No construction project goes without any hitches at all, Steve’s garage being absolutely typical. If you have just joined my daily construction blog – I have been sharing my daily chronicle this week of constructing a pole barn garage for my oldest step-son’s father-in-law in Happy Valley, Tennessee. It was probably the hottest days I can remember in my lifetime of constructing a pole barn – trying to swing a hammer with one hand and mop my brow with another. In fact, Tennessee set records for highest temps while we were there!
Besides the prior self-induced challenges written about in the past week, we had a few others.
A prime directive – inventory everything upon delivery. All of the materials were onsite well before my arrival, however the counting abilities were challenged. This particular building required 15 pieces of J Channel trim. The J Channel is used at the top of all four walls, as well as around the entry door. It turned out only 14 were received, so another one had to be ordered, and was easily slipped into place after delivery.
The insulated Commercial Steel Entry door arrived in a perfect looking cardboard box. Upon opening the box, we found one of the steel jambs was bent. The door was able to be used, and the bend in the jamb was not overly noticeable. We did report the damage immediately, along with photos to the door supplier.
After the sidewall and rear endwall steel had been installed, it was time to start on the front endwall. The next to bottom sheet of steel in the entire bundle, was heading for the center of the front endwall. About three feet from one end, were major blisters in the paint. Argh – no way to hide this one. This defect is rare, and is not a fault of the steel roll former – it came this way from the coil coaters (the people who paint the bare steel coils). The only solution was to contact the steel company for a replacement panel (again, we took photos and forwarded them). All of the other panels were successfully installed and the substitute panel arrived with the missing J Channel and was quickly installed upon arrival.
In the end, Steve is ecstatic with his new garage – which is always the goal. Last I heard he and his brother were happily building a workbench and moving tools and other “storeables” into his new garage.
At the time of this writing, I am awaiting “finished” photos of the building, courtesy of my step-son. Monday- back to construction topics at hand. If you have a subject you don’t feel has been covered, or you have a question – be sure to respond to this blog. I love a new challenge!
