31 July 2019

Put the second (and final) coat of paint on the barn’s exterior trim.  Other than installing two outdoor spotlights high on the east wall and having Tammy Walsh build some gravestone steps for the people door, the barn is officially done.  (Hold that thought!)  Chree headed to Maine to visit her parents while I hooked up the trailer and schlepped up to Lowe’s in South Burlington.  Among many other items, procured the two spotlights for the barn.  Also bought a ton (literally) of Black Jack Drive-Max 1000™ driveway sealer (40 buckets @ 52 pounds apiece), hence the trailer.  The cash register clerk neglected to charge me for 39 of those buckets, which, fortunately, I caught before leaving the store.  Now I may not be too good at mental math, but when the bill is $1,000 less than expected, even I can tell something ain’t right!  Started to thunderstorm just as I left South Burlington and was threatening the same upon arrival Fern Lake.  So, in a rush, tried to back the trailer into the barn before first removing the Kubota.  Let’s just say that the trailer now needs a new sidelight, the south-side overhead door trim is all torn to hell (and back again)… and I got wet anyway.

30 July 2019

Steve came over at 2:30 and we took apart the house front steps, which had pretty much fallen apart from settling due to not having a solid base established when they were built back in mid-August 2016.  Good thing Steve is strong, ‘cause them gravestones ain’t getting any lighter as they age.  Took us 45 minutes (in 90°+ heat!).  Only 6 of the 18 stones that had been “permanently” glued together with PL300 construction adhesive were, if fact, still glued together… and a little “persuasion” from a cold chisel and my big pry bar soon rectified their reluctance to separate.

 

29 July 2019

Steve Ingram here at 10.  In a couple of hours, we put up the 1x4 Koma^® trim at the top of each wall.  After Steve left, moved the staging around the barn one more time, lightly sanding the newly installed trim and the vertical corners, then caulking the seam between the trim and the soffit.  The lake sure did feel good when that work was done.

27 July 2019

Out early to remove the temporary (since last November) covering over the cupola base (the hole and associated structure at the top of the barn roof where the cupola is to rest).  Also swept copious slippery pine needles off the metal roof.  At 9, Mike & Pikey Many, Steve Ingram and his good friend Hank Prensky, and Jordan Ahnquist (Kate’s boyfriend) all arrived.  In very short order we hoisted the cupola (using the Kubota’s forklift) to the top of the staging, and then lifted and slid it (manually) from there to the top of the barn.  Easily done with enough beef!  The cupola fit over the base absolutely perfectly… almost like it had been designed that way!  Even better, only two of the eight tie-down bolts needed any “encouragement” to slide into position.  Once the staging was down and everyone else was gone, I installed the flying pig weather vane on the cupola peak.  Then, at exactly 12:58:48 pm, when the sun’s azimuth was 180° true (i.e., due south), I aligned and locked into position the weather vane’s directional indicators.  In the afternoon, with some help from Chree, I cut 45° bevels in the ends of the 1x4 Koma^® trim that will be installed on Monday… the penultimate step to finishing the barn. Marty, Merry, their daughter Heather, her daughter Gabby, Kate, and Jordan came up for drinks and shrimp on the barbie… plus some chicken wings, and dogs, and…  Don’t think anyone wanted dinner after those “appetizers”.

26 July 2019

Put a coat of Behr Premium Ultra^® Pure White paint on the barn corner vertical trim and the 1x4 Koma^® trim.  Put a section of aluminum ladder on the south side of the barn roof to allow safe walking access to the peak from the roof edge, and also serve as a “track” to slide the cupola up.  Late afternoon, went over to Mike Many’s to help load up his truck with staging, then the two of us erected the same on the south side of the barn (where there is the least distance from the ground to the roof edge).  Proved that the Kubota’s forks raise high enough to reach the top of the staging.

25 July 2019

The barn concrete floor being completely dry (finally), got the seven pieces of 1x4 Koma^® trim that I’ve been storing since last summer ready for painting.  Much easier to put a first coat on those pieces with them laying flat on saw horses than once installed at the top of the exterior walls.  Calculated that I won’t need one of the 18 foot pieces of Koma.  Riiiight!!!!  Maybe I shouldn’t be in a rush to return that piece to Goodro’s for credit…  After putting the trailer and snow blower back inside the barn, moved the cupola into the barn as well so that I could put on the final top piece (a small piece of lead that had to be trimmed to fit) and the base for the flying pig weather vane.

24 July 2019

While waiting for the concrete floor sealer to dry, sanded the four exterior Koma^® corners preparatory to painting them later this week.

23 July 2019

Stopped by Goodro’s on the way back from Middlebury Fitness this morning only to find that Tim Comb’s is on vacation… so unable to coordinate having the Goodro’s boom truck hoist the cupola into place.  Murphy’s Law!  Late afternoon fetched the cupola back from Mike Many’s house / shop with the Kubota.  Looks great!  Arranged for Mike, Pikey, and Steve Ingram to help manually hoist the cupola onto the top of the barn this coming Saturday morning.  Notice the positive thinking!

