Week-end Progress 9 12 and 13 09

On Saturday the main accomplishment was to get the the peak got supports put on. The guys started on the perlins too. Sunday the rest of the perlins got put on and the lower South side tin got put on. As I watched the guys build the perlins I realized that I was very glad to be the "ground crew"! I have always had a great respect for the construction industry but as I watch my barn come together I am simply amazed at the craftsmanship that Silver Brother's Construction (with the help of me and Mike) have accomplished in breathing life back into this barn. I am equally amazed when I look at the way the barn was originally made using mortisse and tenon technique.

Mike L and Dylan putting on the perlins.

The second piece of steel going on the roof.

My nephew Mike and hubby sitting in my Rhino after the roofing ordeal today. Next week they promise me the roof and my cupalo-vent will be done!

Another Change Of Plans

I got to operate the big fork lift yesterday! Since it was just Mike and I working today I had to lift Mike up to the top of the barn while he put on siding. I was pretty nervous the first couple of times I had to lift him up and down!
As we put the siding on the West side we realized that the siding needed a lot of repair to be able to seal it up tight. I had already decided that the front (East side) was going to be done in new siding. After some talking we decided that as much as we hated to not be able to save the old siding that in the long run it would be the best option. We won't pull of the siding we already put up, we will just install over the top of it.

We planned on taking a short motorcycle ride today after we worked on the steps for the loft but when Mike tried to start his bike it wouldn't start- the battery was dead! So we didn't get to go for a ride today.

Here are some photos of the steps:

Here are some photos from yesterday:

Mike carried Asia up to the loft so she could look around.

This is a view of my Garden Shed from the loft.

Mike relaxing in the loft!

Starting To Put The Siding On

We started putting siding on the South side of the barn today and then moved to the North side. It's hard to believe that it's Labor Day week-end! And so far the weather looks great for the entire three day week-end. Here's some photos from today-

The Supporting Beams and Rafters Are Done!

Silver Brother's Construction Crew arrived before I left for work this morning and by the time I got home the supporting beams and rafters were done.

Liz from the Gazette came out to take some photos today also.

Mike will be ordering the roofing and maybe the solar panel for the barn tomorrow. This week-end he and I will begin hanging the siding.

Here are photos from today's progress.

The Barn Frame

Today the guys made more progress on the framing. They ran out of pegs so we decided to that they would make their own. I ran into town and got some dowels and they made pegs. The weather was great for working on the barn. The sun was shinning but the feel of fall is definately in the air.

The Last Big Bent Is In Place

Everyone was here by 7:00 am this morning to begin working. The last big bent was in place by about 8:00 am. Things were going pretty good this morning until Mike realized that the floor wasn't in any of the piles of wood. I tried to call Orva but got voicemail. I even called Mike L to see if anything had gotten left behind and he said no. So now we can only assume that the floor was destroyed. If this is the case I'm very upset that Orva didn't let me know what had happened. We decided that we would order new flooring from Menard's and hope that Orva will give me a refund on some of the barn.

We had to replace some of the posts, but we had some that we had gotten earlier in the summer from a barn near Anamosa that was being torn down and Nephew M was able to make a new Mortise and Tenon post.

We also realized that the perlins are missing too!

We wrapped it up today by 1:00 pm. Below are photos of the progress today.

Three Bents Are UP!

Nephew Mike, two of his crew, and Mike begin raising the bents today. Work started around 8:30 am. The sun was shinning but the temps were very cool- it feels like fall already.

It took about 3 hours to get the first bent in place. It was a trial and error game as the guys figured out where to put the straps so they could maneuver the big frame work. At one point the machine we rented to help lift the beams in place almost got stuck. With some creative thinking they got in "unstuck" and moved to a dryer section of the yard to work.

After taking a quick break for lunch they were back at it. The pictures below show the progress. By quitting time three of the bents were in place. Tomorrow work continues to put the last bent in place and I think they will start working on the flooring for the loft.