10.7.2018

It was another light rain day - as I write this, we are getting ready to head to church and the sun is out and shining brightly.  But no pole barn building today.

Instead, Jim worked on lots of things around here. 

He finished making all of the clips for the top of the pole barn headers.  He made a few more hurricane clips too.

He also made the other mounting board for our coat hooks that we are putting in the stairwell on either side of the port hole window.

Then he started working on the finishing pieces for the entryway into the living room.

So all necessary things and good progress on a rainy day!

High 62/Low 49 - light rain

10.6.2018

Jim needed more H-clips to use in between the pieces of sheathing on the deck, so I headed to Home Depot this morning to pick up a couple of bags.

We also finalized our blind order - I'm so excited!  I think we got a very good deal and they should come in before the end of the month.  We ordered two different colors - Cloudy Day and Sandstorm - perfect!

Meanwhile, Jim was busy cutting and installing more clips.  Again, these help resist lateral forces.  He's making them in batches - each one has to have 8 punches in it so it's a bit hard on the hands! 

Then he cut all the rest of the sheathing to fit up on the deck and loaded it up on the Bobcat.  Then he started dragging the pieces off onto the deck.
 

Last piece - all of the sheathing is up on the deck now!

Next it was time to put everything in place and start fastening down the edges. There was one joist that had a big crown in it so Jim had to use his planer to flatten it out.  You can see all the sawdust underneath.
 

All the sheathing is now fastened down along the edges!  The opening is the access point to get up in the attic space.

I got to go up later in the afternoon - everything looks so beautiful from up on top!  I chalked and marked where Jim needed to nail along all the joists.

Jim followed behind me nailing...

Now the deck is completely done - time to move on to roof rafters!  I like that our wood is from the USA with the American flag on each piece!  Of course, with the tariffs on Canadian lumber we are paying extra now!

Jim is starting to make all the cuts in the rafters...

He got 5 cut out so that's a good start!  We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow so it may be an inside work day but lots of progress today!

High 62/Low 58

10.5.2018

We woke up this morning to clear skies - it's been beautifully foggy lately in the mornings but it was nice to see some sunshine!

With cold weather on the horizon, getting blinds on the windows for insulation is becoming important.  I've been gathering color samples and Jim and I spent time this morning making final decisions.  I'm really excited about our choices.  We are going to get double-cell cellular shades again - we really liked the ones we got in Ohio and were so impressed with their insulating qualities.  Jim double checked all the measurements and put together a spreadsheet of all the window sizes.  Then I sent it off for a quote so we'll see what we get back.

Speaking of quotes, Jim is still waiting for his quotes on siding and roofing material.  And still dealing with gas companies and Bobcat issues.  Whew!

Once he was able to focus on building, he first spent some time making steel clips and hurricane clips. Jim will get a picture tomorrow from on top that shows the clips.  But these clips will keep all the lateral and potential strong wind forces from causing any issues with the structure.

Jim got the other outside roof joist put on.  These outside ones are really difficult and take a long time for Jim to do by himself.

All of the roof joists are now in place and Jim is putting the temporary tie on to keep them stable.

That means it's time to move on to the next job - putting sheathing down!  For this job, Jim needed the forks on the Bobcat so he had to take the snowblower off.  The Bobcat is driving into the pole barn for the first of many, many times!  He offloaded the snowblower in the corner of the barn for now.

Next he brought the Bobcat over to our wood piles...

And we loaded up four pieces of sheathing to start.

Lifting up the sheathing...

Once he had the sheathing in a good spot against the barn, he climbed up and started taking them off.  Not easy standing on the sides of wood when each piece of sheathing is heavy!

Dragging them off...

For the last piece, he was able to stand on the other pieces to make it easier.

Jim had already marked the location of the sheathing on the joists when they were on the ground so he was able to start putting the sheathing in place.  He's just doing the outsides for now - he'll go back and put all the screws in later.

 End-of-the-day - 4 pieces are in place!

High 56/Low 38

10.4.2018

Another strange day for Jim - there seem to be more discombobulated days lately than not!  Jim had to deal with more project management work - he's dealing with the broker who negotiated the shipping contract for the snowblower attachment.  There have been multiple emails and phone calls trying to come to a resolution about the delivery and cable issues.  That's all still a work in progress on multiple fronts but it is requiring Jim's time to deal with it all.

I had to do some grocery errands this morning - when I got home, the gas company representative was here.  He and Jim were discussing the location for burying a new bigger tank as well as our options for buying the tank.  Before he came, Jim spent some time looking at other options for buying the tank as well as different gas companies.  Another work in progress!

Then it was still a foggy, drizzly morning but Jim was determined to get back to work on the pole barn after lunch.  He got the rest of his blocks cut to go in between the headers along the back side.