22 July 2019

Mike Many told Chree (during her morning perambulation) that the cupola metal roof is done.  So called Mike this afternoon to arrange a retrieval time tomorrow.  With the relative humidity finally below 70% (it’s been at 98% for the last three days), put the second (and final?) coat of silane sealer on the barn concrete floor.

19 July 2019

By noon the barn shingling was D∙O∙N∙E, done!  Which is not to say that the barn is finished; there still is much trim that needs painting and one final run of 1 x 4 Koma^® trim to be attached at the top of each wall.  Not to mention that the concrete floor needs another coat of silane sealer.  Oh, yeah, there’s also a cupola down at Mike Many’s that belongs on top of the roof.  When the stapling was done, the air compressor was behaving itself (a small miracle, that) and there were 74 (about a half box) of full-length shingles left over (53 in the 3½″ to 4½″ range and 21 in the 7½″ to 9″ range), which equates to ≈ 13 square feet of coverage at a 5″exposure.  There also are two boxes of scrap shingles that will make either lovely wood fire kindling or just a great bonfire.  I’m leaning toward the latter…  Spent the afternoon putting away tools, cleaning up the mess inside the barn, removing everything from the barn’s concrete floor (trailer, tractor, snow blower, BBQ grill, etc.), then power washing said floor.  What fun!

15 July 2019

The lake temperature is a balmy 78° F and the lake level is 1½″ below the top of the dock.  Put on another 17 square feet of west wall shingles today, every one of which had to be cut to length and, often, to the width needed for a particular spot.  Only one more course to go!!!!  That equals 9.6 square feet… or approximately 55 shingles of various widths.  The good news: there are somewhat more than 100 usable shingles left.  The bad news: at least half of those shingles are between 3¾″ and 4¼″ in width… not a size that is used a lot.  Stay tuned for the exciting finish!

14 July 2019

Sunday morning chores consumed, surprise, surprise, the morning.  Got one more course on… the last one that uses full length shingles.  Started on the next course, the shingles for which all have to be cut to exactly 15½″ long.  (Out of the box they all are ±15¾″ long and, yes, that ¼″ is critical to how the wall will breath.)  When the siren call of the sauna became too overwhelming, another 12 square feet had been fastened to the west wall.

13 July 2019

Slow going today as I had to “create” (one at a time, down in the shop) 3″, 5″, and 6″ sized shingles from the plethora of 8″+ shingles on hand, plus pawing through and resurrecting pieces from the box of flawed shingles rejected when working on the other three walls.  Still got 30 square feet done.  Now the good news: there are only 4 more courses to go, which I calculate to be about 48 square feet.  Unfortunately, I estimate that there are only about 50 square feet of shingles still in boxes.  It’s gonna be close…

12 July 2019

Late in the afternoon a chipmunk ran into the barn through the open people door in the north wall.  The critter stopped to give me the “I’m so cute, don’t hurt me” eyeball, before proceeding under the trailer, hopefully not intending to take up a new home there.  I quickly opened the overhead garage door, thinking Mr. Munk might take the 16 foot wide hint.  Time will tell!  Put another 30 square feet of shingles on the west wall before breaking off to get the house ready for dinner guests (Marty and his daughter, Heather Glassner).

11 July 2019

Even though she ain’t pretty, by using nearly every scrap piece of Slicker Classic^® left from the other three walls, was able to cobble together coverage for the remainder of the west wall.  When the cobbling was done, had just 5¼ square feet of yellow mesh left.  Now that’s good planning!  (…or just lucky, take your pick.)  By being cheap frugal, didn’t have to open the next full roll… each of which retails for $117.70.  So two rolls can be returned to Goodro’s for credit, which means I’ll need to find another project to use that credit towards.  Oh, darn!  During the expected early afternoon thunderstorm, stayed dry in the shop turning a bunch of 8″+ shingles into desperately needed 3″ and 5″ sizes.  Come quitting time, another 26 square feet of the west wall had been shingled.

10 July 2019

After a lengthy hiatus visiting family and enjoying a cruise from Rhode Island to Maine with Doug & Kathy O’Brien aboard EAGLE FORD, got back to work on the barn today.  Another 15 square feet of shingles stapled onto the west wall, including the small triangle on the northwest corner.  Have been fretting about how to do that triangular piece for months now.  When the time came to actually do the deed, just faked it one shingle at a time, with some help from Chree.  Came out okay… but I’m sure there must be some old Indian trick known by professionals.  Our dock has emerged, once again, from beneath the lake; two weeks ago, after some hefty rainstorms, the top of the dock was 2½″ under water.  The water temperature now is a delightful 79°F.