9.24.2018

Jim spent most of the morning and early afternoon finishing up the corner ties.  In total, he had to mortise 14 notches for the ties - he got 8 done today.

After all the notching was done, he was able to cut all the ties out of 4"x6" timbers and place them.  Then he started building up the girt choices.

The following are great end-of-the-day pictures!

It's a real building!!

High 63/Low 48

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

9.22.2018

Jim started the wall framing today.  He first set up the laser level inside the pole barn.

Then he used three laser level to strike a level elevation line on each post (the red line).

Those laser lines then became the reference for the framing around the pole barn.  First is the wall skirt - first piece done.

Jim had to dig out all his framing tools for this job.  He never used the framing gun at all in the carriage house!

 The first course is done...

End-of-the-day picture...Jim got the skirt done and the first course of the girts.  All of the temporary post ties have been taken down - the girts hold the posts in place now.  Amazing.

While Jim was working hard on the pole barn, I went to my nephew's wedding.  Here's a picture of my two brothers and mom.

 High 65/Low 41

9.21.2018 - All posts up!

Jim had to spend hours today doing business work.  Unfortunately, his sales rep from the Bobcat dealer that had the snowblower for sale has been extremely poor in communication throughout the process.  Jim finally had to go through the VP of sales today who told Jim that the rep was in Cancun on his honeymoon!  He apologized and took care of things.

Jim also accepted a shipping bid today to bring the snowblower here from Iowa!

When he got to get back to building work, he tackled the last 6"x6" corner post...

Then he did the last 3 interior posts...

He had to fill around each post.  All of that had to be done by hand using a pick and shovel.  He had to put dirt in the hole and tamp it down around the post with the back of the spud bar.

He has lots of temporary bracing and 2"x4" ties to keep the post spacing and keep them vertical. 

This is the view from the house window....looks amazing!  

High 70/Low 56

9.20.2018

Jim started the day with a scheduled visit to the eye doctor. Thankfully he got an excellent report for which we are very grateful!

Once he got home, he finished placing the final post in the front wall.  Then he reworked the bracing and removed the temporary braces across the garage door opening.

Then he worked on the far back corner and pacing the post. This was the toughest hole so the midst difficult post. 

But check out how perfect Jim got it lined up!

An incredible end-of-the-day picture...Jim got 6 posts placed!  It looks like a building!

High 69/Low 60

9.19.2018 - First poles up!

This morning started with the delivery of our pole barn building materials!  The driver backed up the driveway...

Then he used his tow motor to unload...

Leaving Jim with the sheathing, lumber and posts!

Jim used the Bobcat to smooth out the gravel pile left from making the concrete and then moved up the sheathing and lumber to get it off the grass.

Before Jim could work on the posts, he first had to clean out the front holes after the rain washed dirt into them.

Jim had to come up with a way to place these posts by himself.  The biggest ones for the corners and next to the garage door are 6" x 6" and probably weigh at least 150 pounds each!  The other ones are 4" x 6" so not much better!

He used some of our old toe boards to make some cross braces that he attached to the pole...

Then he was able to lift it up with the Bobcat.

Once he got it lifted, he was able to slowly lower it into the hole...

Check out this perfect placement!  Of course, this is after about 2 hours of work!   Jim had to get it in the right position which required yet more crumbing the dirt to get everything in the right position, leveling it, dining in dirty, compacting it and bracing it.

Two posts up!

End of the day - 3 posts in place, a doable system worked out and it looks great!

High 73/Low 52

9.18.2018 - First pole barn inspection!

Jim and I say all the time how blessed we feel to live in this part of the country where natural disasters are very few and far between.  Unless you don't like snow, we think the weather is just perfect here.  After all the news stories and deaths from Hurricane Florence, we are once again reminded of that fact.

However...we did get some rain overnight last night from the hurricane.  For the most part, our post holes survived great.  There are maybe 3 in the front that got some dirt runoff from the driveway that Jim will have to dig out.  It's a bit soft today to worry with them right now, so Jim will wait on that.

This morning, Jim arranged with the building inspector to come and look at the concrete in the post holes after lunch (the inspector wasn't in yesterday).  He came and we passed our inspection so we can move forward!  In fact, the inspector told Jim that he doesn't need to come back until it's all finished so that's nice!

Jim also finalized the snow blower transaction today so now we will just wait on shipping bids - great news!

Since it was too wet to work on the post holes, Jim did a lot of window work today - here he's got the top sashes of both kitchen windows out.  He also did more work on the wood shop windows - those are getting close to being done.  In fact, one is totally done and Jim was able to rehang the blind.

We had one light fixture left to hang in the hallway - the fixture was up in the attic space.  When Jim was working on the vent, he brought it down and got it hung up today.  Looks so nice!

Jim also spent a little time this afternoon cleaning up my car.  I'm getting ready to make a quick trip back to Ohio for my nephew's wedding.  I'll do my best to keep up with the blog - otherwise, look for a recap when I get home!

High 83/Low 56