This past week I, along with 10 other women, built a shed. The Carpentry for Women course at Yestermorrow Design Build School did not disappoint. Led by veteran women carpenters, Lizbeth & Patty, each day succeeded the last in gleaning more information and skills around building a successful structure. Day #1 began with an overview of virtually every tool in the shop. Willing to listen and give generous advice, Lizbeth & Patty were peppered with questions about the breadth of measuring, hand and power tools. Students varied in age from their 20’s to their 60’s, all from the East coast except for two of us. The motivations which brought us to this remote Vermont design build school varied: some had old houses they wanted to fix up, some wanted to build a personal tiny house escape and others where considering a career shift towards building. The rest of that initial day was spent practicing cuts with the circular saw in an outdoor hangar that had become our remote shop. For over three hours we practiced how to cross-cut, rip, bevel, notch and plunge cut. My notes for the day confirm that my experience practicing plunge cuts was “terrifying”. As Day #2 began with a recap of circular saw cutting it was unclear how we were going to move from this task towards building a shed. As a group we broke down the tasks for the start of the construction, which was to assemble the floor. A quick education on framing sizes, span tables, floor sheathing and nail types. A lot of time was given to making sure the floor was square and level, measuring and checking diagonal dimensions. The day ended with a cold swim (more like a slow dip) in the Mad River just across the street from the school and a bonfire. The next couple of days were spent framing the shed, learning the variety of nails to be used and how often to nail flooring and wall sheathing. We visited a local lumber yard and learned about what products were available and for what purpose. The importance of working in modules that aligned with your material became readily apparent! Parallel to that we visited a local hardware store and toured the aisles asking questions. The final day was a mad rush to finish, with multiple people on the top of the shed attaching metal roofing and groups on both sides framing in windows. Looking back it’s interesting to note the parts and pieces that lent themselves to teamwork and those that were better for a couple of individuals to focus on. For instance cutting the corrugated metal roofing panels with electric shears was a task relegated to a focused few, to limit the inevitable sparks. Also, the double swing door was relegated to two people that spent the better part of the day making sure their element was square and plumb to the rest of the structure. Applying the sheathing, face nailing the battens, installing the windows and casing seemed to be better suited to the team - although truth be told, Lizbeth and Patty saved us multiple times when things started going south and not according to plan. Their decades of building experience and ability to guide us was in itself part of the learning experience. Although one was partial to taking risks, while the other was more conservative in her approach, they both graciously explained their reasoning every step of the way. I’m still amazed it took 10 of us close to a week to finish a simple shed, which gives me a whole new perspective on doing anything much larger or more complex! This experience was one in a million and it has already influenced my daily design problem solving - now the challenge is how to distill this into a local venture to share with all of you!