our S.E. TX story and a half

Started by CjAl, September 26, 2011, 04:56:23 PM

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CjAl

I have been building a cat house today. I would much rather be working on my house but i am holdingnoff on buying the expensove 2x12s and the 20' long loft floor joist untill i know if i have a job or not. If not i will be needing the money to feed the family. But we have 6 cats and thats about 5 too many for a motor home and its getting expensive running back to the old house every day to feed them. Other then the cats we are full time living here in the motorhome.

After two years of refusing to take a short sale on the old house and putting it up for auction twice and it not selling the suddenlydecide they want us to show it and sell it and they will take a short sale. Go figure.

So if anyone wants a real nice 13 Acres fully wooded with a run down double wide on it i can get you a deal if you dont mind the extensive cleanup required and the trailer park next door. Lol

CjAl

Btw

I cut down a large pine tree right behind the house. I want to peel it and use part of it in the house.

Is there wa way to get this thing to stop pouring out sap? Does it just take time for it to stop or what? Its been on the ground about  a month. I peeled a small section yesterday and today its covered in sap. Would it help if i cut it to the length i need? Right now its a full tree laying on the ground because cutting it down killed my chain saw


CjAl

It sure is nice being home. I got a job with lowes in jasper doing deliveries but it is taking them forever to get me signed on. I sure could use some money.

Water is getting warmer, the bass are waking up



I got the log i am going to use for my central support mostly peeled i just need to getbit cut to length, peel the very bottom of it and getbit in the house.

My subfloor is getting soft on me. I believe i need to put a second layer of subfloor down under the log and eventuall the whole floor. The money problems has caused me a lot of problems with this build. I wish i had gotten the roof on before my business went to heck.




CjAl

#128
Not much work has gotten done but I have been working on the log for this the center support and I started cutting beams for the loft floor joists with my chainsaw mini mill from the other logs I have left .










It's dirty work

rich2Vermont

Hi CjAl - how do you like your chainsaw mill? I was thinking of getting one to make use of some recent deadfall, rather than letting it all rot. Thanks!


UK4X4

Those timbers came out very nice looking-----not dusty at all  ::)

How long did it take to mill the three ?

CjAl

I was surprised how nice they turned out.  Setup of the first cut is crucial.  This isn't really intended for making that firstcut it thisk kin but you see how I did it.  I am sure they would much rather you but the $300 Alaska mill to slab the first cut or two but I wasn't doing

They sell a ripping chai . That they say will cut better and faster.  I just used a new chain is had and it cut just fine on my 64cc stillwith 20'' bar.  Every cut got a little rougher so keep it sharp.  By the end of the day yesterday I was getting pretty rough cuts but for me that's fine.  We wanted thatrough cut look

CjAl

I finished them up today.  Stacked to dry a bit more.  I was amazed how wet they still are in cut that tree down a long time ago.


CjAl

And few of these beams have holes from insects.  Does anyone know what I can spray down into the holes to make sure Ihave killed any insects that may be in them ?


Now to try and find beam hangers for rough cut beams


Carla_M

Quote from: CjAl on May 09, 2013, 02:59:26 PM
Does anyone know what I can spray down into the holes to make sure Ihave killed any insects that may be in them ?

Borate.  Whatever that is  :D   I remember that word for some reason; read it in a couple of posts some time ago. Don_P would be the expert I think. Hopefully he'll see this question. A search on the word Borate here does bring up several hits.
The personal dietary habits of people kill more frequently than firearms. Eat healthy and carry a gun.

CjAl

Now that you mention it in believe he has told me that before.  Wonder if Ican find some at lowes

CjAl

Quote from: UK4X4 on May 09, 2013, 12:40:25 PM
Those timbers came out very nice looking-----not dusty at all  ::)

How long did it take to mill the three ?

The first two logs Igot three out of each one aalthough had to take some bark edge in order to get three from the second one on the top end it got a bit narrow.  The other two logs I got two each from.  I have two more smaller logs I will keep for later,  may just slab them up if Idecide to buy tthe Alaska mill.

The first two logs probably took an hour and a half to mill up but the initial setup took me a while to figure out how I wanted to doit. The two other logs took about an hour.  Each ten foot cut takes probably 4 minutes.  Could probably do it faster but don't want to kill my saw.  Already killed one last month.  Think cuts are MUCH faster then thick ones.  A few I just barely shaved the bark off and that took less then a minute

CjAl

I haven't been around much. After I sold the business I got my cell phones shut off which was also my internet. Just now getting things back together. Havn't done a whole lot but that seems to be the story of my life. I have done what I can for free or cheap. Hopefully this coming friday I will be buying the lumber for my ridge beam, rafters and sheething.

here are some pics of what Ihave been up to.

stained the beams. it is only a medium walnut but the rough cut sucked up like a sponge and it's a bit darker then I anticipated. will look good against the blond floor boards though.



got one coat of danish oil on my log but it needs a few more. got it stood up with the winch on my jeep and lots of bracing. went better then I expected.



noptched the sides of the log to accept two of the beams




dablack

Looks cool!  Do whatcha can, when you can.


CjAl

I have been fighting warping and twisting lumber. being up this long and exposed to the elements has not been good. I have ratchet straps pulling and pushing things in place as I continue to build untill it all gets locked into place. even used the jeep inch a few times.

got some of the rafters in today. I have about half the sheething for the roof ready to be put up also.



