I put up this picnic and cookout pavilion two years ago. However, during the last two years the grass has stopped growing under it. It has slowly died off and this has resulted in mud. Something had to be done. No one wants a cookout where their feet are in mud.

When we moved here 23-years ago, the roof on our house was only a year old. Whoever put the new roof on had 11-bundles of shingles left over and they have been in the garage ever since. years ago, I moved them to the shed. I have wanted to get rid of them ever since. But, what to do with them.

I got a brainstorm. My brain explodes sometimes. I got the idea to use the shingles as a floor in the pavilion. Back in the 1980s, I saw that people were using shredded shingles for covering their driveways and walkways. They looked pretty good and did a good job. I was not about to spend the next 10 or so years shredding shingles. I guess the people using them back then were buying them like that from a company somewhere. But, I thought I could use them to lay out a floor for the pavilion to stop the mud. Heaven knows I had more than enough to do the job.

One nice and sunny day, I pulled the shingles out of the shed and got started. It took only seven bundles to do the job. They worked very well. They lay nice and flat. I was going to use them with the black side up. But I thought the dark and light red looked better, plus, they match the house. We had a new roof put on the house recently and we opted to have the same color so the garage and shed would match. Now the pavilion floor matches as well. I didn't want to spread gravel because, after all, this is a temporary structure and one day I will be taking it down and I don't want to have to clean up a bunch of gravel. Shingles will be much easier and faster to clean up and dispose of.

A few days after doing this job, it rained all day and overnight. I went out and walked through the pavilion and it was great. No mud and it's a lot like walking on carpet. Very comfortable to walk on.

I have since hung two bug lights in the pavilion and have put on a new tarp over it, and it's ready for the next cookout picnic, probably the 4th of July. I'll post pictures when we use it.