Almost Finished The North Roof

I nearly finished the lower North roof on the barn this weekend.  I probably would have completed it but I ran out of 15/32 plywood and there wasn’t enough time to go get more of it.

1383187_10202074113595577_767704778_n

 

It’s looking pretty good!

As I was cleaning up, I found what I think is a Western Conifer Seed Bug on the shed.  It’s not a significant pest, it’s just kind of interesting.

1381531_10202074540246243_1562207216_n

I wouldn’t have any idea what it was were it not for the preeminent entomological resource of our time: Facebook.  Seriously, whenever I find an interesting bug and post a picture of it to Facebook, someone is usually able to identify it or to at least come pretty close.  In this case the popular opinion was Box Elder Beetle.  They are very close, but I think this one has a thinner head and thicker legs.  I wouldn’t have found a page describing the Conifer Seed Bug without the initial lead, so I’ll chalk it up as another win for Facebook.

Barn And Environs

image

I’m posting this out of order, I took it on Saturday before I started getting the sheathing on the roof.  I like that it shows some of the area around the building.  I usually post shots which are more close in, but I think this one is kind of nice too.

Barn Roof Sheathing

image

North side roof

I got some of the roof sheathing on the barn today.  I would have liked to get more accomplished, but getting the panels up onto the roof turned out to be a challenge. 

Barn Progress This Weekend

I managed to make some progress on the barn this weekend.  Not as much as I would have liked because I was only able to spend one day at the site.

IMG_20130929_172559_473 IMG_20130929_183411_447 IMG_20130929_183455_780 IMG_20130929_183639_713

 

Getting the fly rafter on the East side up there by myself was a bit of a challenge.  I tried a couple of different ideas, and wound up going with something involving a C clamp.  I didn’t get a picture for you guys but I’ll take one when I do the West side.

There was also work on some of the shear transfer blocking, which you don’t see in the photos, and I closed in one of the gaps in the west wall.  I had previously left the gaps unsheathed so that the metal tie straps would be accessible until the blocking was installed.

Three Walls On Two

My barn has three second floor walls up!

IMG_20130907_144949_543

I almost forgot to post about my barn progress, what with all the home buying that’s been going on.  I got one of the long second-floor walls raised this weekend and I also got a ledger installed for the north rafters.

IMG_20130908_192018_251IMG_20130907_163957_574

It’s looking more and more like its final shape every time I go up there.  I bought a pair of wall jacks and they made the task of lifting the wall a heck of a lot easier.  I got the two short walls up by just manhandling them into place, but they were about the maximum that I could possibly dead lift.  I wouldn’t have been able to lift the long wall without some mechanical aid.

Really A Lot Of Rain

So it turns out that the surprise storm on Monday wasn’t just unusual because of the date, it was remarkable in the volume of rain which came with it.  It’s not completely unheard of for there to be some sprinkles of rain this time of year, it’s just very unusual.  This storm however came with about a quarter inch of rain in Auburn, and nearly an inch and a quarter up by Nevada City.  That’s a fairly decent storm even for the rainy season, which around here is November through March.  For it to rain that much on September 2nd is probably a record.

 

Rainfall AMA 9-4-13 Rainfall NCAP 9-4-13

Some Barn Progress Followed By Rain

Despite having a three day weekend this weekend, I didn’t get much work done on the barn.  The forecast for Saturday was hot, so I stayed home and cleaned house instead of doing carpentry.  On Sunday I got another second floor wall erected, which was great but I didn’t take any pictures to show you guys.  Sorry.  🙁

Today it rained, I wasn’t expecting that.  Consequently I didn’t get any carpentry done at all.  The day wasn’t a complete loss however, because I discovered this sign stapled to a pole off of Lime Kiln Road.  I’m going to call the guy and see how much he would charge me for 200 feet of 10 foot wide driveway.

I might have found my driveway guy

I might have found my driveway guy

Just in case you were wondering, the rain shouldn’t have an adverse impact on my barn.  Wood is wet when it’s in the tree, and it should dry out okay over the upcoming week which is forecast to be sunny and warm.  If we were having days and days of cold drizzle such that the site never dried out then I might have problems with rot or mildew, but in late California summer weather it shouldn’t be an issue.

Two Walls On 2

I got another second floor gable wall put up today.

20130824-232448.jpg

It was very heavy, especially with the 4×12 window header installed. I still don’t have any wall jacks, but I did order some by mail. UPS is supposed to deliver them on Monday so I should be able to use them for the long walls next weekend. I expect to build the north wall tomorrow and lift it next weekend. It should be simple to frame and sheathe; there are no openings. Just full sheets of plywood and precut studs.

Fall Is Coming

This fell on me while I was sweeping the second floor today.

20130824-224150.jpg

Looks like Fall is letting me know that it is on the way here. I’d better get that roof on!

The days are noticeably shorter now than they were when I started the project. The sun set at 7:46 today and it’s getting about ten minutes earlier every week. Back in June I didn’t even have to start cleaning up until about 8:30; now it’s dark by then. I feel like I should be harvesting the corn, or filling the hayloft or something.

2nd Floor Walls Started

I got the first of the second floor walls up this past weekend, and another one partially framed.

2nd Floor Wall

 

I only put on partial sheathing to save weight because I didn’t use any mechanical aids to lift the short wall. I just strong-armed it into the vertical position by hand. I’ll have to rig something up for the opposite wall, which will be heavier with the header installed. The two long walls will also need something like that.

There are a few different wall jack systems which you can get for about a grand. They are all basically just come-along winches and a hollow pole, although there’s a cheaper version that uses a 2×4 as the lift pole. I’ll try to rig up basically the same thing using the blocks that I lifted the glu-lam beams with, they worked better than I expected for the beam lift and I already have them so the price is right.