Barn Project

[hendi_alex]

The recent ice storm was not kind to our barn. The main roof half caved in and an attached shed collapsed.

Got in a few days on the barn over the past week. I'm project director and wife Carol is the helper crew. Removed damaged roof of upper barn and removed all fallen debris from the shed. Am about half through with the main barn area, jacking the main roof about two feet, constructing a new load bearing wall, replacing rafters and metal roof. Here are a few photos.

New rafters under new metal roof


New rafters, half roof left to go.


New load bearing wall. Had to jack the old roof up about 2 feet to accommodate the wall. Went about 8 feet per section to raise all 24 feet of the roof.


Old fart too dumb to stay off of roofs!


Outside view of progress.


View right after the storm. Doesn't show the collapse roof of the upper barn area. This just shows the attached shed that collapsed.

[Dividend Watcher]

Alex, you're my hero. Wish I had the time to fiddle around with building projects more. I'm thinking of adding a garage this summer and expanding our tool shed. You can barely turn around in there.

At least you're using metal roofing. 3 years ago, I re-shingled the house. Didn't think it would be a problem. Three tab shingles that I've used all my life are 50 lb. bundles. No one told me the architectural shingle bundles are 80 lbs. each. I carried all 36 squares up the ladder myself. That's over 4 tons of shingles. The first few days I felt like my body was broken.

[hendi_alex]

Recently I've had occasion to carry some 50 pound bags of ready mix. The effort required is about equal to the effort for lifting 90 pound bags when under age 40. Can't imagine lift 80 pound bundles up a ladder. Even the youngsters have gotten lazy and use lifts these days.

[Dividend Watcher]

(03-10-2014, 10:07 PM)hendi_alex Wrote: Even the youngsters have gotten lazy and use lifts these days.

The lumber yard asked if I wanted it hoisted on the roof. I stupidly said "no, I can do that myself." I wondered why he gave me "that look".

The year before I started to replace our paver sidewalks with concrete. So, being so smart, I drove down to Lowe's about 15 miles away and loaded up 38 bags of 80# Ready Mix into my wife's Tahoe. It was close to closing so there was no one there to help me. Then, after driving home with the front wheels occasionally touching the road while moving , unloaded it onto the tarp to save it for morning. I asked my son to help. Told him he would cut open the bags and dump them in the wheelbarrow a couple at a time. Then we'd add the water, mix and pour and I'd do the finish work. After the 6th bag, he was complaining how heavy they were . Still haven't finished that job.

First section done:

   

I find I sometimes do stupid things.

[hendi_alex]

Nothing is as easy as it used to be, except patience. I have the patience of Job compared to my younger self. Maybe age forces that on all of us!

[Kerim]

Nice work, Alex. Do you ever sell those skills for extra income on the side?

[hendi_alex]

I'm free! So far we have renovated our daughter's house, down to the the studs replacing electrical, plumbing, and everything outward to finished rooms. Also had to make significant structural changes because of poor design by a previous "do it yourself" owner. Went from my daughter's to my sister in law's. There we renovated her kitchen, gutted and upgraded two bathrooms, put new flooring, doors, trim, and painted throughout the house. Plus we tackled renovating her out building and an outside closet. All the while we have been moving from area to area in our own house, as cash becomes available. The barn project caught us in the middle of an upstairs renovation. Pretty soon we will have to move to number two daughter's house and do a fair amount of work.

Work for pay changes the dynamics. As it is, anyone that we have helped has been over the top appreciative. For pay, expectations come into play, probably with little appreciation. I prefer a happy, appreciative free client, to that a difficult one that paid for services. We don't really need any money, so I'll continue to take on jobs when someone, usually in the family, needs our services. If things get too slow, I'll consider buying a spec house, renovate it, and put it back on the market.

[Dividend Watcher]

(03-14-2014, 09:44 AM)hendi_alex Wrote: I prefer a happy, appreciative free client, to that a difficult one that paid for services.

Aaaaah! So I guess I don't have to worry about the missus retaining Alex for that dog house Kerim was talking about.

Whew!