A week of construction
Assembling the Barn
The First Day
We usually had three digital cameras plus four camera-equipped cell phones on site during construction. Several of the first day's photos, in Bob's digital camera, were overlooked when this page was first put together.
Moving the first inner column into place
Adjusting the position
Bolting the column down
One of Doug's many jobs was unbolting the chain from the top - thus the ladder
The top of each column is just over 12'
Picking up the last of the inner columns
The rough terrain forklift from ALL Rental Center was a real
workhorse.
Once the four inner columns were in place, it was time to place the main girders.
Bolted together and hoisted ever-so-carefully, over the columns, the main girders were a bit tricky. While the forklift could handle them easily, their
momentum (estimated weight of the assembly was just over 1,600 pounds) could be dangerous. We all put safety first and finished the job with all our fingers, hands, toes, feet, and eyes.
Doug and Terri stabilized the girder assembly to keep it from swinging into the columns
Inching the forklift down... keeping fingers out of the way.
Once it was bolted into place, the guy ropes kept the breezes from putting everything back on the ground. We then installed the roof purlins.
Once the cross-bracing cables were installed between the columns, the structure was strong enough to remove the guy ropes.
Adjusting the tension of the cross-bracing cables allowed us to adjust the alignment and plumb of the columns. We kept a guy rope
on the peak until all of the purlins and additional cross-bracing cables were installed between the main girders.
Slow going at first, but once you've done one, you're an expert!
Dinner the first night was...
Terrific!
After the initial week, work continued on the weekends...
Construction started with setting the main columns and placing assembled girders on top.
The Gradall had plenty of lift and reach capacity. The Genie lift has an all-terrain capability.
We camped the first night to get an early start the next day. The end of day one saw a lot of progress.
The girts (horizontal supports around the walls) and purlins (roof-supports) were installed after the end walls were assembled.
The end walls are topped with two C-shaped channels bolted back-to-back, creating a two-part I-Beam.
The initial assembly took longer than we had anticipated - day four saw the main frames erected.
The 10-foot overhead doors arrived at the end of the week, one box was a little bruised, but the door still looks great.
At the end of the week, 30% of the wall panels were on the building. The remaining walls and roof will be installed over the next several weekends.
The driveway, septic, water supply lines, and now (nearly) a barn.
Stay tuned for the barn warming party annoucement!
And,...
we'd like to thank the following people for making our adventure even better:
- Doug & Kristy - great workers with great senses of humor.
- Jim Taylor - worked like a maniac helping us assemble the frame despite often-cryptic instructions and missing detail drawings.
- Barb & Jim Schubin - for taking care of the pets on a moment's notice when we stayed too late in Park County
- Gramma & Grampa Taylor - the on-site catereing of lunch was fantastic!
- Bill Vangundy and his brother Don of Lost Park Builders - having a great foundatation sure makes assembly easier!
The next steps are to get the building weather-tight and finish the fence around the homesite this summer.