A Couple of Surprises in my Driveway Today

This morning, I found these. Oh my.

Lions and Tigers and BEAR!!

snapper

I was able to keep Ziggy from investigating this foot long snapper, fortunately!

The Purlins are all Up!

Today we put in the last 14 purlins on the back of the house. It was back to being hot today, but we managed. Now Hal just has to do some more bracing, squaring, blocking, etc and in a couple of weeks we can start putting up the roof steel!

And Another Section Completed

We finished the other half of one section yesterday. It was ridiculously hot again so we did other things when we finished. Hal put in screws and I mowed the lawn again.

So here is the latest photo. One roof section to go.

front

Such fun on my birthday

More Purlins

Yesterday we put in another 25 purlins and a ceiling joist over the porch (the space for it wasn't available till recently). We're running out of decent lumber, the lumber yard provided an awful lot of crap wood which we would have found and been able to complain about within 2 days of delivery but we just couldn't find the energy or time to unstack each damn piece! So if Hal can't find enough we can use today, we will have to buy more locally.

But here are the latest photos. Another section and a half (that whole section uses 14 foot boards so hopefully those may be in better shape than the 12 footers!)

The Front

The left side

The Rear

Once the last of the purlins go in and Hal puts in some blocking and a few more braces we will be able to start the metal roof! Let's the hope the temps drop back out of the mid 90s before then!

Thwarted by Thunderstorms

Today was the day Hal needed me back at the build to cut purlins for the left side of the house, finally we were going to have some progress to show! But after I selected the first twelve 14 footers and loaded them onto the truck for the drive back to the barn and the equipment, the sky decided to open up, make noise and drop water. Got a bit windy, too.

So much for the morning forecast of no rain till tomorrow! Hal stayed because he thought there would be a long enough break (it did get sunny again, but the clouds to the west were massive) to get some of the other work done that he can do alone. I got to go home and start making pizza. No planned leftovers for tonight anymore!

So the dough is in the bread machine doing doughy things and it is pouring rain here at home. Temperature dropped from near 90 (it was there earlier today) to only 78 now. Looks like it's still a dry spot surrounding Hal, according to the radar. Not for too much longer though.

Good thing Ziggy chose to come in from his spot under the deck. He'd be a soggy mess now. Luna is hiding in one of the bedrooms or the basement. Not because of the thunder anymore, she's pretty deaf now, sweet, old girl. She just keeps looking for cooler spots to lay down.

Maybe I'll get to cut some lumber tomorrow. I hope so even though they're predicting the thunderstorms for then. We shall see.

ALL the Ceiling Joists are In

A few days ago Hal and I got the ceiling joists installed in the main house structure. Felt really good to have that done. Now I wait while he checks lengths and adjusts any joists to ensure the house is 48 feet long left to right and the garage is 36 feet long left to right. He finished with the garage today. He'll start on the house part tomorrow after he buys some decking boards to lay across the joists to make walking around up there safer as well as easier.

Here is a photo with all the ceiling joists.

Ceiling Joists Installed

The Build Goes On

There's been a lot of wind and more rain since my last post but we managed to get the last of the purlins up in the garage and all purlins and joists are screwed at each end.

garage roof structure

garage viewed from the backyard

For the last couple of days we've started adding ceiling joists to the house half. These 17 joists are over the future kitchen and TV room.

kitchen/TV room joists

front view

Since these photos were taken Hal has also added some wall corner bracing because the structure is becoming top heavy.

We are taking the day off today because it's cold, still windy, and Hal's feet need a break from climbing the ladder. Back to work tomorrow though I'm not sure if it will be more purlin work or fascia boards on the garage.

Front Half of Garage Roof's Purlins Installed

Hal and I got 14 more purlins installed Saturday. Purlins are the horizontal boards along the roofline. I cut them to length, in this case 13' 10 5/8" to account for the overhang on the right. Otherwise, for our build, they usually are around 12 feet long. After I cut them to length up at the pole barn, I drove them down and then I handed them up while for Hal to put them in place and screw one end into the joist hangers. The other end will be screwed in after we attach straps to pull everything into square.

the first of 14 purlins

all 14 purlins installed

you can see the ones still missing in the back

starting to look like a roof

Of course it rained again on Sunday, so not much got done. I did plant a bunch of windbreak saplings that I bought from the county conservation district once the rain finally ended around 4 pm. Better luck on the house today though, nice and sunny!