My Teva's and a $10 shed

Our well-house had been caving in long before we bought the place two years ago. Built of 1/8th inch plywood and no ventilation, it rotted from the inside out. It also wasn't insulated at all, so every year a handyman was called out in the wee hours of the morning to fix frozen and busted pipes, billing us about $50 each time (split with the neighbor who shares the well with us).

Well, over the last year, I've been collecting scrap lumber from new construction sights. Throw-aways too warped to use for those $300,000 houses, and the scraps from trimming the good ones to size. I bought a couple vents to air it out in the summer, and used 2x4s for the framework with 2x6s, 2x8s, etc for the walls. Some free leftover paint and the remaining metal roofing from my mother's place completed the job. I used recycled nails, screws, hinges, and the old handle, keeping the job down to about ten dollars (from the vents and a few new screws for anchoring). As I was walking away on the second-to-last day of the project, one of my sandals fell apart while walking up the hill. Darnutt. My 6'x8' shed that would probably cost over $800 for a kit, now ran me a grand total of $50.