August 4 and 5 - To Build a Church It Takes Lotsa Bucks

 First the corner posts - 

Corner posts on the building give it the appearance of some size. After the posts went up I thought the canvas walls would be next but not so. The posts need to be plumbed.

None of the people working on this task are plumbers. Kevin is in the cage steadying the top of the post. Steve Wikman is crouched with a laser beam aimed straight up, say two inches from the wall at the base. Kevin then maneuvers the top of the post until the beam is on the two inch mark. Andy Loukusa  and Randy Forstie then anchor the support to the wall and with the help of mechanical fasteners, mobile fork lift and a laser beam the corner post is now plumb. There is no running water involved.

Randy might have done well to bring elevator shoes.

Meanwhile, Denise and Ryan were staging 2x4s near the corners where they would be used.  It took a few iterations before this team found a way to maneuver the wheel barrow, with long boards resting on the top, across the rutted field. The attempt pictured was not successful.

Adding the next course of block -

Travis Parks is not trying to cut down the new wall. He is trimming off a wee bit so the next course laid will again be level, adjusting for the unevenness that necessarily comes from laying multiple courses of the foam blocks. 

Ken and Pete then use the newly plumbed corner post as a guide to start a new layer of blocks atop the freshly level-trimmed previous layer. They work under the watchful eye of the big boss,who is again wandering around without his yellow hat.

All of the blocks abutting either a window or a door must be trimmed to fit the remaining space.. Here Ken is adjusting the block size accordingly. This will really slow down the high speed block laying operation.

The straw boss visits with the big boss through a new window opening. The wood piece on the wall is holding the newly laid block in place until the foam dries. Screws must be placed so they bite into the plastic web inside the block since the foam will not hold a screw. In this way, temporary supports for corner posts, block holders and other miscellaneous items can be anchored temporarily to the wall. It is almost like having a log building where you can drive in a nail whenever and wherever the urge strikes.

Bucks, lots of them - 

The buck starts here, back in the carpenter's shop.

Tom Skoog, who also could have used elevator shoes, does some wood cutting.

A somewhat more sophisticated method is used to move the bucks than was used to move 2x4s. Of course they do weigh a bit more than the 2x4s. The bucks are built with 2x (some big number) and are green treated lumber which is very heavy. 

Tom and Brian Kallinen install the door and window bucks in the proper openings. The bucks are plumbed and braced from the ground to assure they maintain their appointed positions. Additional blocking is screwed in to assure the bucks retain their shape when the abutting foam blocks are filled with concrete. While the foam blocks are light, by the time you add concrete they gain a lot of weight. Puts on the pounds faster than eating doughnuts.

What happens when the buck is too big for its opening? You get out a hammer and chisel and start in whittling.

  If that is too slow, grab the sawzall and take out bigger chunks. Andy can make anything fit.