Sonny arrived, per usual, at 7. We first put in all the cripples between the
top plate and the overhead door header.
As we finished that task, the Goodro’s truck arrived with most of what I
had ordered… and a promise (that was kept) to bring the other items later in
the day. Sonny and I then straightened
the east and west walls, installing the second top plate on all the walls as we
went… but forgetting until much too late that we had intended to shim those
plates so that they were perfectly level.
Checked with the laser level and, sure enough, there is a ¼″ elevation difference
between the northwest and southeast corners at the top plate level, a
difference that will have to be corrected when we cut the bird’s mouths for the
roof rafters. (The bird’s mouth is the
notch cut into a rafter so it sits down flat on the wall top plate.) In the midst of that activity, Jeff Many from
Green Mountain Door came by to scope out the framing preparatory to giving me
an estimate for the 8′ x 16′ overhead barn door. Found out that the Wayne-Dalton 8300 series doors
installed in the woodshed and house garages were made in China (boo, hiss!!!),
but there is a very similar overhead door made in Canada that is competitively
priced. We’re definitely buying Canadian
for the barn! Sonny and I then put in
all the west wall blocking. That is to
say, Sonny put in 11 perfectly aligned blocks in the time it took me to put in
3 very amateur-installed blocks.
Guess that’s why he gets paid the big bucks! After lunch, we put up the inverse flange
joist hangers on the west wall, then hung the 2x6 ceiling joists between the
west wall and the westerly mid-span 24′ LVL, straightening the LVL as we
went. By quitting time we both were in
desperate need of liquid refreshment.
After Sonny left (and I had mowed the lawn) there also was desperate
need for some lake time.
