lou'slifelines: Loft or Upper Floor

Continue

After I finished the walls of the lower part of the barn, I didn't know if I would want to have a loft or something else. After some thought, I decided to go with a second floor. That would allow me to have a lot of storage area for hay, grain and what ever. I bought some 2" X 10"s X 12 and some 2" X 12"s. I made a beam of 2X12s stacked 3 thick and 48' long for a beam down the middle. I put the 2" X 10"s for floor joists on 2' centers and nailed 3/4" plywood for a sub-floor. Joshua ran the bucket on the tractor with Alex and I placing the floor joists on the beams. It was a trick to hold the beam up and nail the joists to them and put the steel columns under the beam. It took the three of us. The next week I hired Chicken Gary to help me nail down the 3/4' sub floor. I call him Chicken Gary, because he is a land owner in the area, and his chickens are always on the road eating grasshoppers when we drive by his place. He keeps to himself, and doesn't bother anyone. He put a gate and fence up, with a No Trespassing sign. He built a small building out of used material, about 12 x 16, on blocks. He is up on the ridge, where the cedar and pine grow. His stuff is kind of hidden in the trees. All the other owners in the area complain that he must be in violation of some rule or something. Maybe growing something illegal. I then had a lot of exposed lumber that needed to be covered before too much rain could damage it. I asked some friends and family to come and help me put up the walls to the second floor the next weekend. My oldest son, Lou Jr., and Alex's oldest son, Brahm, Randy Mellor, and Alex met the next Saturday morning and we spent the day building walls and bracing and putting them up, for the second floor. I had found some used trusses that were 27'. That would give me about an 18" overhang on each side. I had to fabricate a few to complete the job. Brahm came the following weekend and helped me and Alex to put them in place. Joshua, Alex and I worked to put the steel roof panels on. We made Joshua use fall protection harness to help with the silicone on the screws. He loved climbing in the trusses like a monkey. I think Joshua was about 8 at the time. It took us 2 weekends to finish the roof. I placed some screen wire between the trusses at the eves, in an attempt to keep out the birds. By 2008 it had failed. Birds had vandalized the barn. By the time that we had finished stuccoing the outside of the barn, it was 2003. The only thing that I hired a trade to do was the stucco. I thought that is something that I should hire out, because my dad is dead. He was a plasterer by trade and I spent my youth watching him with a hawk and trawl. It is an art that takes a lot of practice to master. I wanted it to look good. I boarded up the doors, and use it to this day to store my tools, and some things that we will use for construction of our house. In 2008, we had to return, and seal the sofits from the birds. I have attached some pictures of Brahm and I working on the sofits. Lou Jr and I did the south side the week before and we didn't have a camera to take pictures.