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April 30, 2006
Construction
After four straight weekends of junk removal, we finally started constructing this weekend. The work was neither glamorous nor particularly satisfying to behold, but there was something deeply gratifying about actually doing it. Our task was to address the problem of the drafty front wall of the barn, which is nothing more than barn board nailed up against rafters. Sunlight and rain could pour through at will. As could heat and cold.
We started by nailing these two boards across the most conspicuous gaps. This required nailing straight up into the board below the sill. It was an awkward way to swing a hammer, and I ruined two nails before I got the hang of it.
Then Bob used caulk to made a seal between each board.
Then came the tarpaper. Robbi measured and cut (she's the careful one) and I attached them using the staple gun (I'm the reckless one, who should not be trusted with the staple gun).
There were some high and hard-to-reach sections of the wall. Robbi tried to place a big sheet of tarpaper in a section behind a horizontal beam but got frustrated and started swearing. So I tried.
It was frustrating. But I dug down deep and found a formerly inaccessible region of patience. Which I tapped, somehow, and somehow got the sheet of tarpaper to fit. And so on for the other five high and hard-to-reach sections. The rare patience continued to guide me. I hardly knew myself. It was deeply gratifying.
And useful from a home-insulation standpoint.
See how the wind can no longer whip through our wall with impunity?
Iggy was not impressed.
Posted by bogenamp at April 30, 2006 10:38 PM