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Day 5 Report

This day, another hot and humid one but without the afternoon downpour, began and ended with food events, with some actual work getting done in the middle.

It is difficult to see much progress, as we are still deep in the assessment phase; Dane and Brian are collecting data from the surviving plates and purlins to locate joinery on the new sills, Tom and team are rolling over joist after joist, looking for markings, and rot, and a way to bridge the gap between the new and old summer locations. The rest of the gang is sorting, and orienting posts left to right and top to bottom.

I spent the day on the road with Rudy and Carson Christian and Laura Seagar and Steve Brown, architect for the Carriage Hill barn rebuild event we did last year. Steve has been involved in a project to replace a defunct nursery complex with a new medical facility. He discovered in the middle of all the sheds, lean-tos, greenhouses, and flat-roofed block and steel structures, is a pretty sharp timber frame.

Much crawling about in dark and hot spaces followed. This one is five bents, four bays, approximately 30x50, probably made from Michigan Pine. It is a classic American: dropped tie, canted queen posts, very tall and straight, apparently in quite good condition. The bulldozers are coming. This timber frame needs a home.

My day ended back at the site with a remote radio interview (second in a series) about the project and many questions from WHIO-AM. Most of southwestern Ohio now knows about community-service building projects, and I invited them all to the raising.

Finally, in a very wee hour of the morning, volunteer Tom Haanen wobbled in, driving straight all the way from Tulsa. He said he was able to find the job site by rolling down his window and following the snoring, which is unkind, but probably accurate. We DID leave a light on.

Captions: Sensitive, well-educated and experienced timber framers should not have to confront such a tableau as this, before coffee at 6:50 on a Friday morning, no matter what the comedians in the kitchen think. All was made right in a hurry when this was revealed as a novelty item, but not before some of the easterners caucused for a trip to town. Prime rib is preferred to possum by every timber framer we know. We continue to eat well.