I am still pondering how I'll attach the joists to the sill. I read online that there is actually such a thing as rough-cut joist hangers and if I could find them I would be one happy camper. I maneuvered a 14 foot beam over the gravel bed today in roughly the position it will be in and damn if it wasn't dead-on level. That has got to be a fluke. I doubt I'll get that lucky with the other three. I wonder how long it takes gravel 2 feet deep to settle and stop moving. We've had three hard rains so far but I can't believe that gravel is set.

Left: Now this is a joke. I've got 6 inch stock. I need to cut in 3 inches for the half lap and my saw will only cut to two inches. So go figure. I have to think about that. Furthermore, this being roughcut, none of the ends are squared which means I have to square all of them! I better get a really good hand saw.

Also bought two 5 lb boxes of 20d 4" nails and a 5/6" extension bit for my drill for $19.42 at Greenbergs. I also ordered 5 boxes of 3/8 x 4" lag bolts at $15.95 a box. I'm still researching, but I've got a price so far from Lauzon of $12 each for the angle irons. I'll need 24. I think.

July 22: The palette of ledgestone arrived and now that I've replanned my foundation, it doesn't look like much, but it has to be because it's too expensive to get more. I will supplement with other flat rocks. I've seen some around that I can pilfer and I'm sure my property will yield up some more. I'll use a cement block pier in the center.

July 24: Ordered the rough-cut joist hangers today and bought a box of galvanized joist hanger nails ($8.69) and a 1x16 spade bit (9.49) for a total of $19.09 with tax. I have a cash account now at Greenberg's so I get a little break on materials. The spade bit retailed for $10.59 and the nails $8.99 so I can't figure how they came to the discount that they did but anything is better than nothing. The spade bit is for drilling the holes that will accommodate the 1" oak pegs. The joist hanger nails are blissfully short.

I'm reconsidering using so many angle irons. Now I'm thinking the more traditional oak wooden pegs with some toenailing might be enough. I have been combing the net but not finding the right info for this project. Now I am researching a good post & beam book. It's been raining every day for several days now and that wood is soaked.

I've also worked out how I'll frame the floor.

August 8: Bought the case of 50 rough-cut 2x6 joist hangers to the tune of $77.70 (1.55 each)

I bought a 5 lb box of joist hanger nails which is marked $8.99 but I get a cash account discount and then there's tax so I don't know what they really cost but $8.99 is close enough. Also ordered 20 2x6x8 roughcut boards for joists.

And herein lies one of the considerations of using rough-cut materials. I had already made four lap cuts before I realized that I cannot assume the beams are all 6x6 and my cuts all 3" deep. They range from a half inch less to right on, so it is important to know which beam is going to lap onto which beam and measure each ahead to determine the depth of the cut. Because I had set all the beams into place about where their final resting place would be, it was easy to know how to measure once I realized that I needed to do that. Recutting one lap joint is not a big deal but it reminds me to think out each step very carefully and I do spend a good deal of time when I'm not sleeping at night, pondering construction details.

But all that is for next year. I will be content to finish the floor framing and decking. The flat surface will be easy to cover with a tarp and all the construction materials can be laid out on the new floor under the tarp.

September 16: Picked up the joists, 20/2 x 6 x 8s and 10/1 x 6 x 8s for the blocking, if I decide to do that, and for the outhouse door. $90. The guys at the sawmill were dubious, but the car took the load just fine with no visible strain.

Some fair expenditure went into this last effort and it's a sobering testimony to what will be the overall cost of this building. John charges $20/hr so he cost $120. The 8 sheets of CDX, 7 2" foamboard, box of galvanized #10s, and a box of (50) 5/16 x 4 lag screws cost $402.79 (that's with a cash account at Greenberg's). I ordered the angle brackets from Monarch Auto Body $171.20 for 16 (1/4 x 4 x 8).

Miscellaneous expenses were a 4' T-square $15.00 which is very helpful in cutting the foamboard and a (camo print, la-dee-da) tarp to cover the floor $26.49 at Aubuchon's. So, from top of the page, the expenses to date are $1,761.78. This does not include some small tax, the fasteners that I already had on hand and whatever small purchase I may have missed.

June 20: I put 2 coats of oil-based stain on the barn floor.

June 24: Slowly getting into gear. Moved nails, lag bolts, framing hammer, angle irons out to building site where they are stored in a plastic container. Ran the power out there a couple days ago. So far my heart is not in this. Once I get going, I may pick up the ball again.

August 30: Paid $312.80 to the sawyer for 5/6 x 6 x 8', 20/2 x 6 x 16', 20/1 x 6 x 16' & 20/½ x 6 x 16' but the latter two are mostly for fencing.

Sept 22: The project begins. Today was spent working with John. Mostly I moved all the rough-cut lumber that was delivered a couple weeks ago. It is green hemlock and really heavy. It is amazing how much lighter the hemlock beams are from last year. John cut all the posts and beams to size.

Sept 24, Friday: Got up all the posts and beams. All the corner posts are pegged through but I cut off the pegs under the mid span posts because, for reasons I cannot remember, we decided the top beams should go on first and it was too much of the pain to fit the posts under them and onto the pegs. It would entail one of us holding up the beam while the other wrestled the post onto the peg. It was overkill and unnecessary. We toenailed all the posts top and bottom.

Because the beams were seasoned, we could lift the 16 footer into place. We would not have been able to do that if they were green. John swears they weigh half, literally, of what they were last year. There was no discernable shrinkage and no checking and they spent a year outdoors, uncovered. Hemlock rules! The diagonal bracing has to stay until the plywood goes up. No more work now until Tuesday. I have a lot of materials to buy. Gave $380 to John for this week's hours.

