Roof Trusses
12 November 2006
After a long flight all the way from Missouri, my sister and her
husband arrived here late on Sunday night. I had already warned them
that first thing Monday morning I would need their help putting the
barn roof on, they could start their vacation after all the trusses
were in place. My friend Matt and I would walk the trusses but I
needed them here to hand stuff up and help tie the trusses to the crane
on the ground. Cranes are expensive so I wanted enough help to
make sure everything went as planned.
The crane got lost on the way here but once that was sorted out,
everything else went smoothly. My friend Matt had convinced me to
pre-build the first three trusses on the ground. This proved to be an
excellent idea. The crane had no trouble picking up the heavier weight
and pre-building those end pieces helped ensure that everything else went on
straight, fast and easy. It also minimized the amount of time we had
to spend hanging over the three story drop without any harnesses.
Once the crane left, we spent the rest of the day installing purlins, strongbacks
and fascia. The fascia was the most difficult part because the trusses are
four foot apart with a four foot overhang and three stories up. Hanging out
over space like that takes some getting used to. I have some
great pump jacks that could easily reach but moving them repeatedly
from place to place would take far too much time. Climbing and
reaching over the edge is the only reasonable option. Luckily, Matt is
a monkey, a very fast monkey the wields a mean nail gun. His help
installing the roof trusses was invaluable.
All that's left to do now is one more coat of paint then the roof
itself. The roof will be clear plastic so the sun can dry the coffee
laid out on the deck. Home Depot had the best deal on the roofing
material but only a third of the order has arrived. On the mainland,
they could simply call a neighboring store and have the remaining
pieces sent over but that's not possible here on the island.
Even without all the roofing in place, it still feels great to have the
trusses in place. There are still a million things that need to
be done to the barn but the end is in sight. It sure will be great to
have a dry place to work and store all my tools. Even better, it will
be great to be able to take a break from barn construction for awhile.
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