Day Two

        This is where we began day two at.  Our goal to get the last roof pieces on, attach the roof stabilizers, finish the vent lid, and tighten all the nuts and bolts.

        By our calculations we thought we would be done by early afternoon....WRONG.  It was another 9:00 quitting time. 

        Do you like our make-shift ladder?  On day one and most of day two this is how we got in and out of the grain bin.  Two straight ladders tied with a piece of wire.  Not so much safe, but it worked temporarily.   

        First we finished installing all the roof panels.

         "I'm ready babe.  Wheel me back to the middle." 
         After we got each roof panel attached to the center ring, we had to start thirteen nuts and bolts that span the length of the panel to hold the two pieces together. 
       

        From the scaffolding my husband started the first six nuts and bolts skipping the third row. I used a tall ladder to get the next couple bolts, skipping the eighth bolt. Then my arms were too short to reach so someone on the outside held the bolt while I screwed in the nut from the inside.

        Last piece!



        The roof panels went together smoothly.  Next came all the challenges. 

       First we attached the rods next to the manhole and tighten all the adjacent nuts and bolts.  These will serve as the ladder to the center fill whole. 

        Next we attached the brackets on the third and eighth row from the top.  These two rows have stiffener pipes that encircle the bin to give it support since this style bins lacks rafters.  This took a little while because we had to cut the pipes to fit our bin. 

        We also installed the platform that gives you something to stand on as you go from the ground ladder to the manhole or from the manhole up the bin to the vent.  The platform is so nice now, but will be even more handy when we have all the rings on.   

        Another task for the day was to install the outdoor light.  Late harvest nights will be much easier when you can see what you are doing while unloading the semi into the auger. There is no power to it yet.  We are getting all the electrical work ready.  Soon M & M Electric will come and connect electricity to everything.
       It doesn't seem like a lot now, but with all the little problems that popped up along the way it took us all day.  Huge thanks to a couple neighbors and my dad for working through the hot sticky day!

Grain Bin Roof

        Tuesday we began our week long project...start assembling the grain bin.  For most buildings you start from the bottom and work your way up, but not with grain bins.  We started with the second ring from the top.

        First we took a crayon to scribe a circle on the concrete.  This way we know exactly where to set each new sheet.  Then we took our first two pieces of the thinnest corrugated metal, applied a line of glue next to each bolt row to water seal the joint, and lined them up on our blue line.  Next we screwed a nut and bolt in each whole and repeated it until the twelfth sheet completed our circle.  All the nuts and bolts were only finger tight at this point.  We had to wait until roof was completely attached before tightening them up with a ratchet drill.  My husband and I were able to complete this ring by ourselves.



       Once the second ring was complete, we were ready for the top ring.  This ring was the same as the last, but we also had to screw in the row of bolts on the bottom of the first ring with the top of the second ring.  Luckily my husband's father came out at that time because it was challenging holding the top piece up on top of the second ring before attaching a couple nuts and bolts with only two sets of hands.  Surprisingly these two steps went rather quick.  We were finished before lunchtime. 

        While we were attaching these brackets to support the roof and anchor them to the top ring a neighbor from town stopped by.  He could see we were starting and wanted to help until he had to go on duty for the sheriff's office.  (You might notice the ground looks wet, luckily the rain held out all day.  It rained during the night and I snapped these pictures the next morning before we got started again.)

        Here are all the roof pieces, 48 to be exact, waiting to be screwed down.  

        We raised the center red rod with a red circle on top to 180 inches, I believe.  It will support the round silver roof vent until all roof pieces are in place.  Then we will lower the red circle down.  For now each roof piece will screw into it with two nuts and bolts. 

        Here is another angle, but of course 3/4 of the roof is up at this point. 

        These are the brackets from earlier with roof pieces attached to them.   

        While the top piece attached with two nuts and bolts, the bottom joins with three.  Each roof piece begins and ends with the V piece.

