18 July 2018

Luther Corcoran from Goose Creek got here at 8:30 and his partner in crime, Sonny Torrey, pulled in at 11.  Was great to see them again as both are hard-working and very experienced master carpenters… and just plain nice people!  Before Sonny arrived, Luther and I went over the building plans, location of materials, then double checked the concrete wall lengths and “squareness”.  The measurements weren’t as bad as what Chree and I found the other day but, that said, the barn walls will be officially 24′ ³/₁₆″ long.  Then we got to work laying out and installing the pressure treated 2x6 wall sole plates.  After lunch we first built and erected the framing for the two short walls that will be either side of the overhead door and then the first section of the north wall.  Because Luther wanted to use a two-bottom-plate construction technique (which, after pondering, made a lot of sense), the barn will be 1½″ taller than designed.  That change also raised the window sills ½″.  In reviewing that impact, the not-so-brilliant building designer realized that there will be no room under the windows for the electric wires that need to feed the outlets that will be in the concrete walls centered under the windows.  Fortunately, Luther quickly figured out how we could cut a channel for the wire in the upper bottom plate.  Goose Creek, 1: Architect, on probation!