Two Steps Forward...One Step Back

The bad news of the week: If you don't live in our part of the world, you need to know we've had nearly a month of rainy weather--and not just a little drizzle--I'd say two out of three days we've watched the water come pouring down from the sky. And it's accumulating. And developing patience. And testing character. And making a HUGE hungry crop of mosquitos.

So... we finally had a dry day with a forecast of 3-4 more to come.  Dennis pulled back the tarp to see how the finished timbers were faring. Setback. Grey water stains. This pic is a very small sample of what we're dealing with.  My early estimate is that of the 68 pieces under that tarp, 2/3 + will need attention. Washing doesn't work. Maybe pressure washing will, but more likely it will mean sanding them down to the wood and re-varnishing. This unplanned step in the process is reason enough to stack the floor joists in the barn as we finish them, sacrificing workspace. Though we are approaching the end of cutting the joinery, this latest development means we really aren't ready to break into our Happy Dance just yet.

But there is progress too:  Seems that other things (a tree fallen down over the garden, cars needing oil changes, a burnt element in the hot water tank, High school grad...this list could get LONG!!) keep coming up.  These "other things" are NOT contributing to the timely completion of the frame.  They do remind us that there's more to life than a house.

That said, floor joists are coming along very well.  There was a little hurdle to overcome at the beginning:  how to cut the curved ends on the 6x8 timbers.  Fifty cuts with a Swede saw would be effective, but maximum effort for very low production.  Once again, Dennis rose to the challenge.  If the wood is too big to manuever through the bandsaw, find a way to move the bandsaw through the wood.  All you need is a freight trolly from your local Canadian Tire, a used bandsaw and a few blocks of wood.  I tell you this so you too could be the proud owner of a RedNeck BandSaw!

The RedNeck BandSaw is working well.  14 of the 25 floor joists are done.  Or the way I heard it:  "only 11 more pieces until the frame's done".  Floor joists have the simplest joinery.  Three joists cut & varnished in a day is a very attainable goal, assuming Dennis gets an avarage number of hours without big interruptions.  It almost feels strange to be coming to the end of this stage after being in progress for 6 months.  Soon we won't be counting timbers at all!

***Condolances to our friends and coworkers who lost buildings, mature trees and had damage to farm equipment this weekend in the windstorm Saturday evening.  Sure has been unusual weather this spring!***

Well this has sat in unfinished drafts long enough that the timber count is now at 141/146 or  5 TO GO!!!