         One thing that is interesting, you can't start at one side and keep adding the next piece as you go around. Instead you have to add one piece then add the one opposite it. Next you add the piece in the middle of those two and the one across from it. After those four pieces are up, you have the bin split into four equal pieces. This gives a little more support to that red rod from earlier. 

         Once you have those four pieces in place you go around the circle adding a second piece to each of the first four roof pieces.  The second piece lays over the V of the first piece. 

        From this angle you can see they overlap to make a water tight seal.  You might be wondering what the piece is to the left.  It is a roof vent.  There are 12 of them to let air circulate.  We alternated them every four pieces. 

       

        We kept going until we got about this far on each of our four sections.  Then the wind started to pick up.  It actually moved the whole thing an inch.  At that point we decided to stop and get it anchored down to the concrete before the wind took it away.  The dark objects at the bottom of the picture are actually the jacks we will used later to hoist it up as we add new layers, but for now we screwed them to the side of the bin and then screwed them to the concrete with anchor bolts. 

        After it was anchored down, the wind let up for a little while and we decided to get the west side done to help block the wind.  We put the last piece in to complete the west side at 9:00 p.m. with flashlights.  After covering everything up inside with tarps we called it a night.  









Memorial Day Weekend

 

       I'm reminded every time I mow the cemetery of those who came before us, the sacrifices they made, and the legacy they left.  Even though these gravestones are from the 1800's and are hard to read, I know these are the people who helped establish the Catholic Church in my hometown.  

 

 

     Sadly, when I started trimming on Wednesday I noticed the crucifix which should be standing tall behind the outdoor altar at the cemetery blew down in Sunday's hailstorm.  Jesus landed right on the altar and broken into a million pieces.  Thankfully Mary and John are still standing. 



       Thank you to a handy Dad and great neighbors, who let you borrow their mower when yours breaks, the cemetery is ready for another Memorial Day!  Hopefully after a slipped drive belt, a flat tire, and dead battery my mower is ready for another hot summer. 

Grain Bin

     Last Monday was a whirlwind.  We started the day finishing up the forms to get ready for cement.  Our plan was to pour cement on Tuesday before rain moved in.  When my husband called the concrete company, they informed us Tuesday and Wednesday already were booked.  We didn't want the trench to fill in with rainwater, so we went to plan B.  Hurry up, finish the re-bar work and order cement for that afternoon.  We called a neighbor to come help my husband put the last metal frames around the outside while I finished tying all the re-bar intersections together with wire. 
       Hidden in the concrete are 93 bars of re-bar. They are spread out like a wagon wheel from the center. We used five re-bar circles starting with a small one in the middle and extending to the very outer circle to stabilize all the bars. The re-bar is suspended in the middle of the concrete to give support and keep it from breaking under the weight of the grain.
      Just as I was heading to the house to fix a quick lunch, the first cement truck pulled in with three more right behind him.  Lunch would have to wait. When pouring concrete you only have a small window of time to get it from the truck to the forms, leveled off, and smoothed out before it dries. Luckily a couple of neighbors weren't in the fields yet and came over to help. Plus my father and a retired co-worker of his dropped what they were doing to help. We ended up with eight adults. It was the perfect number, but not an extra hand to take pictures along the way. 

       Once the cement truck is in place he augers the cement down a shoot right to the forms.  One person guides the shoot to place the cement in the right location.  A couple men then take the concrete and spread it out, making sure to fill every space.  We started by filling up the perimeter around the outside because it was deeper around the edge.  The edge is 18 inches thick to form a rat barrier to keep the rats from digging under the grain bin.  The middle, though, is only 6inches thick.  As the perimeter was filling up, my father-in-law tamped down the concrete around the edge to make sure their wouldn't be any bubbles around the outside.  Then I went around the outside with a rubber mallet and hit all the metal forms to make sure it was fully settled. 

