themselves. The Amish, after all, don’t plan to pull up their roots any time soon, and neither should you. Not when you’re making so many additions to your household!
You've got the house, you've got the huge yard, and you've just put in that dream pool you've been wanting since you were a kid. It's all so perfect, yet something still feels like it is missing. A pool house can tie together the visual aesthetic of your back yard, while providing a multi-functional space depending on your needs.
A pool house can range from a small shed-like structure to keep pool pumps and filters out of sight and out of the weather, to a deluxe mini-house complete with bathrooms, changing rooms, a bar for drinks, and beds for sleepovers.
The typical pool pump housing and pool filter housing has room to keep the needed machinery for proper pool upkeep. Keeping your pool pump safe in a pool house will help it last longer since you won't be exposing it to the elements. The pool pump house will generally also have enough room for your pool cleaning tools, creating a handy storage area right next to your pool.
If you've got the space and money, a prefab pool house is a larger, sturdier structure which actually looks like a small house. Prefab—which stands for prefabricated—houses are buildings assembled off-site and brought to the location in large pieces that are easy to construct.
With a prefab pool house you can also store pool pumps and filters, but have the added ability to offer restroom services to your family and guests, an area to change into bathing suits, and more. If you like entertaining guests and hosting pool parties, adding a bar to your pool house is a great way to quickly and easily provide beverages and snacks.
If you don't like the cookie-cutter aspect of a prefab pool house and want a building that fits to either your specific vision or matches the look and aesthetic of your actual home, a custom pool house will be just the ticket. It will be a larger construction project, but you can add whatever detail you want for the perfect pool house that which looks natural in your back yard.
Of course, if all of the above sounds too big or expensive for you, wood pergolas are an affordable option to give your pool some shade, while adding a classy aesthetic to your poolside. They don't take much space, but can be covered with vines to increase their shading abilities.
One word of caution: various areas have different zoning regulations for pool houses. Before you get too far in the planning, check with your local zoning board to see what things you need to consider.
A pool house can range from a small shed-like structure to keep pool pumps and filters out of sight and out of the weather, to a deluxe mini-house complete with bathrooms, changing rooms, a bar for drinks, and beds for sleepovers.
The typical pool pump housing and pool filter housing has room to keep the needed machinery for proper pool upkeep. Keeping your pool pump safe in a pool house will help it last longer since you won't be exposing it to the elements. The pool pump house will generally also have enough room for your pool cleaning tools, creating a handy storage area right next to your pool.
If you've got the space and money, a prefab pool house is a larger, sturdier structure which actually looks like a small house. Prefab—which stands for prefabricated—houses are buildings assembled off-site and brought to the location in large pieces that are easy to construct.
With a prefab pool house you can also store pool pumps and filters, but have the added ability to offer restroom services to your family and guests, an area to change into bathing suits, and more. If you like entertaining guests and hosting pool parties, adding a bar to your pool house is a great way to quickly and easily provide beverages and snacks.
If you don't like the cookie-cutter aspect of a prefab pool house and want a building that fits to either your specific vision or matches the look and aesthetic of your actual home, a custom pool house will be just the ticket. It will be a larger construction project, but you can add whatever detail you want for the perfect pool house that which looks natural in your back yard.
Of course, if all of the above sounds too big or expensive for you, wood pergolas are an affordable option to give your pool some shade, while adding a classy aesthetic to your poolside. They don't take much space, but can be covered with vines to increase their shading abilities.
One word of caution: various areas have different zoning regulations for pool houses. Before you get too far in the planning, check with your local zoning board to see what things you need to consider.