Then he started working on the first ceiling joist.  These joists probably weigh about 80 pounds plus they are all wet so they probably weigh even more now.  This first one was really tough.  Being on the outside of the structure and doing it all himself, it probably took an hour to get the first one in place.  He put one end up and then walks the other end up as he walks up the ladder. 

Getting it in the exact spot took some work.

But check out how good it looks!  Jim kept the corner posts up higher so that he can fasten the joist through the post for extra strength.

Jim had to battle through some showery periods and take tools back in the garage at points.  Kind of frustrating not Jim soldiered on!  Filling in between the headers with blocks...

Next came the interior joists. While the joists are still heavy and hard to manage, the interior ones are easier.  Again Jim has the joists propped up on the wall.  Then he walks up the other end on the ladder.

Four joists up!

Jim is putting nails at the end of the joists through the headers on the back side but is leaving the front side free so that he can make sure everything is totally square.  He is also putting a tie in the middle of the joists just to keep things stable until he can get decking material on top.
 

End-of-the-day picture...7 joists up so over halfway!

At the end of the day, we headed to Lowe's to pick up some pipe for the bathroom vent work in the attic as well as the man door for the pole barn that Jim had ordered.

High 68/Low 39

10.3.2018

We don't typically get multi-day rain events, but we've definitely had our share lately.  We don't mind the rain but it's never helpful when you're building!  Today was mostly very light rain but Jim was anxious to get out.

This morning, he put up our big family photo display.  Jim had bought me this frame for my birthday when I spotted it in Amish country years ago.  This picture doesn't quite show how large the frame is and it's very heavy - it hasn't been hung up on the wall since we left Ohio.  It makes it feel more like home to see it up!
 

Jim also organized some in the metal shop - he is storing some of his steel pieces on Shelf B so he worked on that.

 

Once he was able to get outside this afternoon, he started working on the last brace piece.  This is the corner brace that will go right next to the garage door, so Jim wanted that area to be flat.  That required him to inset the brace piece into the poles which meant a lot of chiseling work!  First he had to cut and then chisel out 3 different sections on the brace...

Then he had to chisel out the sections on the posts and girts...

Trying it out...

All finished...the brace looks totally inset into the posts!

With that last brace, the basic framing is all finished!  The next step is to work on the ceiling joists.  These are big pieces of wood - Jim had to bevel the edges to fit underneath the rafters.  He got some cut and then marked the top of the headers where each joist will fit.

High 61/Low 49 - light rain

10.2.2018

Today was an all-day rain event so Jim had to spend time inside again today.

He worked on tweaking the furnace and got the stairwell heat online.  We aren't going to keep it on right now but he got it working if we want to keep it a bit warmer in the months ahead.  He also did some more bleeding of the lines in the apartment.

He spent a lot of time at his desk today - he worked on a material breakout for siding and put in a quote request from Curtis Lumber.  It's amazing how many various pieces and parts go into that!

Then he tackled the snowblower torn cable issue.  He contacted the Bobcat dealer and someone was supposed to call him back (he's still waiting on that call yet again).  But he also contacted the shipping broker and told him about the issues we had with delivery as well as the cable.  So he's battling both fronts to see what happens.

On that same note, he stopped at the Bobcat dealer this afternoon.  First, he got a price for the snowblower attachment - double what we paid so all this hassle is definitely worth it!  But he also got a price and written statement of how much it would cost to replace the cable.  Jim can do it himself but of course that takes time so we'll see how it all plays out.

His main errand while he was out was to go to the roofing company to talk to his rep about a quote for the siding as well as the additional roof shingles we will need.  He also talked to him about options for sealing and finishing the half-round window for the stairwell.  That's not going to be an easy problem but they are going to put together a quote for some possibilities.

Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow and Jim will be able to get outside but project management always needs to get done and it was a good day for that.

High 64/Low 53 - rainy

10.1.2018

It was a chilly, rainy start to the day so Jim spent time catching up on some project management work at his desk.  He's finishing up designing the siding pieces he will need for the pole barn so he can get a quote for that material.  He also placed an order with Lowe's for our man door.

In the afternoon, he went to Curtis Lumber to get the wood to make the sleeper header over the garage door.  Once he got back, it had stopped drizzling so he decided to work outside.

Since he had already notched the sections for the sleeper header in the post, he was able to cut it and fit it in.  You can see how perfectly it fits within the post.

Jim wanted to put some blocking pieces in between the outside and sleeper headers to add stability and enable him to connect all of the header pieces together.

Next he put the last header piece on the inside - you can see how everything fits together...

Jim wants to put a few more blocking pieces in between the headers on the back wall also, but the majority of the framing is about done for this section of the pole barn!

High 54/Low 48