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Showing posts with label timber construction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label timber construction. Show all posts

February 19, 2019

Carport Repair: Extending the Roof

While I've been blogging about mushrooms, cheese, and baby goats, here's what Dan's been up to.

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Diamond joint

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Snoopervisor Sam performing a strength test.

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It's level!

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Snoopervisor Sam performing the final inspection.

The next step will be the metal roofing panels, but we're heading into a long stretch of rainy days so it may be awhile before it's weather friendly for that. (Click here to continue.)

February 10, 2019

Carport Repair: Center Beam for Roof Support

While the new piers were curing, Dan got started on the next thing he had in  mind, a center beam for added roof support.

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For the most part, the bones of the carport roof were in pretty good shape. The rafter ends on the windward side needed some attention, but the rest of it was still good. The builder, however, spanned too great a distance for Dan's liking. And since we were going to top the building with new metal roofing panels, it seemed a good idea to add another post for extra ceiling support.

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For the post, he chose a beautiful cedar log.

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We don't have a lot of cedars so we don't like to cut them down. This one, however, was the casualty of one of our recent storms. Dan found it lying on top of this pile of trees which wasn't there before!

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Before the post could go up, however, a new ceiling beam was added down the lengthwise center of the carport.

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This one was milled from one of our downed pine trees.

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They were pegged together with a dowel, which was cut flush with the beam.

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The base was next.

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Two cap blocks with a rebar rod in the center. Dan drilled a hole in the bottom of the post to fit over it.

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Then knee braces.

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As you can see, the top of the post covers the beam joint and peg.

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The old-fashioned name for the pegs is "trunnels," which comes from a slurring of "treenails."

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How's that for rustic?

We've been discussing multiple uses for this space and this new post is helping me visualize it.

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I can see a small table and two chairs in the front, and a small outdoor cooking area along the outside wall on the right: grill, smoker, and ??? Oven? The possibilities are slowly coming together.

Next: Carport Repair: Extending the Roof

December 29, 2017

Year in Review: A Look Back at 2017

All in all I have to say is this year has been a good one.

January

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Garlic in the snow.

January was cold and snowy. Dan worked on the front porch and I canned the year's supply of jams and jellies.

February

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Jessie with her twins - Racer and Ellie.

February was kidding month, with seven Kinder kids born. While I played goat midwife, Dan finished the front of the house.

March

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Fall planted wheat, peas, and oats growing.

March brought friendly weather, and it was a great month for working outdoors. Dan did some general clean-up while I planted pasture, made a second permaculture hedgerow, and redressed the hoop house in shade cloth in anticipation of a hot summer.

April

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In April we had two things under discussion: the barn and a workshop. Dan had been making do with a temporary workshop in the carport for eight years, so it seemed time to do something about it. Our first thought was to enclose the carport and make it a proper workshop, but when it proved un-repairable, I said, "Let's make my temporary goat barn permanent and just build you a new workshop." So that's what we decided to do, and Dan made piers for the foundation.

May

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Homegrown home-milled timbers became posts, beams, and bents.

June

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Harvesting our winter wheat was the "must do" for June. In building, Dan framed out the concrete slab for what was then still the workshop.

July

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In July I did my first little solar energy experiment, a 12-volt fan. We had another long discussion about whether the building Dan was working on should be a workshop or a goat barn. Goat barn won. It all boiled down to set-up, with the temporary "Little Barn" better suited to becoming a workshop and the building-in-progress better for the goats.

August

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Tomatoes and cucumbers

I spent most of my August picking and preserving, while Dan made a little progress on the barn.

September

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Dan got a start on the hay loft while I continued with the harvest.

October

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Most of the summer produce was put up by October and I had plenty of milk, so I experimented with recipes from a new cheesemaking book. Dan framed out the walls and roof for the hayloft.

November

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Autumn color got a slow start this year.

Dan finished framing the milking room and loafing overhang on the barn, then installed the milking room roof.

December

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Winter started early, with December bringing cold and snow. While I contemplated a floor plan for the milking room and worked on my book, Dan built a cupola for the barn and worked on the roof.

We'll probably always think of 2017 as the year of the barn. Maybe 2018 too, because building it has been the biggest project we'll ever tackle on our homestead. But also, it seems like finishing it will be a turning point. Sure, there are other one-time projects we'd like to do, but the barn seems significant in terms of having our homestead infrastructure in place.