One Side Done :-)

Half of a roof done this weekend, it went pretty well working by myself, it was pretty relaxing. Brother Bob did come over for a couple hours on Saturday aft. for a couple hours and helped finish the wall framing on that side. The last piece on the front was a little tricky, there were 2 screws in the middle that I could not reach, I will put those in when I finish the front trim with a taller ladder.

When I took a break from the steel I built this little decoration for the front, not to functional but fun to make and easier to install now without the roof on.

I made up my own fascia material for a different look.

A sample of the galvanized metal cover for the fascia.


Nice to have one side done, now I have a system down to do the side that does not show, I probably should have started on the back, but that is no fun, might just as well have all the mistakes show on the front side.

The Roof and some new visiters

I am sure glad the roof is steel and not shingles, it would not be any fun to carry bundles of shingles up there.

Good lunch today, it does not take to long make lunch for one person, it is a little quiet around here without the family(yes I am missing you), it would probably be more comfortable living in the airstream the house is too empty.

This is my friend Mikes daughter Emma, she is crazy, no fear of anything, she likes to climb up ladders or scaffolding, high is ok.

This is Abby, also a climber, and loves our new baby chicks. She had to kiss all she could.

The Steel for the roof finally came today,it took almost three weeks to get. Witch was OK because there have been plenty of other things to do. Bob and I got all of the bracing installed from the walls to the bottom of the trusses this week so I could remove the exterior temporary bracing. I did get far enough tonight to get the first two sheets of roof steel on. It went a lot better than I thought it would, the roof is almost a 45 degree angle, so pretty steep, I thought I would use the crane to lift the 18ft. pieces of steel up but instead purchased some rubber sticky gloves today and just slid them up the ladder with me. One screw in the top to hold the sheet, then position the bottom and then screw it down from the bottom to the top, about 40-2" screws per panel work my to the top, only have to do it 29 more times :-)

As you can see in the first picture I am almost done with side one. It is going pretty well, Brother bob helped again last night with some more framing and temporary brace removal.
Hopefully I can finish before the next rain, I am getting tired of mud inside.

A little slower pace :)

Back to the day job now, it will be nice to get a break for a while, changes won't happen as quick now.

I think I will have to turn this into Dewalt for warranty, it should be able to hold up to a 15ton crane backing over it :-) That's ok if that's the only casualty.

My Dad wanted to get up to the second level(he is 81 this year) he thought it was a little high.

Sunrise from the coupala

Day Five-No Rain

Ron and his sons, Elvis and Sammy and Doug. End of the day, boys wanted to come up standing on the deck of the second floor.
Our working dog, Cooper. Safe spot to watch all the action.
Brother Bob's dog, Pepper the Pug.
Boys up in the Coupala.

Ron and Doug positioning the Coupala.

Getting close.

Reminds me of the last scene of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie, where the elevator crashes through the roof and flies through the air ;)

Ben guiding up the materials for the second floor. Handy to have the crane.

After some instruction from Cy, the crane owner, I am the official operator today.

The new second story floor is in. With the availability of the crane, I decided to take advantage of it, and put in the second floor now.

Ron and his youngest son, Sammy.

Finally a day with no rain. It was a very productive day. Installed the deck for the second floor, the coupala, and finished framing the roof. Ron just keeps on cruisin' through the work. Hard to believe five days ago this area was bare ground, now we have a building that is 31'6" tall. Starting to look like a real barn.

Day Four Trusses and Mud And Lots Of Rain

Dad and Cyrus swapping stories about their crazy kids.
A view from the top of the world:-)
We had no shortage of mud today, plenty to go around.
Ben and I put a fey finishing touches on the cuopala before it goes up tomorrow. He worked pretty hard today.
We had the first truss in the air this morning about 8:45, just about the time it started raining. So we all got a little on the muddy side.
Here is today's crew from the left Cye, My Dad, Bob, Ron, Ben, and Me, O and Cooper and Pepper:)
The last truss is up, 9 total, Bob, Ben, Ron, Doug. For being so tall, Ron did a great job of squaring things up, everything came out to within fractions of an inch, Thanks Ron.
Ben and Bob bringing in the next truss.
Here is Cyrus and his big rig, they did all the heavy lifting today. Cy and his wife Kay are friends from church.

All and All A pretty productive day considering the weather, one that non of us will forget for a while. Still waiting for the roof steel to show up, maybe tomorrow. There is supposed to be better weather coming anyway. The cruiser barn or my brother calls it the man barn is starting to take shape now. Thanks everyone for your help.

Day three Rained out :-(

Well as it turns out it was a good thing we stopped for lunch because two hours later we had some good wind and tornado warnings, it would not have been good to have the trusses half done with that wind. To bad to have a crane like this just waiting thou.

Jan feeds us well :)She has always been to good to me.

Brother Bob and Dad, scatching his head with all those angles :)Looking good Bob

Myself,Ron, and Nephew kyle finishing the last part of the wall, and josh supplying material from the ground.

Jan's great rolls !!!

Final wall framing before the trusses.

Steve is getting a great start on the coupala!! I have always liked these on buildings and now was my chance to have one.

Well it looks like it is time for a nap,we finished all of the framing and are ready to set trusses. Then the rain came and doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon. Jan fixed us all some terrific cinnamon rolls for break time and another great lunch. Looks like I will have to get some inside work done this afternoon.

Day Two Taking Shape

Posts all set

Jan still smiling :-)

Brother Steve was helping to get the posts ready to set in the holes. We had to change the tops some to set the rafters in the middle of the post.

Ben was sizing things up:-)

Josh, Ben, Doug, Kyle, Ron

Dad, Bob and I

I may be getting too old for this kind of fun, but not too old to think it can't be done.

Another day of hard labor filling the holes back in that we worked so hard to dig out.

I have been talking about and dreaming of having a barn forever and I am always talking about the old barns out in the countryside. My family has looked at so many of these old buildings. Building the barn was actually Jan's idea, and it seemed like a good summer to do it, and help get everything organized under one roof.

The barn is taking shape today giving some perspective to the size it will be, overall it will be 26' to the peak. Added two new guys today, my brother Steve was able to come this morning and help with some of the posts and should be back tomorrow, and my Dad came to supervise and help with some of the side framing. Started framing a 4'x4' coupala that will add an additional 4' to the height of the building, bring it to a total of 30' tall.

Again today Jan made us a terrific lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and root beer floats for afternoon break. Thanks Jan!