Friday, July 14, 2006

 


We started construction on the barn project this last week. The first order of business was to remove some of the siding and construct a 12’ shear wall.

It probably would have been easier to build it near the ground but Roger wanted it up near the roof line… so, that’s where it went. The shear wall consists of 6 full sheets of ¾” plywood (3 on each side of the wall). We also made two posts of (3) 2 x 4’s and placed them between the plywood 4 feet apart. The plywood was nailed (and bolted) to the 2 x 4’s and to the 6 x 6 posts (supporting the whole mess) on either end of the plywood wall. All of this “lumber” was lifted (piece by piece) about 4’ off the ground to a bottom 2 x 6 that Roger constructed to serve as the base for the shear wall. I, for one, have discovered that lifting a full sheet of ¾” plywood over one’s head is not an easy task; but… we got it done.

In addition to the bolts, the plywood is secured to the 2 x 4’s and to the 6 x 6 posts by nails spaced about 4” apart all the way around the plywood (on both sides). I helped get the wall up. Poor Roger did all the nailing and bolting.



Once we got the wall completed we put up one of the support rafters so we could get the length and angle correct.






Today (Friday) Roger removed the rest of the siding on the barn and also removed a few of the supporting 1 x 6 horizontal supports in preparation for putting in the shear wall at the north end of the barn.


Having learned from our “mistakes” we should be able to do the second wall more quickly than the first. We’ll work on that next week.


Patrick helped Roger today with the rest of the support rafters. Thank you, Patrick. I don’t think I could have done it.





Now, if we can just stay on task and begin NO NEW PROJECTS I think we might have a chance of getting the barn done this year.



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