Bird's Eye View

Brad surveys the barn from high up.

Flashing Happening

Today, Saturday, was a family only day at the site. Brad, Ed and Fran worked on getting the flashing around the barn's bedroom completed. Now we're ready for doors and almost ready for siding. This flashing detail is one Brad came up with so the soil can ride higher on the building to create a more seamless relationship between outside and inside. Where you see the top flashing overlapping the lower flashing is the approximate soil level. So looking at the second photo you can see that the soil will be right at the door level. This allows for entering the building without a step.

Rafters, Rafters, Rafters...

Up go the rafters on the barn. Brad and Travis completed one-third of the rafters today. These rafters are the 2x8's that came from the warehouse in Tacoma. Much nail pulling to get them ready but they are beautiful!

Demolition in Edmonds

This is a picture of our carriage doors in their Edmonds home. The home was beautiful. Tile roof, solid brick construction, copper gutters, and a stop dead view overlooking the sound. It was positioned on, I'd guess, an acre or two. When I first saw the house the demolition crew was already at work ripping out doors and windows. Thanks to Dave, the owner of ReUse, much of the building was recycled. And, the carriage doors are now ours, (See Carriage Doors 5/9 and Dressing Up the Carriage Doors 5/10).

Photo by Dave Bennick

Ridge Beam

The ridge beam is on the roof, although it's final location will be up another 3 feet. This has been a frustratingly slow week. Brad is still sick and also has an injured arm so he's moving at a slower than usual pace. Casey has not worked at all because of family problems. And Chris Marti didn't come on Monday for the foundation work because Brad stayed in Bellingham to rest another day. Despite all these problems, Brad and Travis have been moving forward, albeit not as quickly as desired. The welding of two of the posts is complete and they're up -- without securing ropes -- and ready to receive the rafters.

I have been running around like a fool comparing costs and locating the right wood preservative, concrete stain and deck water proofing, Plus I've ordered the fixtures for the bathroom, priced roofing, picked up flashing, and on and on. Running here and running there has filled the week. The details of building continue to amaze me with their complexity. There is a never ending need to price or select or pick up.

It's all fun but demanding. Keeping the entire project in perspective is an ongoing task as we don't want it to become a stress filled, can't-wait-to-get-this-over-with, burden.

The Final Blast...

Ed is learning the fine art of pressure washing. This is the last cleaning before using this "hen house" wood for the interior surface of the barn's bedroom.

Work Stopped!

No, not a stop work order, just horrible weather and a sick crew. Travis has been sick all week with Brad joining in on the fun and games Thursday. And now, today, both Ed and I are feeling sore throats coming on too. On top of that it's pouring! We've stopped all serious work to allow for healing and drying out. Brad took off for Bellingham yesterday afternoon to enjoy the comforts of home while he's sick.

I picked up a large pressure washer yesterday, courtesy of Mary and Dick, for washing our old barn wood. However, the pressure washing project is shaping up to be today's postpone-to-tomorrow task. It's really nasty outside!

Monday brings back the Marty Bros. to build the retaining wall forms for the main living space and guest house, with another concrete pour to follow shortly.

But, today, like yesterday, we heal and rest and recover and wait for the rain to stop. Tomorrow more rain is expected but we're hoping it will slow down a bit and behave more like a typical NW drizzle. We still want to put that pressure washer to good use this weekend.

We must remind ourselves from time-to-time that the first day of summer in this part of the world is the 4th of July. So these beautiful, cheery daisies are to keep us hopeful that the remainder of our NW spring doesn't settle into wet, dreary, gray days.