CjAl


speedfunk

I feel ya man..going slow does add extra time and sometimes stuff has to be replaced.. It just kinda is what it is.   it seems as if there is always something needed to get done to slow some kind of damage being caused by not having things completely wrapped up.  At least if you can just get the shell closed in that should help a great deal!  Like the logs ....  I see one person if another thread (forget which one) who put a giant tarp over the whole thing.  I think that is a great idea..figure tarp costs a few hundred BUT saves so much in the way of doing things over and damage .   He had trees next to his foundation.  Smart feller :D


CjAl

actually money is my problem time isn't. As of right now I have all the rafters up except the barge rafters which My wife decided she couldn't handle helping me with so I need to find a better way of doing it and mabey by myself. I have half the OSB for roof sheathing but I need the other half. I don't like osb and don't want to use it but it's $9.99 a sheet compared to $17.99 a sheet for 7/16 plywood. Right now it would cost me more to put tarp up then it would to buy the other half of the sheething and tar paper. I'm on a 6 day stretch at work and after delivering appliances all day I can't come home and work on the house so I'm affraid this is where I am at for the next two weeks when I get paid again and have a two day weekend.



My barge rafters are 18" out from the end of the house. I am using 2x6 and I attached the 2x4's to them  figuring I could slide them out the outer rafter in the notches and nail them off to the second rafter. My wife can't hold the weight and support herself enough to feel safe so does anyone know a better way??  if I take the 2x6 off the 2x4's and nailt he 2x4's into place will it be strong enough for me to put the sheething on and then hang off the end to nail the 2x6 on? now I must admit I weigh 360lbs so I am less then enthused about this idea

CjAl

oh and yes my subfloor is lost. I have several holes in it at this point

Don_P

I don't know, I'm less than half that so tearout is a big consideration but that also means you're stronger. While the assembly is still together can you nail a 2x6 flatways to the top of the second rafter forming an angle iron facing out toward the overhang. Set the barge on the notched rafter, lookouts aligned with their notches and hanging down. Now start sliding the barge out and tipping it till the lookouts are sliding on the underside of the second rafter. When the lookouts get to the edge of the second rafter outer face gently let themslide up that face till the lookouts rest against that flatways 2x6 nailed to the top of the second rafter and nail the lookouts off to the 2nd rafter. If anything gets away from you throw the whole assembly out away and go take it apart on the ground, don't let it drag you off.

Now, here's how I've done it. Like you're suggesting nail the individual 2x4's into their notches and into the second rafter forming a ladder. I climb the area just over the notches, not trusting the end nails in the second rafter not to break out and not going outboard far at all. But, if you run a scrap 2x under the lookouts on the second rafter and nail it in well you should be able to dance on the area between the rafters. I usually run my lookouts a few inches long, measure out on the top and bottom lookouts and pop a line then saw them in a straight line in air... non osha. Another way is to block a stringline on the second rafter and brace it in a straight line and then use your precut lookouts, make a mark for layout of the notched rafter on each lookout to keep it straight. Make sure you nail the lookouts to the second rafter square.

A couple of blocks nailed on top of the fly rafter that will rest on the lookouts will replace your wife holding out there in space. I have done like you're talking about and sheathed first, nailed toeboards on the roof and leaned over to nail the fly on, didn't much care for it, you're deflecting things while trying to get it all up. but it can be done.

One word of caution when using a gun leaning out to nail the fly on, the muzzle is pointing in a bad direction and it is very easy to double fire and shoot yourself. She pulled the nail out of herself and kept shooting, and people are afraid of my dog   ;D

The subfloor, just put another layer over it when your dried in, screw and offset seams.


Don_P

#145
Wish you were here, tomorrow will be day 2 of trying to get brake and clearance lights on this Mack working  d* I thought cars were bad, besides wiring there's a mile of airline behind the dash too.

Edit, Yaay, end of day 2, found the brake light switch, air activated, had died, a local truck repair shop had a working one. The clearance and tail lights, well I moved the terminal box in the back and water ran out, a mass of corrosion. Took a couple of hours to redo that, a tube of dielectric grease and a tube of RTV to seal the terminal block and we're up and running. I think I even got the seat to stay pumped up  [cool]. Lord there's alot to go wrong in a big truck.

CjAl

got to love working on old trucks. they love those push connectors for air lines behind the dash and they all leak eventually.

sorry I havn't had internet much. Lowes just about starved my family, almost got real bad and at the last minute I got a call from the new German Pellet mill they just built in town about 5 mi from my house. I am now running 3 loads a day from woodville to port of port arthur (when they can keep the mill and silo's running) so it has doubled my income so I am finally back in the game but still getting caught up.

managed to FINALLY the the roof rafters and sheeting up and it's tar papered. I had it all done except the middle row last weekend and now it poured rain for two days and I was off work. All I could do was look out the window and watch my osb and house get soaked. but it's done now. Now I save up for the metal for the roof. Silo has been broke down for last 4 days so paycheck may not be enough this week.

I managed to get a kid I was working with at Lowes to help. Paid him $200, he likes heights and I hate them. he's like a spider monkey up there. i cut and handed sheets up and supervised him, he nailed them off and papered it. He's a hard working kid I'd pay him more if I had more

I am going to buy some scaffolding next week and we will hand the barge rafters and drip edge then get started on the metal. it's not been fun working around all the twisted wood from being out in the rain and now I'm going to need about 5 gallons of bleach to spray all the wood down






rick91351

Glad to see you have another job and back making some $$$.  Try and stay positive.   [cool] 
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

dablack

Looking good.  Really coming together!  It doesn't matter how long it takes as long as you are moving in the right direction.

Austin

CjAl

Ya my new job. Lol


The silos at the port broke down then the mill started on fire. I javent eorked in five days andonly got one run s day the four days before that. Oh well its all new technology so ot has some bugs to work out.


I am hanging shesthing as I spesk, pictures later