When I built the Barn at Century Wood back in 2018, I made sure I aligned its side door with the side door of the Log Cabin. So far this has become a short path with some paving slabs to help when the ground it’s muddy. This year I got a generator and log splitter which I use in the Barn, and I’ve increased my use of the space as a workshop that’s free from rain and hot summer sun. So now I’m building an extension to the Barn to roof over the gap between the two buildings.
I’ve started work on the covered walkway during the last couple of visits to the wood. First laying out the steel post anchors I used for the four fence posts that will support the structure. This is very similar to the construction of the Barn, as you can level the post anchors and in the future, it’s easier to replace the ends of the posts when they eventually rot. Traditionally, pole barn construction like this uses posts set in concrete but that requires waiting for it to set and bracing the posts vertically in the mean time, and possibly cutting the tops of the posts to get them all level. There’s more of risk of subsidence with the post anchors but I didn’t lay the Barn out that accurately to start with. I’m not trying to create perfectly square weather tight structures that can take doors and windows. For the covered walkway there are only four posts so it was easier to get it square at the start.
I hammered the post anchors into the ground with a sledgehammer and then levelled them relative to each other with one of the horizontal beams and a spirit level. Then installed the four 2.7m (9ft) posts in place vertically, and loose in the sockets.
The next step was to attach the four 2m horizontal beams near the tops of the posts. Since the posts were loose at this stage, I used pairs of 100mm coach screws rather than hammering nails in and free standing ladders. I tried to use my ladders/platform combination I used to put up much of the Barn but the ground was very soft from overnight rain and instead I just used a step ladder pushed into the wet soil and reached above my head.
I put temporary nails under where the beams were to go to take the weight at each end, and then put one screw in to each joint. As I worked my way round, I kept checking the posts were vertical, and once I was finished with the first eight coach screws, I tightened up the bolts on the post anchors which hold the posts in place. Then I went back to the joints and put the second coach screw into each one to add to the rigidity, with one final small adjustment of the vertical alignment. Finally I added five of the eight 40cm diagonal braces, and by then it was stiff enough for me to bang in 100mm nails to hold them in place. With that done the structure was already feeling very solid.
In the final photo you can see I’m building the extension as structurally independent from the Barn. The metal gabled roof will extend over both Barn and Cabin roofs, partially draining water on to them. Once I have installed gutters, I can attach the covered walkway to the Barn and put up vertical boarding above head height, like we have on the Barn walls, to provide more shelter from the rain. I did think about joining the new walkway’s roof to the Barn’s roof, but with box section metal sheeting forming both roofs that would be fairly complicated to do. I’m also thinking of permanently running an extension lead from the battery box at the back of the Log Cabin to sockets in the Barn via the new roof frame. That way I can power it from the inverter or the generator when I’m using the Barn as a workshop.
The next step will be to finish the diagonal braces and then add the rafters that create the shape of the gabled roof.
While I was there I also used concrete blocks to mark the edge of the fire circle burned by this year’s October bonfire. Since the bonfire included scrap wood with screws and nails, I don’t want to accidentally drive over where it was if we let it grow over. The last photo was taken at sunset as I took down the square Starlink dish, and a flock of geese loudly flew over the Glade.