       As the second cement truck was dumping we started filling in the middle. We weren't completely done with the perimeter, but the cement truck found a soft spot in the cattle lot.  It was sinking down to its axle and the tires were still spinning.  We needed to unload the truck to lighten its load, making it easier to pull out with our tractor. 

      By the time the third cement truck started unloading some of us had to move to striking it off before it dries.   To strike it off you have one person on either side of a 2x4 that stretches from the center to the outside. You push and pull the 2x4 back and forth while it rests on the outside metal form and a small circular platform in the middle.  As you do this you also pulling around the grain bin much like the minute hand on your clock.  This allows you to level off the concrete.  Another couple people either drags cement to low spots or pulls extra away as you go around.  

       Being the person in the middle of the bin was easier at the beginning, because I didn't have to pull it as far.  In the end, though, it prooved to be more challenging.  When you get closer to where you started you have to step into the cement you already leveled off.  After standing there to finish striking it off, your boots starts to get stuck in the drying cement. 

      As we were striking it off, one person had a bull float to finish leveling it off.  A bull float is a rectangle metal plate connected with a long handle.  The handle has to be long enough to reach across the cement from the outside which was 18 feet 8 inches. In essence you use a bull float to smooth the surface just like you would a knife when frosting a cake.   

     After striking and bull floating are complete, another person takes an edger and runs it around the outside to give it a nice curved edge.  As you can see in the next picture, my husband and his best friend had to leave their mark in it.

 

     If you are pouring a basement floor or garage floor you would spend more time smoothing off the surface so it was slick.  Our grain bin will have a metal flooring in it which made that step unnecessary.     

      As soon as we finished, my husband hopped into the tractor and began working ground to plant corn.  Needless to say it didn't rain like it was supposed to and all our corn was planted before 9 o'clock Sunday morning.    

Let the Fun Begin!!

       Here is the last snap shot of our 1950's kitchen, which my husband's grandparents built. 

        Peel & Stick laminate flooring is where the need for remodeling the kitchen started.  The edges and corners were coming up which easily got caught on socks or on the vacuum cleaner. We decided while we were changing the flooring that we should open the kitchen and dinning room up to each other too. 

         We started looking into cabinets back in January through a family friend.  Last week Tuesday, the beautiful walnut cabinets arrived.  Meanwhile we hadn't started demolition of the old kitchen yet...so they are smashed into our office/crafts room for now. 

          Friday was another rainy spring day.  My husband who is anxiously awaiting good planting weather decide to start the process alone while I was at work.  Luckily I had stayed up late Monday emptying the majority of the cabinets. 

         I was very surprised when I pulled into the driveway after school to find his sister waiting in the drive for her bridesmaid dress which I hadn't finished altering yet.  Then I walked into the house to find it a mess.  After I finishing a very cute purple dress, I started helping him. 

     Later on a good friend of my husband's stopped by to help.  They started taking out the upper cabinets while I went back to my makeshift sewing room to fix Cole's coat.  A cow had tried to kick him.  As he turned from her flying foot, her hoof caught his pocket and ripped it almost clean off the coat.   

       Along the way we discovered an outlet had been covered up over the years.  Awesome!! This is exactly where I wanted one and should make it a lot easier for it to happen. 

         After talking with my husband's father we found out that his grandmother had once caught something on fire on the stove, scorching the ceramic tile.  They then pulled the tile off and covered the black spot & outlet up with a flower board.  I'm not exactly sure what material it is made from.   

       One long evening later, this is what our kitchen looks like now.  You might be able to tell, these cabinets were built to last. We hope to use them in the basement and on the back porch.

       We already hung one of them on the back porch.  For now it is where I store the few necessary dishes and dry foods.  You can also see we have an old sink back there too.  Using a small tub that will be our sink.

        The rain has stopped and we are back to working at removing sand from the bottom field after a flash flood.  I have a feeling if the weather stays nice, this is as far as the kitchen will get for awhile and I am OK with that.