No Room For Complacency

I was told that while I'm making progress on the barn, there are things I need to deal with that I simply haven't been dealing with, mainly the roof and the darn trees out back. There's also the issue of the siding, which I haven't ordered because there's such a note of finality to ordering all that wood that it makes me uneasy.

Anyway, my mentor told me to stop patting myself on the back and get on the ball and deal with that roof, so I sort of/kind of did. After browsing through some pics, I thought this might be a good look for the barn.

I contacted the roofing guys and if you can believe this, he came out the next day and took some measurements. He said he'd send a quote in the mail for both the barn and the house. How's that for service? My friend GS said his former town, Tunbridge, is the capital of standing seam roofs, and he got an amazing deal from a friend of his. He gave me several numbers but I really wanted to talk to the guy that did his roof. Of course, the guy has yet to return my call, but what else is new in the world of contracting?

Next up, the trees. About three months back my Mentor showed up with two loggers and they advised me on what trees needed to be cut down. I have to confess, my biggest reservation was cutting down all those trees and just leaving them in the woods. I feel like we're littering the forest, and that it was going to piss off our neighbors. Either way, some of the trees have to go, no doubt about it. I contacted the guy again and amazingly enough he remembers everything we'd talked about, which wins him points in my book. He's coming over today to talk green, meaning trees and prices. I'm thinking all five trees have to go, such is life.

Also, I need to order doors. The barn is on its way to being sealed, but won't be until the doors and windows are in. The windows have been ordered but it takes a couple of weeks, so I need to get on that one.

Finally, there's the issue of framing and sheathing. Hard to find a good block of time to get it done, so I've been taking the "chip away at the stone" approach, and so far it's been working. Not optimal, but you gotta take what you can get when you've got hungry mouths to feed and dishes to wash. I've got to frame out the back gable for the bedroom door and the shop door/window, but can't really do that until we finalize certain decisions, which is never my strong suit. I'm finding that with everyone so busy, however, that I've had to take the reigns and make some big decisions. Not an easy thing to do, but I'm doing it... sort of.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Patrick Hajzler for the pic.