I think I’ll start this post with a little bit of nonsense:

Now on to work: There was a break in the rain one morning so I took to the roof to cut the west edge of the roof panels. I tried a saber saw, but the blade was just a tad too short. So I switched to the reciprocating saw with a fine metal cutting blade. It was noisy but did the job just fine. Here is the job nearly done; you can see the 2×4 metal carriola that I used as a rain gutter:

Here is a longer view with the angle all trimmed:

With the persistent rain, I decided to start preparing the Big Floor for concrete. First I needed to fill the open space between the Big Floor and the bottom of container #3. I decided to use the stack of scrap M2 panels (wire mesh covered foam panels) that we stored under the containers. For a year now I’ve been wondering how I would get rid of them; unused, they would have become bad landfill.

When I had the foam all installed, I cleared the floor. Next I screwed a long 2×6 carriola to the two columns on the living room west wall doorway. I set the 2×6 to what will be the height of the concrete floor. I dragged in the first of about 50, half-inch rebars:

I made a grid with the rebar and tied each intersection with tie wires. You can buy the wires all prepared, but it was easy to make them with a roll of baling wire. Cynthia and I made two boxes of ties while we were watching the third- or fourth-time rerun of CSI:

Next, I had to raise the rebar off the floor so that it will sit in the middle of the slab. Rebar chairs, as they are called, are made by perhaps hundreds of manufacturers. But I had a bunch of scrap 2×4 metal carriola cutoffs that I thought would serve just fine. Here is a short video of me cutting three of the 300 DIY rebar chairs. You can’t have more fun than this:

Next is the Big Floor with the rebar in place, tied, and raised on my DIY rebar chairs:

Here is a closeup:

I like this view from the top of #2. This is where the stair landing will be:

I spent a few more hours installing electrical conduit and water piping that will come through the floor, and then set up a wheelbarrow ramp. Armando and I have made a plan to pour the floor next Tuesday:

With the Big Floor ready for concrete, I moved back outside to frame the corner of the roof over the walkway that goes from the house to the carport. This involved raising a 4×4 steel column, just like the one at the other end of the front window wall. This column weighs about 130 pounds. Armando was busy cutting grass at the rental house, so I needed my friends Rope and Pulley to get it standing vertical. First I rigged braces that I could clamp to the column when I had it in place and plumbed straight up and down. In the next picture you can see the column (resting on the saw horse), ladders, rope, the orange pulleys, and stabilizing braces:

I put a few concrete nails where the column will sit to keep the column from kicking out of position when I raise it. Ultimately, I’ll weld a piece or two of rebar from the column to the existing rebar in the slab:

A little pulling on the rope and it’s up, all clamped into place:

Next I cut and welded into place the shorter of the two beams:

Then I wrangled the longer beam into place, marked it, and cut it to length:

I managed to get both beams welded into place before my energy ran out for the day. I’ll be back at it on Monday. The photos in the next post will make this geometric roof puzzle more clear.

In other news, I came upon a YouTube video made by a company named BigSteelBox. It shows how shipping containers are made. Apparently there is newer technology with more automated factories, but this video shows the old school way of making containers. I was impressed by the amount of physical labor that went into making these precision steel boxes:

Hot dog on the griddle; Jabo suns himself on a piece of roof panel:

And here is a pretty hibiscus in the garden:

That’s all for now. Next it’s, “Armando… concreto!”