Sept 25:

Bought at Greenbergs: roof cement $5.61

Sept 27: Rented the Home Depot truck and brought home the plywood, studs, and metal roofing. Truck rental: $25.44. Bought 3/2 x 4 x 12's to support the metal roofing on the truck, $17.49

Sept 30: There is at least one piece of plywood on each side now so the bracing is off. The door and all but one of the windows is framed. All studding begins at the center point of a span and works outward, 2' on center. That way I can always know where they are after the walls are covered on the inside. $320 to John for this week. $82.84 to RK Miles for 2/2 x 10 x 18' and 2/10' metal roofing ridge pieces both of which will be delivered on Monday.

Oct 4: $41.27 for 20 roughcut joist hangers at RK Miles. (2.06 ea, compared to 1.55 ea for a box of 50 at Greenbergs last year)

$46.29 for 15 precuts at RK ($3.04 each, compared to $2.89 at Home Depot and the latter had better looking pieces!)

Oct 5: I had too much web work today so John had to work alone. All the sheathing is on now. $6.83 for a tube of silicone caulk and joist hanger nails at Home Depot.

Oct 6: Today we got up all the joists for the loft floor and 2 pieces of plywood. Since it appeared I had some extra pieces of plywood, I demurred to using the 1/2" for the floor, even though I wanted to put on 3/4". But down the line I can put another flooring over that 1/2". The joists are 2' oc. There is a 2 x 3 board nailed into the top plate on the long (16') side, flush with the exterior plywood sheathing and it is on this that the rafters will sit. This extra piece allows for a graceful seat of the plywood decking on the loft, a very nice touch, I think.

Oct 7: $68 to Sweeney for 6/1 x 8 x 8s (fascia) and 10/2 x 6 x 12s (more rafters)

Oct 8, Friday: The ridge and 8 rafters are up. John had never done a ridge like this. I didn't know I was wanting anything unusual. I just wanted the 6" framing precedent to carry up to the ridge beam as well and the end result is aesthetically appealing. John likes it and was eager for the challenge. Doing it this way does require a bit more calculating.

Since my sawyer did not have any 18' stock, I bought 2 dimensional 2 x 10 x 18s and these were rabbeted into the outside of the 6" post that supports it on both sides and extends out one foot on either end for the roof overhang. That left a 3" space in between them and this was filled with a roughcut 2 x 3 aligned at the bottom. Then blocking was installed above that in the space between the 2 x 10s. Then John nailed a mitered 2 x 6 on top of that and a mitered dimensional 2 x 4 on top of that. Pretty beefy but we've got a nice triangular nailing surface for the roofing.

19 Oct: Bought a box of galvanized tens: $6.89

20 Oct: We finished the roof on the north side and removed the scaffolding. Tomorrow we start the south side. With the scaffolding, being on the roof was no big deal at all. It was like being on a roof that ended at the ground. I screwed in the lower 4 courses and John did the upper five. The 6th and last panel was done with the wooden ladder resting on the 5th panel, a cleat on the scaffolding holding it firmly in place. There were 6 panels, 45 screws per panel, 270 per side. John marked every screw position on the sheets before we put it up. I started all my holes with a nail but John could just screw them right in. It went like clockwork in about 1 hour and looks perfect. John is meticulous about measuring and it pays off.

21 Oct: Bought another bag of brown roofing screws (15.99) at Home Depot and a 12 gauge 100 foot extension cord: $64.61

22 Oct: Friday. Paid John $640. We've got the south side all sheathed and strapped. Monday we put on the metal.

23 Oct: I'm out of money. Writing checks against my home equity line now. Exchanged the galvanized roof ridge pieces for brown and got 4/2 x 4 x 12s and 10/ 2 x 4 x 8 (precuts, actually) and 30 roofing screws at rk Miles. (The bags I had gotten from HD contain 250 screws. I need 270 per side. I had some extras from doing the house roof but not quite enough for the ridge.)  $41.48 / Credit $32.50.

27 Oct: The roof is on and the gables sheathed except for a small triangle at the top of the west side. After that's done tomorrow, we'll start installing the windows. I got the hang of screwing down the metal and didn't prenail at all of this side. Awesome lunar eclipse happening right now, fully covered, blood red at 11:00 pm.

28 Oct: Installed all the windows today. Paid $16.44 for door hinges and lock set and $10.71 for a piece of red oak for the door sill, both at rk Miles.

29 Oct: Friday. Today was spent solely on the installation of the door. All the jambs, sill, stops had to be made and fitted and the end result was perfect. Paid John $522.89 but $72.89 was for 4 sheets of ½" plywood he picked up for me. As it turns out, we only needed 2 more so now I have 2 extra.

John is done for a while. I've got to get organized out there. I want him to make the stairs but I don't know when yet because the temp stairs work just fine for now.

I filled the cavities around windows and door with spray foam. The exterior side of the door has to be stripped and stained and I am going to fill the glass panel opening with 5/4 wood. The exterior door and window trim will be part of the siding so that won't get done until next year. I need to get the roughcut board and batten siding ordered so it can season but I have to recoup my expenses first.

About the windows and door: The two matching pair on the south side are steel clad thermopane. Mom got them at the Lion's auction two years ago for $2.00 for both. The 6 lite casement window with storms was $40 at this year's Lions auction and the small double hung with storms on the east side was $10 at the yard sale last year. The door I've had for a few years and I don't know if I paid anything for it. It is 1¾" solid wood, 36" wide.

25 Sept 2019: Bought 6 hemlock barn boards from Dorr - $30.82

29 Sept 2019: Bought cove siding for gable ends at Paulson's - $421.85

10 Oct 2019: Finally got most of the siding up on west side. Gables will be horizontal cove lap.