Building Our Sangha Shed

By late morning of October 21st I had the lower floor sheathing support timbers fixed into position.

I quickly got the edge nailers for the lower floor sheathing fixed to the inside of the rim boards.

I had just got the edge nailers fixed to the inside of the rim boards when Backhoe George showed up with 10 yards of groundup blacktop road surface. This was going to be spread around the shed, the driveway and the work area to limit the impact of the mud that was surely on its way today.

George Ebejer left after telling me the good news that it was already raining and snowing in Montague - just minutes away. I looked at the sky to the northeast from whence came the wind at that moment.

I looked at the sky to the south from whence the rain seemed to be coming. I wrestled with my thoughts for a few moments about quitting or continuing with the floor. I decided to go ahead and try to get as much done before the weather hit as I could.

I had a small tarp I could cover things with. It would work as long as the rain/snow was light. But then it hit with a vengeance packing 35 MPH winds with 50+ MPH gusts. I decided instead to spread some of the gravel around the shed so I could get into the place to work in the morning if the rain stopped.

October 23rd we had rain and snow forecast to continue, but at the moment of my arrival on the site there was nothing in sight but a little sunshine. The gravel I had spread the evening before was very helpful. The work area was perfect, except for the occasional rain drops that kept falling on my head.

I decided to go ahead and get as much done as I could. My batteries gave out on the power saw after I had cut the plywood sheets to the necessary dimensions. That meant cutting the 2x materials by hand, an easy task for me.

I used the OSB Sheathing I had cut and nailed it to the bottom floor supports. This would seal the bottom of the floor structure for the insulation to keep dry.

I cut the floor joists to length and nailed them to the rim boards.

I cut the fiberglass insulation to length and pushed it in place between the floor joists

I cut the OSB Sheathing by hand and nailed it to the floor joists. Just then, the rain started.

And the winds blew stronger.And the rain came in bigger drops and fell harder. And the wind and rain continued to come for 6 days and 6 nights. It was of 'Biblical' proportions. OK, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but 6 straight days with rain and no let up was a bit too much also! I hunkered down and read books and bought 'stuff' from people advertising on Craig's List. Oh, what a terrible invention the'big CL' is!