When I moved into my current home I had already decided that there would be a TARDIS in my yard… it simply could not be otherwise. So in the spring of 2010 I drew up plans to build one and use it as a shed. I figured that it was going to be a permanent fixture in my backyard, so I got a permit to build it. Because as a Doctor Who fan since the age of ten…no one is telling me that I can’t have a TARDIS in my backyard…nobody. So I built each side in the basement with plywood and cedar because it is naturally weather resistant. The outer “posts” and top were 2 x 8 foot Spruce. After each section was done I brought it back up the stairs through the kitchen and out the back. I did the same with the base and the roof. One fine summer morning I put all the pieces together on a patio brick foundation. There was no more building at that point, just assembly, so it was just a question of getting my “IKEA” on all day. In the morning the TARDIS wasn’t there and in the late evening it was…sort of like in the show.
For the first few years I would get comments from passers-by and a few actually knocked on my door to ask about it. It was pretty cool. Neighbors will still mention a guest who noticed it. That TARDIS was perfect and exact in every detail. Unfortunately a nest of carpenter ants decided to take up residence inside. In two years they were devouring the corner posts and the interior frame…made of Spruce…the plywood and cedar they left alone. The whole thing had to be torn down and I had to start over.
The new one that replaced it in 2014 is made ENTIRELY out of plastic/vinyl and foam. The cost was terrible and no, I won’t say how much I spent, but that Aztec stuff ain’t cheap. It is interesting to work with however. No way the ants are going to chew up my TARDIS… NO FXXXXXG WAY!
I know it makes me sound like a dork, but I never get tired of going outside and seeing it there.
