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!!!

Some new pics!!

One day everyone was out in the barn helping.  The mortising machine is pretty agressive, but well engineered to also be safe.  We've all used it to make a hole or two now.  Except for Dennis, we all need supervision when we use it.

The palm sander is our favorite for doing the final sanding.  It does a great job and is very light...unlike the belt sander which        (unfortunately!) gets a lot more use. 

Tie Beam I, the one I've previously called a thing of beauty.  When the frame is up, come over to see it. 

The freight trolley...is it a workhorse? ... or toy horse??  Either way, well worth the $50 we paid for it!  The big timbers move so much easier if they have wheels under one end.  Apparently was being a lot of fun when this pic was taken.

Ready...Set...Floor Joists!

It's been a while since we've updated anything here.  We now have a loaner computer while we continue to wait for the parts.  Gotta phone those guys again  :-(  But at least with the loaner I can post a few pics tonight -- if I'm not busy sanding all evening.

Last night Dennis finished floor joist #8 of 25.  That would put the total count at 129 /146 done.  Since the last post we've also finished 2 coats of varnish on all the tongue & groove 1x6's for main floor ceiling.  Now we're playing catch up with the braces:  40 of the 48 still need the final sanding & 2 coats of varnish.  That's more stuff the girls & I can help with.

Tie Beams VI, I and II

Still no computer at home, so still no pics of the progress.  On that topic, the parts should be in tomorrow.  After years of great service, things have really gone down the drain at that computer shop.  I think this is our last trip there.

Beams I & IV are done, varnished and stacked the barn to wait.  Beam I is a thing of beauty.  I'd love to show it to you.  We finished off gallon #10 of varnish last night, and I picked up the next 5 gal.  The girls were along on the trip to the paint store, and M brought home some paint chips.  Seems bright lemon yellow and violet are her colors of choice this week...girls are allowed to change thier minds...right?...right?!?...  Please say it's so!

Today Dennis is working on the joinery in Tie Beam II.  It's only got about 14 places where it meets other timbers, but it will be visible from all 4 sides once the house is up.  We've also crossed the half-way mark varnishing the 120 pine boards for the ceiling of the main floor.  There's only been room in the garage to do them 7 at a time, but I think we can up that number to 10 by making the piles higher now that the "in" pile's a little smaller.

Oh, and the Structural Insulated Panels (hereafter referred to as SIP's) are on order fo rthe end of July.  A person could almost get excited!

Tie Beam III

This one is a 10x12" that will run across the width of the house (28').  It's the first tie beam on the sawhorse for cutting, but because of it's place in the middle of the house, is the most work of them all.  Not counting the pegs, there are 29 places where this beam needs to be shaped for other members to intersect it.  It's been a multi-day project.  Hopefully we'll be ready for the first coat of varnish by sundown.

Based on the time professional shops estimate for cutting a frame of this size, and factoring in that Dennis is working solo, not in a crew, he'd mentally prepared for this stage to take 6 months...if it all went WELL.  Tomorrow marks 5 1/2 months.  Doing pretty well!  3 more tie beams, which will each have half (or less) detail than the one he's finishing up today, and then the 25 floor joists (most of the work in them is going to be moving them onto and off the sawhorses)  The timeline's moving along well!

I'm looking forward to getting our computer back from the repair shop so I can post pictures again!

116 / 146 !!

Another milestone, this one's phychological.  I asked Dennis last night what the timber count was.  He answered in how many pieces left to do!  One more rafter, 4 tie beams (the BIG logs he recently milled down) and 25 floor joists.