Well we had plenty of help this weekend: Paul and Eliza came up from Boston for the two days; and the Collins' chipped in on Saturday (and Josh on Sunday, too) to help out. The day started out raining and leaving us with doubts as to what we could get done. Tobin had given us a long list and so we had a lot to do. But the rain let up and we got out there right after lunch. After clearing off the rain-soaked tarp we proceeded to get setup. Anne and Eliza picked up hammers and Corey and Paul went to work trying to set the last roof joists over the utility room. Bob, Paige, Josh and Kari showed up shortly thereafter. Bob and Josh jumped on the north wall setting blocks to plumb it up. Kari went to help put set the z clips at the south deck. And away we went.
Bob and Josh managed to get 3/4 of the wall plumbed up and braced but the last section was proving stubborn. Out by 1/2" we needed to pull it in a bit. Paul, Corey and Josh tugged on the rope while Bob tried to set the kicker. Needless to say with the tension applied to the line this did not end well and we found ourselves on the ground with 2 pieces of rope. And so it was time to quit and try and figure out some way to pull the wall in.
Sunday
So we managed to acquire a come along from Rhavi and strung together 2 chains, a rope and a strap all anchored around a tree. It sure as hell looked jury rigged but it proved to be a hell of a lot easier than tugging on a rope. We managed to plumb up the wall set the braces (three this time) and got on our way. Corey and Josh put in the last roof joists over the utility room and we then moved the scaffolding over to set the second 25' long microllam. After a great deal of effort we managed to get in place (this time with the help of our neighbor Bob who happened to come along at an opportune time for us, not so for him), only to realize that it was the wrong one. Getting it down proved to be easier but getting the second one up was just as hard. Finally with that in place we could start setting joist brackets. But the two mircollams were so cupped (so much for the wonders of engineered wood) that we ended up setting 3 - 3 1/2" RSS screws every 16" just to tie them together. But tie them we did and got back to nailing before calling it a day and seeing Paul and Eliza off to Boston.
We didn't get as much done as we hoped but we did make some headway. 12 days to go...
They look happy now but wait until they see how many holes are in those Simpson straps.
"How many joists are there again?"
"Is it time for lunch yet?
What can you do with a rope, two chains, a come along...
a strap, and one red pine? Straighten a building out.
Even the dog has had enough.
Thanks to everyone who contributed this weekend, even Sage who helped hold the tape measure.
2 comments:
hey, is there a couch i can sleep on? how come there are no pictures of Corey?
Of course; we will always have room for you Jeremy.
Corey is holding the camera. It's a difficult task but somebody has to do it.
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