When we last left our steel building it was covered (or uncovered) in a blue tarp that the hostile winter shredded and left flapping in the wind.
Despite some intermittent showers the long weekend gave the happy builder time to do perhaps the least impressive looking but most structurally important part of getting the front wall finished: anchors to which the stud wall will be attached. After that it could be fronted with board and batton, barn-board, or something else equally pleasing. We’re not quite sure yet. But I digress.
First, some lengths of cant strip had to be purchased. Do not go to Home Depot if you ever need this triangular-cut wood. You need a real lumber yard. Home Depot people will look at you as if you just crawled out of the forest after being raised by wolves. Because of the rounded walls, the cant strip had to be cut in 16 inch lengths and attached to a piece of 2 x 4 and 2 x 6. The wood blob was then secured with screws from the top down, which for Derek meant clamping it on and then skittering up to the roof like a hungry raccoon. Some steel pieces still needed to be attached as well to finish what I call the “lip” of the building. The wood can be seen – barely – just inside the edges of the opening.
This won’t be the “wow” factor of the job to anyone but us because it’s setting the stage for the entire wall to be built. There was a lot of crawling up and down ladders, even in the pouring rain. It took the better part of 3 days to get the job done alone. I did nothing but provide fresh water and encouragement.
Several buddies came to check out the progress but no one volunteered to help! That’s okay though. There will be other, more satisfying jobs where pals will be required and afterwards they will be able to look back and see what they’ve done. It’s going to be awesome when it’s finished. My job now is to strip and paint the steel “man” door. We’ll also need a garage door. But first we need a frame and that’s next, whenever there’s time to get to it. You’ll be the second to know!