Ugh...the carport!

Wednesday - 5/11/11

I called Trico Steel and Pipe on the outskirts of town and then drove out there.  They already had flitch plate material laying around (literally) and were able on the spot to punch out 9 holes in each plate.  I wish I had the foresight to pull out my iphone and snap a couple of pics of the workers.... working the hydraulic hole punch.  Pretty big equipment no doubt!  They certainly made punching 9/16" holes in 1/4" steel plate look like childs play!  In less than 20mins, I was driving home with two 6"x20'x1/4" steel plates wondering just how I was going to get them mounted and bolted down to the two beams.

Since it was just me, I had to get creative about how I was going to get that unruly 100lb (well is sure felt like it) flat and flexing plate up to the beam.  Well, as they say necessity is the mother of invention.  After nearly wiping myself out with an unruly plate, I devised a method upon which I could walk it up to the beam and then using a floor jack, lift it the rest of the way into place.


Now..., I normally have pics to support what I'm doing but I've been struggling with a computer virus for several days that I finally licked this morning with no more fake warnings, messages, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH!!  But it's left me momentarily without a recognized means of getting pics from my iPhone to the PC so please use your imagination for a couple of days till I get the answer to my problem.

By walking it into place, I mean I set up two 2x4s under the beam about 3' apart where the center of the flitch plate is.  I slowly walked the plate up tilting it first left end and the right while placing screws under the plate for it to rest before moving the other side up.  Sorta like sideways stair stepping.  Once I got it high enough I placed a floor jack under the plate with yet another 2x4 and raised it up to it's final resting place against the outside of the beam.  From there it was just a matter of drilling the nine holes and hammering the 8x1/2" bolts into place. Piece of cake!   .... But....then....why do I feel a sense of unease and dissatisfaction (and it's not related to the weather)??

Next posting!