9.23.2018

It was a cool start to the day for Jim - it got down to 41 degrees last nights.  Thankfully he had spent time making sure the furnace worked because he needed to turn it on.

He decided it would be a good time to put the last coat of polyurethane on the sill going into the apartment.  He first had to sand the sill and then put the plugs in.

Then the final coat...

Unfortunately, we continue to have issues with our cable tv.  It hasn't worked for the past 2 nights so Jim had to spend a frustrating hour dealing with customer service only for it to freeze and be even worse.  I called from Ohio and set up yet another tech appointment for Tuesday.  

Once he was finally able to get outside, he gathered his tools to get to work.  He started the second row of girts, which are the horizontal 2"x4"s on the outside of the posts.  They're spaced every 2' and the siding will attach to them.

This is the most difficult girt course because these ties must be placed before the girts on the outside.  Jim has decided to basically mortise some timbers to tie the posts together at the corners to help with lateral support.  To do this, he cut the mortise with his saw to gauge the depth he wanted and make it easy to chisel out.

Then he had to chisel the area out by hand...

Then he can cut and place the ties...

Jim has decided to do this at all the corners to make them very strong.  In the picture below from the kitchen, you can see the ties in the front left corner.  He placed them so that he can fasten the ties and girts together.

High 67/Low 46