The Barn is Up (sort of)

Yesterday Troyer Post Buildings arrived on the property, EARLY, to erect the poles and the roof. I and others will complete enclosing the barn. Plenty left for me to do and I still have to finish the French drain...all in good time.

I met with Robert, the crew boss and discussed the layout. He and his helper got their tape measures out and set out all the holes to be bored for the poles. Everything was squared up and double checked. In came the SkidSteer with a large boring bit. I'm thinking it was 18 inches or so. Each pole is 20’ long of pressure treated lumber, marked for structural use. Every pole was dropped 4' into the hole, plumbed up and secured with 2 bags of Sakrete then packed and backfilled.

Each metal truss came in 2 pieces and then they were bolted together on the ground. The gable ends received additional preparation for metal siding and also done on the ground. The gable end on the front of the building was raised to the top of the poles first. Each of the 6 truss assemblies went up in order from front to rear. And then they were secured to the posts with lag bolts. As this process went on, Robert was continually checking the posts to be sure they were plumb and putting braces in as necessary. These were removed after everything else was complete.

Prior to this one of the helpers was cutting 2"x 6"x 20' boards into 10' lengths. These are used to span the space between the trusses and provide the support for the roof metal. Each board was lifted and then thrown to the waiting "roofer", placed and screwed to the truss. This whole team performed like a well oiled machine, anticipating the next move and getting material and equipment as needed for the next task.

Just about the time all the boards were in the trusses and secured, a storm rolled in and forced the crew to quit for the day. No one needs to be struck by lightening or slip on wet roof metal for a barn.

We'll see the guys in the morning. Oh, here's a time lapse of the work done today.

Stay Tuned!