East Coast Relatives

While Jean and Uncle Ralph were in Wyoming, we took a road trip to Torrington and met our cousin, Don, and went to the cemetery.

Cousins

My cousin, Jean from Pennsylvania, came with her father, Uncle Ralph, and spent several days visiting in Cheyenne. We had a great time visiting, laughing, walking, eating, shopping,and catching up on life.

Preparing the Pad

We hired Graham and Sons to prepare the area so that a cement pad can be poured for the shop.

Spraying

1,000 gallons of water was used to aid in compacting the dirt around the foundation.

Raking

The worker is smoothing out the gravel that the bobcat is dumping.

Reinforcing the Concrete

Re bar and wire mesh were added to reinforce the concrete.

Pouring the Concrete

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Floating the Cement

Cement Pad

Cement Pad for the 30 X 40 metal building.

Set Up

The bolts, nuts, and tools are housed in these handy blue boxes. The metal pieces were placed around the cement before being erected.

First Column

Dan operated the bobcat and raised the first column while Karen guided it over the 4 anchor bolts. Next the girt was added.

Day 2

4 columns 2 girts

Center Rafters

The bobcat was used to help connect the two 250 pound rafters which will be placed on the two center columns.

Handy Ropes

Dan rigged up this rope system to help raise the East end girt.

Help

Our helpful neighbor, Curt Sorenson, is working on putting up a West end girt.

Columns Up

All 12 columns are bolted in place.

Level for Plumb Line

Checking for plumb.

Rope

We used a rope to align the rafter to the column while lifting the rafters.

Bobcat Helped

The bobcat aided in lifting the 500 pounds of the middle rafters. The roust about is connected to the chain in the middle. It is the yellow piece of equipment that we rented.

Roust About

We rented this roust about to help in raising the 500 pound rafters.

Rafters

Dan is putting in the bolts on the east end rafters. Notice the yellow piece of equipment that is attached to the chain on top of the rafter. We rented this "roust about" which was supposed to lift loads 15 feet. Actually it went up only about 14 ½ feet.

West End Rafters

All of the rafters are up. Here you can see 12 columns, 10 girts, 2 header, and 6 rafters. Day 5

Up and Down

Dan went up and down the scaffold and/or ladder about 8 times per purlin. Lots of exercise. But he says it probably won't help his golf game.

Cables

Detail of cable eye bolt.
8 cables were attached, four under the purlins on the east bay and 2 on the north and 2 on the south side, making an X.

Drilling

The electric drill had to be used to get those holes ready for the bolts.

Hard Hats

Hard hats are good protectors.

Overlapping

Overlapping the purlins and standing them up was tricky. 10 bolts were added to the purlins in the center attachments.

Table Full of Tools

This make shift table held tools that were used during the building process.

6 Purlins Up

I See You!

I see you. The 80 pound purlin is resting on the scaffold and attached to the rope which is tied to the scaffold. Using a rope to haul it up to the top of the rafters helped.

Adding the Braces

The braces were bolted to the purlin and rafter.

Higher

Two pallets were used on top of the scaffold so that Dan could reach those HIGH places.

Above Head

Attaching the nut to the bolt above head is DIFFICULT. The black tool that looks like a microphone (next to Dan's right arm) helped in the aligning of the holes in the purlins so that the bolts would fit. It is pointy on one end. It is called a drift pin or punch.

Ropes

Holding the ropes while Dan lifted the purlins, helped raise them up above the rafters.

Checking the Level

One of my jobs was to use the magnetic level to check the columns. Finding the "bubble" in between the two lines on the level was a good sign.

Bolts

Dan, who is afraid of heights, faced this fear each time he climbed up on the scaffold.

Purlins Up

The 12 Purlins are finally up!