Hey, Hey It's Bathtime

Well the structural work is all done. The barn is standing tall, now we just have to make it proud.

That beam that went under the barn has been shored up and trimmed.

The main beam inside has been replaced, and is firmly attached with a new bracket and the old knee brace. New footings have been made as well, using the old rocks and motaring them in place.
Looking in through the main doors shows the floor with no more droopy spots.There are however a few floor boards to be replaced. Some were rotten, some had been removed probably long ago. One floor joist actually had 2 feet cut out of it, so that was firmed up.Even Grampa Squirrel is impressed!

We also gave the slightly leaning drive shed a shove, and it's now slightly less slightly leaning.

The crew has done their work and are gone now. The barn is no longer suffering from badly wonky and bouncy floors. Now the floors are only slightly wonky and bouncy. The rest is up to me, aside from electrical which will be done by my Pop and me, then on to insulating and finishing.

Today was actually bath day, and after finally getting my hands on a gas pressure washer (long story) and suiting up I went to it. Les's dad was there to help me get things going, which was a great help. I sprayed down the entire interior of the barn, from top to bottom. In the end I was soaked through my rain suit, unable to either stand up straight or stop the shaking in my right arm, that is until the elbow pain set in, and with about 3 lbs of 100yr old crud in my hair. My hood wouldn't stay up in the 90km winds blowing through the open windows. Seemed like as soon as I had a groove on the wind picked up like crazy. I think a good wind will be good though, to help the barn dry out. The old grey and black crap colored wood is now a beautiful wood color, and the barn is about 60lbs lighter without all those chewed up nut shells. I don't have any pictures of this ordeal, as it was exhausting, and I wasn't about to pull the camera out. Next sunny day I'll take some nice pictures of the interior.

The past couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind. I pulled a few Chevy Chases, smashing out my contractor's truck door window with the mini-excavator, (I did help to replace it, and Quinn got t make a couple of new friends in the deal) blowing all the barn fuses, getting my truck completely stuck in the mud in my own front yard, then pushing it out with the mini-x and getting splattered in mud. It's been good though, got a lot of good things done. I can't help wondering though what the next week will bring. Hopefully I'll come out of it with all my digits properly attached, (not like last year...) and a good looking barn/gallery to boot.