October 25, 2008
The diminishing daylight hours have not made it easy, but Annie and I are making progress on the chicken coop. Last weekend we finished assembling the timber for the foundation super structure. We leveled all the beams, mounted the front and back 2x8s, and it was beautiful. She checked the level many, many times. The center beam has a bow, and she kept going back to it with a shake of her head, telling me that it was not level. I picked up a bunch of pre-mixed concrete last Tuesday, and we mixed and filled half the concrete tubes until it got dark. We poured a half-ton of concrete. We finished our last tube with the headlights from the truck. The next day I finished the work, taking breaks from work for 20 minutes at a time. I was a sweaty nightmare, but I did not let anything from work slip. The end result was this beautiful picture of almost one ton of concrete in the piers. I know that they are not all centered but before you say anything, you can go screw yourself!
No, it is not crooked, it is just the way I took the picture. Annie was at her mother's when I did the next step. I put in the crossmembers to help support the floor. It came out ok, but I have some concerns.
I was careful to take the picture such that you can not see where I made mistakes. That is the art and craft of carpentry. It does not have to be perfect. Everything can be fixed. Yes, I know that the picture shows how out of alignment the right most pier is with the post, but it will be ok. Don't argue with me!
Today, I put the sub-floor on the structure. Holy crap. 4x8 tongue-in-groove plywood is not meant to be installed by a single person. I aligned and whacked as much as I could, but could not get the pieces to fit together. I was only off by a little more than an eighth of an inch, but it added up. I just abandoned the fitting on the last piece and turned it around. My neck hurts from balancing the pieces, and I am fine with the results. I can smooth it out later.
I have made the drawings for the walls, and am quite comfortable with constructing those. I do not know what I will do with the roof, though. I drew it, but am unsure how I will build it. Maybe Annie knows...
Turtle, not the Hare...
No, it is not crooked, it is just the way I took the picture. Annie was at her mother's when I did the next step. I put in the crossmembers to help support the floor. It came out ok, but I have some concerns.
I was careful to take the picture such that you can not see where I made mistakes. That is the art and craft of carpentry. It does not have to be perfect. Everything can be fixed. Yes, I know that the picture shows how out of alignment the right most pier is with the post, but it will be ok. Don't argue with me!
Today, I put the sub-floor on the structure. Holy crap. 4x8 tongue-in-groove plywood is not meant to be installed by a single person. I aligned and whacked as much as I could, but could not get the pieces to fit together. I was only off by a little more than an eighth of an inch, but it added up. I just abandoned the fitting on the last piece and turned it around. My neck hurts from balancing the pieces, and I am fine with the results. I can smooth it out later.
I have made the drawings for the walls, and am quite comfortable with constructing those. I do not know what I will do with the roof, though. I drew it, but am unsure how I will build it. Maybe Annie knows...
Turtle, not the Hare...