New Driveway and Polebarn

[rswyan]

Eddie - you're quite welcome - happy to share. Yeah, it sounds good (in theory) - we'll see how it works out in practice ..... I think it will be ok.

It does seem to work well for hard to fill cavities - and it is very dense - not like cellulose that's blown in dry - it won't settle much if at all.

Attached is a pic of one of the areas where some of the insulation fell out up at the top. The horizontal board just under the overhead door track is all the higher the OSB will go and it's open - so once I get the OSB up there I just pack the insulation down in from the top.

This afternoon I found out about something that may be aggravating the problem ..... I was sitting in my lawn chair out in the barn taking a break and I noticed a couple of visitors ..... a pair of barn swallows cruising around and hoping all over the place.

I got the impression that they thought that they had found an ideal new location for a home - plenty of available building materials. So I walked back over to the house and got my pellet gun.

 

[rswyan]

Rswyan glad you posted the pictures as I missed out on seeing how the insulation was applied. Did they just scrape off the excess or was some type of machine used for that step?

It was a machine (described in post no. 206 in this thread) - you can see it behind the step ladder on the left leaning against a pole in image no. 1292.

Who got the pleasure of cleaning up the mess on the floor when it was all done?

I let them use my OSB - they laid it on the ground and caught most of what fell - the gal in the crew sucked most of it up off the OSB with a vacuum hose that fed it back into the machine to be recycled. Had it been a concrete floor she would have gotten 99.9% of it. Since it was gravel there was quite a bit left - she probably only got 95%. Lynn's been cleaning up what remains with a Shop-Vac and a leaf rake - works pretty well. I think we are up to about 5 garbage bags full at this point.

I was really surprised at how well the insulation dampened the noise level of your barn and I suspect that you're going to have a warm place to work come winter.

Yeah ... it should be better than it was last winter ..... still need a ceiling and concrete floor to make it sing.

Now if I could just talk you into using natural gas and hanging a unit heater instead of heating with wood.

I'll tell ya ..... I'm getting kinda spoiled by the torpedo heater .... quick, (surprisingly) clean, and hot.

Attached are a couple of images of the OSB going up ..... and the wall of endless outlets.

 

[PineRidge]

Did you go the Roto-Zip method for cutting out outlet boxes, or use an old fashioned jig saw? If you used the Roto-Zip how easy is it to use?

 

[rswyan]

Mike,

I went the RotoZip route, although I'm not really trying to trace around the (installed) boxes - I just measure and mark the board before I put it up, using a box to trace an outline and then cut that. So far it's working pretty good. I find it fairly easy to control and follow my lines .... but you have gotta pay attention 'cause it could get away from ya pretty easily if you didn't.

I ended up getting the deluxe Sears Craftsman roto-zip kit which is apparently an RZ20 made for Sears by Roto-zip, rather than the Roto-zip kit offering because Sears seemed to include more stuff for the same money (and more of what I wanted.)

The wife wasn't impressed at all ....... until I mentioned that it could be used to remove tile grout and then she said "Now you talking about something I'm interested in"

 

[PineRidge]

Mike,

I went the RotoZip route, although I'm not really trying to trace around the (installed) boxes - I just measure and mark the board before I put it up, using a box to trace an outline and then cut that. So far it's working pretty good. I find it fairly easy to control and follow my lines .... but you have gotta pay attention 'cause it could get away from ya pretty easily if you didn't.

Maybe a special RotoZip® Tracing XBIT would help eliminate the step of tracing the box altogether. XBIT

 

[rswyan]

Maybe a special RotoZip® Tracing XBIT would help eliminate the step of tracing the box altogether.

Yeah ..... appreciate the thought.

I think it's one of those ideas that sounds real nice in theory but just didn't quite work out in practice for me.

After breaking off two of the Tracing XBITS trying to make a cutout for an installed outlet by tracing around it I decided that measuring and marking the board and then zipping it before I put it up was the way to go. Part of the problem is that the outlets are already installed in the boxes ..... and the metal mounting tabs stick out (up and down) at the top and bottom of the box. Contacting these with the Tracing XBIT spinning @ 30K rpm is not good. I am using a Tracing XBIT to do the cutting though - I like the flute design and the fact that it's 5/32" which is a little beefier than an 1/8" bit.

I've decided we're going to skip renting a drywall jack for the third course of OSB. Walking the sheets up a step ladder and then tacking them in place with a finish nailer is just working out too well.

I walk the sheet up and set it on top of the sheet below and then Lynn leans a 14' section of our extension ladder over against the sheet to hold it there while I tack it.

 

[PineRidge]

I've decided we're going to skip renting a drywall jack for the third course of OSB. Walking the sheets up a step ladder and then tacking them in place with a finish nailer is just working out too well.

I walk the sheet up and set it on top of the sheet below and then Lynn leans a 14' section of our extension ladder over against the sheet to hold it there while I tack it.

If your system works for you and Lynn then that's all that matters. How much OSB is up on the walls at this point?

BTW: Thanks again for the use of your compressor and nail guns this past week, it sure saved Rose and I a ton of work.

 

[rswyan]

If your system works for you and Lynn then that's all that matters. How much OSB is up on the walls at this point?

We've got 30 sheets up at this point. All the backwall is done, except for the end sections (north and south) .... same for the south wall - all up except for the end sections.

Out of that 30 I had to measure and trim 10 sheets for outlet boxes (2 per sheet) and another 7 sheets (on the top course for the back wall) for the bottom cord of the trusses.

You're quite welcome on the nailgun. Glad to help out.

 

[Pks]

Rswyan,

I'm in the process of designing my barn project for 2007 and greatly appreciate the detailed photos and explanations of your projects. I have a copy of your proposed floor plan sitting next to my bedside. It gives me something interesting to think about as I fall asleep. It seems I'm sleeping better these days...

I have a couple of questions for you:
1) What size vibration machine did you use to pack the gravel or did you not use one?

2) What is the thickness of the OSB you're putting up on the walls over the insulation?

3) Did you take a bid for spray in foam insulation, if so was it less cost effective?

Thanks for your added details.

 

[JASTN70D]

We've got 30 sheets up at this point. All the backwall is done, except for the end sections (north and south) .... same for the south wall - all up except for the end sections.

Out of that 30 I had to measure and trim 10 sheets for outlet boxes (2 per sheet) and another 7 sheets (on the top course for the back wall) for the bottom cord of the trusses.

You're quite welcome on the nailgun. Glad to help out.

Hey looking good I did not expect you to be putting the OSB up so fast, You have it about licked, Looks great almost time for a garage party ! I should have some time this weekend and in fact maybe during the week also if you need help ! By the way were are the emoticons for the posts these days ??