Workshop Cleaning Detail

I have not cleaned out my workshop for at least three years and it needed it! It is about 12 X 14 with a large window at one end with my workbench under the window. My compound sliding mitre saw and small table saw are on one wall and the back wall is used for storage of wood. The other wall is used up with racks for tools and coffee tins of assorted nails and screws. When it is used efficiently there is lots of room.

Yesterday I went in to do a simple project but could not get at my workbench because it was covered with "stuff" Half my tools were on it because the shopvac and pressure washer were using up half the floor space in front of my tool storage. The other half was taken up by cardboard boxes waiting to be broken down for recycling. The stack of plywood on the back wall had slid down so the bottom was about two feet out from the wall and there was no way to fix it without starting fresh. My ladder was in the middle of the floor because it's place against the wall was taken up by short lengths of wood and the 4000 watt sauna heater I had the chance to get for free and just could not pass up. The StarChoice dish from the motorhome was also in the middle of the floor because there was no other place for it. Pulling the table saw out to the middle of the floor to use it was not possible. I had to either build an addition or clean it out!

Norma did not trust me to do it myself so she helped. Sometime over the winter a cat had gotten inside and had sprayed. The place stunk and she has the technology (chemicals) to fix that. We started by taking everything outside. Saws, shopvac, plywood, everything! After that we swept and vacumed the floor and workbench clean. All the too small pieces of wood and all the cardboard got burned and a ton of "stuff" got put aside for Beau (her lawn guy) to take to the dump. The cat spray got dealt with by spraying with vinegar and industrial strength deodorizer. I made room in the rafters for the StarChoice dish and equipment.

When we finished there was a ton more space to work in. Everything is against or hanging from the walls and the workbench is bare! My tools are all organized. Now, what was that project I wanted to do yesterday?