31 May 2019
Pleasantly cool, lots of sun, and NO flying
insects. Vermont’s version of
heaven! Almost got the south wall completely
shingled, but the pasture formerly known as our lawn just had to be mowed this
afternoon; either that or we would need to buy some grazing animals. Got 24 square feet done, which would sound
much more impressive if you knew that every single shingle installed today had
to be custom cut ‘cause there is a ¾″ difference in height between the east and
west ends of this wall. In discovering
that, also discovered that the Koma® trim at the top of the wall
should have been cut 1″ narrower than it is.
As this is the fourth building on the property, all of which have the
exact same siding (and wall top trim), you’d think I’d know by now how wide
that trim should be. Old age????
30 May 2019
49 square feet of shingles made their way onto
the south wall of the barn today. A
gorgeous day for working outside: not too hot, not too cold, and the flying
pests were mostly blown away by the quality of my workmanship steady
breeze. Late evening the mosquito
control truck came by and did a very thorough job spraying.
29 May 2019
With Chree gone to Maine for a long weekend,
Shlomo and I revved ‘er up into high gear.
Got 46 square feet of shingles stapled onto the barn south wall between
the two windows.
27 May 2019
After a quick trip into Brandon this morning to
procure a truckload of nylon screen, went back to shingling on both sides of
the barn southwest corner. By BBQ time,
had installed another 30 square feet of siding.
What is the nylon screen used for, you ask? Before the shingles go on, a ½″ thick yellow
mesh (known formally as Benjamin Obdyke® Slicker Classic) is lightly
tacked to the Zip System® wall sheathing. That mesh provides an air channel on the back
side of the shingles, helping to keep them dry, i.e. free from rotting. The top and bottom of the yellow mesh is
wrapped in nylon screen to keep insects from causing hate and discontent behind
the shingles.
26 May 2019
Started putting shingles on the barn’s south
side, working from the southeast corner westwards to the first window. Got a bit over 16 square feet very well done. The lake surface is 1″ above the top
of our dock; the water temperature is 63°. Time
for sauna…
24 May 2019
Chree and I installed the four corner trim
boards on the barn. Unfortunately, the
northwest corner slipped down, unnoticed until four Cortex® screws
had been driven home. Even more
unfortunately, while rectifying that mistake, took a tumble off the step ladder,
causing minor injuries to my ankle and back and a temporary heart stoppage to
my dearly beloved. For the OSHA mishap
investigation record: At the time of the accident I was not standing on
the stepladder step that says do not stand on this step. Hobbling just a bit, Chree and I then
transferred the storey board markings to the barn windows and doors trim. We’re ready for Ibuprofen shingles!!!!
23 May 2019
Using the laser level benchmarks, figured out (I
sincerely hope!) the layout for the barn shingle siding. The first four courses will have a 4²⁹/₃₂″
exposure, the next 11 courses will have a 5¹/₃₂″ exposure, the next 3 courses
will have a 5″ exposure, and the top 4 courses will have a 5⅛″ exposure. The reason for the varied widths is because
the shingles need to line up perfectly with the bottoms and tops of the windows
and the top of the garage door, plus be somewhat close to but no shorter than
the bottom of the wall sheathing, and have each course as close as
possible to 5″ wide. Made up the storey
board (literally a long board with the foregoing shingle exposures very
carefully marked along one edge). After
cutting the 6″ Koma® corner trim boards to their proper lengths, transferred
the exposure markings from the story board to both edges of each corner,
forgetting (until two days later) that painting the corner trim first would
have been a great idea.
22 May 2019
A perfect day for painting: clear, low humidity,
and temps in the 60’s. Put the top coat
on the exterior window trim frames and two coats on the garage door trim. Only have a little bit of paint left on my
hands after two thorough scrubbings and a shower. Guess painting just isn’t one of my
fortes. Also applied Geocel®
to the garage door top trim and sheathing seam, then installed the garage door
drip edge. Perry came by late afternoon
with his laser level (and also brought a swarm of black flies and mosquitoes). We (Perry and I, not the flying pests) shot a
series of benchmarks around the barn, which will allow me to establish the
shingle exposures (technical term: the exposure is how much of each shingle you
see, typically about 5″) and set the bottom course of shingles in a level line
around the building.
21 May 2019
Again with help from Chree, installed the Koma®
exterior trim around the garage door.
Used 5/4 x 6 trim on the barn door, vice the 5/4 x 4 trim that was used
around the two garage doors on the house.
The barn trim looks much more manly!
19 May 2019
At Perry’s suggestion, crafted a triangular
piece of Zip System® sheathing to smooth the elevation transition at
the northwest corner of the barn. Glued
that piece of sheathing to the concrete foundation with Loctite® PL
Premium construction adhesive. Also
glued on two small pieces of sheathing where the garage door trim will extend
onto the concrete foundation.
17 May 2019
With help from Chree, installed the five barn
window trim frames. Installed means: each
frame screwed into place with 20 Cortex® hidden fastening system screws,
Koma® plugs hammered into all 100 of the Cortex® screw
holes (Chree’s job), Phenoseal® vinyl adhesive white caulk applied
to the ¹⁄₁₆″ gap between all sides of each frame and the window casings (the
frames had been made ⅛″ too wide and tall to allow for that caulking), Geocel®
Pro Flex sealant / caulking applied to the top seam between the frame and the
wall sheathing, and drip edge nailed and taped into place. Then I quickly sanded the frames to ensure
the Cortex® screw hole plugs were perfectly flush with the trim
surface.
16 May 2019
While our semi-annual brush pile turned into
charcoal and ash, put a coat of Behr Premium Plus Ultra® exterior
satin enamel ultra pure white paint on my hands and the shop floor the
barn window trim frames.
15 May 2019
After a very long winter (though with
great skiing!) and with most of the spring chores complete, finally got back to
work on ye olde barn. Working down in
the shop, assembled five Koma® frames for the exterior window trim. Also made up a waterproof glue and sawdust
mixture, then filled in all of the holes drilled in the barn wall sheathing
into which the scaffolding wall brackets once were hung with care.
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