Roofing

Not my favorite thing to do, but fortunately I was about 8-9 feet off the ground today.

I added 3 sheets of plywood, but then I realized Tia had the braces in her truck. I did manage to measure out for metal, so I’ll order that tomorrow.

I also found that the top had pulled a little out of square. I’m guessing the posts moved a touch. Not sure if I should attempt to pull it back, but I know I’d need to recut all the braces and also get a board on the end. Seems almost like more work than I’d like. I think it will be easier to just cut the metal to fit and trim the top boards in a few places.

Chugging Along

It’s been a busy week, but I did manage to get outside and do a little work this weekend. I drilled through the posts and roof trusses and added bolts to the shelter.

It’s 4 standard boards wide, which made for a challenge. I had a 1/2” spade bit designed to dig through, and used that, but it was only about 3/4 of the width long. I guessed right on the first one (fortunately) and got the holes to line up, drilling from each side, but on the rest I decided to try something different.

I had a long bit, about 16-18” designed for going through walls. I used that to pilot the holes, drilling slow, and then used the spade bit from each side to follow the pilot hole. For the most part it worked well, but I ended up having to nail through a few of the bolts with a hammer as the holes weren’t quite in line.

I was hoping to use 7” bolts, but Home Depot only had 8”, so there’s lots of extra. Shouldn’t be an issue, at least I hope not.

I was distracted, and forget to add the last roof truss on before doing the bolt, so I’ll have to remove those and add it on, drilling out the hole on the ground.

I even had a little help, which was nice.

Slowing Down

I’m trying not to push too hard on projects as I get older. I try to be safe and not get hurt. I was doing good today, putting up roof braces and cutting the shed poles to size when I went to start the generator for the last brace. I ended up banging my knuckle on the frame and slicing it nicely open.

I managed to hold it while getting the generated started and put in two screws into a brace before I decided it wasn’t worth getting blood all over or making something slippery and hurting myself.

Stopping for the afternoon at that, and planning on a trip to grab a few things from the store later today.

Finally

I got all six holes done.

This was a nightmare, with lots of water yesterday and today until I finally had them all about 2 1/2 ft down.

And then, when I tried to use the post hole digger to pull out the loose soil, it’s so crumbly, the shovel won’t get a scoop of it. It leaks back into the hole. So it was down on hands and knees scooping it out with my hands. Ugh.

I did go shopping as well, loading up on lumber and misc supplies. While water was soaking in at one point, I set up my sawhorses and glued up the treated wood. I had 12’ and 10’ 2x6s that I wanted to laminate together into bundles of 2 for the support posts. The 4x4s felt small last time, so I decided to use 4x6, laminated from two pieces.

I first spread the glue on one piece, and placed the other on top before nailing them together to hold and dry. I used clamps a little to get things going, but ran out, so I’m hoping the nails hold.

More drilling

Today was more augering into the shed holes. I was out there standing on the auger at times, and alternately pouring water in the holes and taking a break while it soaked in. In two sessions I managed to get 3 holes dug enough and another close. Two are still just a touch over halfway.

Ugh.

A New Loafing Shed

My wife wanted a new loafing shed in the other pasture as we’re starting to have lots of horses here, 10 now and 2 more coming. So I decided to get started on it by marking the corner poles. I had my wife give me a rough idea and then I went to work.

First I pounded in one corner pole, and then measured from the fence. I put down string in the direction I wanted and then measured 10 ft off. Getting the distance to the fence allowed me to fix the string in the right position and pound in another stake. I had the back of my shed now marked.

From there I added the other 4 poles. Three in back and three in front and when they were all roughly 10 ft apart (a 2x3 rectangle), I measured the diagonals. Those weren’t square, so I had to move things slightly to make the measurements work and soon enough I had six stakes in the ground.

Those were replaced by paint markers before I went to get the auger and tractor.

I started drilling, but that didn’t go well. Lots of clay in that part of the property, so I ended up getting a bucket and dumping water into 6 half drilled holes before calling it a day.

Benches

I knocked together a quick bench earlier this year for my wife’s tack room. Her business has been growing, and she asked for another one, which was the project of the week.

I bought wood on Saturday, but as with most things, I didn’t have the day go as planned. Kids came with me and I didn’t get home until almost dark, so I gave up for the night.

Sunday morning I got out there and started cutting wood. I decided to cut everything first since I needed 5 braces and 4 saddle racks. With the miter saw, I got everything cut to size and that was it. 90F and baseball in the afternoon drove me inside early.

Monday night, however, I wandered out to the garage and started screwing things together. 2 screws in each corner, making a series of “A” shapes that will brace the bench. This design worked fantastic the last time, so I kept it. I stacked them up and planned on getting out there the next day.

I managed to find time, and dragged out my braces, a drill, screws, a circular saw, extension cord, and a stool to the barn. I had purchased 10’ boards, thinking they’d just fit in there, but they were a touch long. Here is me measuring the space where the bench will go.

 

 

I screwed one brace to the wall

 

 

And another to the existing bench in the background.

 

 

Then I added more in the middle. I used these as separaters for the various bins people have more than for support.

 

 

By moving the bin as I angle screwed these to the wall, I had a good idea of the space I could leave between them. 4 new slots are on the wall now.

Once those were in, I put the top board on. As you can see, it needed a trim. Rather than mess with the measuring tape across 10’ (with no help), I measured in place. Once this was cut, I used this measurement to do the rest of the boards.

 

The first board is in place on top. Things went quickly and smoothly from here. I used a countersink bit in each case to make a slight indent in the top board, then added a drill through to the underlying brace before screwing things in.

 

 

I only used one screw per board per brace. I could have used 2, but for the most part this bench will get little stress. Saddle racks will be above it, so it’s mostly a place people can set things. I could have used 1x4s instead and it would have been find, but I elected not to. Someone might stand on it.

 

 

Once it was done, I swept up and the bench was there. You can see I added a front face board as well. It’s another 2x4, with the top edge screwed down into it. Again, I could have gone smaller, but this is simple.