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.