Home Improvement Today?

It’s been a minute, but with hot weather coming in I’m now committed to the barn renovation. I framed the walls on top of the footings we poured last fall finally. I got a cordless nailer that weighs 5,000 lbs but the convenience helped motivate me. This is where the man door will be. Since the footings here are higher than where the concrete floor will be, we’ll need to notch the footing with a hot saw.


ordered up my 20’ 2x4s to serve as rafter ties. If you look at the old posts I quoted you’ll see I’m trying to remove a load bearing wall in the center of the barn. In order to do that I have to run a continuous tie from rafter to rafter. Then I can cut away the center wall and have a 22’ wide building.


The ties need to be in the lower 1/3 of the roof. A laser level on a platform really helps to see where that measurement actually is.


I’ll get those ties cut and nailed this week.

After that I can work on the gable end. Right now this is what it looks like:


My engineer said since this wall isn’t load bearing I can add kickers to the outer walls and remove it temporarily. Then I can frame an 18’ opening for some carriage doors but do it in a way that adds lateral support for the whole building. This is essentially what we landed on: balloon framing with blocking and plywood sheathing that will be fully nailed to make a bit of a pseudo-portal frame (I can’t actually portal frame this thing properly):


I like the balloon framing approach because it’s way easier for 1 guy to frame it minus lifting the 18’+ triple 2x12s.

One of the many shit shows that comes with renovating an old building is things have been touched by multiple people. The front of the building had been re framed by the previous owner, and when he redid some footings he cut back the building so the front wall is no longer aligned with the last rafter… I squared my footing to the opposite edge of the building and you can see how the footings come up short when I did this. Look at how my 1x6 that's resting on my footing is not aligned with the rafter:


I think I’ll need to add a plate that is aligned with the wall I’m building, and then find a way to bridge the plate and the rafter so my wall is actually supporting that last rafter.

More joys to come.

 

this is funny to me, as illinois/chicagoland plumbing inspections will automatically fail any install that doesn't have a copper line ran to the fridge...

 

Chicagoland is pretty far behind IMO. I think they still require cast iron in a lot of cases

 

i blame something in the water here

 

Ehhh, can't be any worse than the well water here in farm country. Mmmm, chemicals!

 

Our plumber and cabinet guy effectively forced us to use a faucet shutoff valve for the laundry tub to feed the ice maker instead of having a dedicated box recessed into the wall. I found the distinction interesting. I can see how it’s more accessible if you know it’s there but it’s also strange to run ice maker line through a wall, even if it’s an interior wall.

 

Replaced the last section of galvanized pipe that was behind the 1st floor bathroom sink - went from trap adapter screwed into galvanized 90 elbow and then down thru the floor to basement and tied into PVC line. Didn't touch that wall when renovating the bathroom 15 years ago. In hindsight, I should have ripped it out and started fresh.

100 years of gunk!!
No wonder it wouldn't take much for the sink to back up.

 

Ugh, reminds me of the plumbing I got to do. My drains are copper and are developing pin-hole leaks everywhere. The ceiling tile in the basement looks like a spotted leopard. Guess being 58 years old they got an excuse to leak...

 

Is the subfloor 3/4" plywood? Just curious if your codes mandate plywood over OSB or if it's a personal preference.

 

3/4" t&g fir plywood , personal preference and OSB subfloor is rarely used here

 

what cordless nailer did you get ?

 

I got the Milwaukee 21° — there was a deal on it. Had to pay for the extended mag though which kind of sucked. Stock mag holds 1 strip of nails. It’s hefty. Almost comical, but I’ll take it over having to run an extension cord and hose to nail a wall here and there

 

cool

I have the Metabo / Hitachi

 

Metabo is really good at making lightweight cordless tools. I think their cordless worm drive is 3-4 lbs lighter than my Milwaukee. If I weren't already really deep into the M18 platform I'd pick up some. I know their triple hammer is really good.

 

Question for any Crown Moulding experts. I'm installing this 2 piece system. I'm pre assembling everything as there's no way to attach the top piece to the bottom piece if the bottom is installed first. It's been a pain as the factory joininery has no glue, so the joints are coming loose often, sometimes while cutting. I only got one section of cabinets cut & dry fit today. Really need a 2nd set of hands.

How would you connect to top part to the bottom? Seems like any nail or screw won't grab a lot of wood and will go right through that angled joint. I'm considering ripping some 1x for a filler on the back of the lower piece and using that as a nailer (with glue of course). I'll have to attach the entire assembly with screws through the top of the cabinets.

This is the orientation/profile my customer wanted.

 

Go ahead and nail a block of wood to the wall near that fridge water line. That way the fridge hits the wood and not the water line.

 

I think you'll have plenty of meat in there for a screw. Use a trim-head and pre-dill.


If you can get them separated without destroying the piece then you can put wood glue in the joint before screwing them.

 

You think?

Would definitely pre-drill and use trim head screws.

Difficult to separate as there are staples about every 8".

 

The pre drilling will help ensure you don't blow the screw through the front of the piece. Are you just concerned with the it popping out the front? Or are you concerned w/ getting a bite? Use a longer screw. If you want to ensure that thing isn't going anywhere you can flip it over and fill the seam with glue; like a stitch weld. Sounds weird, but you'd be surprised how well just injecting wood glue into an already "closed" joint will hold it shut. Kind of like using wood glue as an adhesive caulk.

 

My main concern is the small amount of wood that's available for downward pressure on the lower piece.