New 36 x 20 Sugarhouse

[briansickler]

Finally started! Treated posts all set today. 36 x 20 pole barn construction. The rest of the lumber will be rough cut hemlock. Kitchen will be one end 12 x 20. The rest evaportator room 24 x 20. Storage loft over kitchen. 10" in 12" roof pitch with metal roof. Wood shed on evaorator end. We have a lot of sawing to do now on the bandsaw mill.

[Sugarmaker]

Brian.
Love the look of a new "green field" sugar house going up. Sounds similar to ours in size and features, and we like it a lot! Have fun with the construction.
I started mine on Oct 20 2000 and was making syrup in it the next spring. It wasn't done but we had the rig in place and were boiling under roof.
Great start! Keep us posted when you have time:)
Regards,
Chris

[danno]

Great start, and it looks like you've got a couple of maple trees out yonder;)

[briansickler]

We got the top girder ring sawed this afternoon. 2x10x12's for the rafters to set on. 2x8x10's for on the ends. It started raining so we had to quit. Next we'll saw some braces and then 38 - 2x8x16' rafters. Looks like rain for a couple of days now. Try to stay dry:)

Brian

[briansickler]

Over the weekend we got the top ring up and the rafters are all sawed.

[briansickler]

We have the rafters all up. Thanks to some almost summerlike weather. t-shirt last two days. Check out my photo bucket. It's really starting to look like somethng now. I have to saw a lot of roof boards now. I have to do the plumbing for floor drains and kitchen drains etc. Then pour the concrete floor. Will pick up the roofing soon. The double wall pipe for the stack came in today. I'm playing it safe going through the roof

Brian

[Revi]

Nice job! It is really coming together now. You still have to sheathe it and put the roof on, but you'll have some time before the snow flies.

[briansickler]

We got the collar ties istalled and the facia on the eves and the gable ends. Ready for the roof boards to go on now.

[briansickler]

We have the roof boards on one side. Had to take a break and do a little deer hunting for a week. Now We'll have to get back at it.

Brian

[Sugarmaker]

Brian,
Very nice looking sugar house in process!
Thanks for posting the pictures.
Regards,
Chris

[OneLegJohn]

Three words: bathroom, bathroom, bathroom.

[briansickler]

Yes, A bathroom is a must and in the plans.

I was hoping for a mild December. This cold weather has put a damper on the progress. Need some decent weather to be able to get the metal roofing on.

Brian

[Bucket Head]

Yes, this December has been lousy. Nice job on what you've got so far.

Steve

[collinsmapleman2012]

keep up the good work!!!

[briansickler]

With this hot strech of weather "High of 29", I was able to make great strides on the cupola. Once the cupola is done, we can put the metal on the main roof. I will finish the cupola today.

Brian

[Sugarmaker]

Looks too nice to cover up!
Thanks for taking the time to post your progress!

Chris

[briansickler]

We were able to finish the cupola today. Now we can focus on getting the main roof covered. It got to dark for pictures by the time I finished screwing the metal on the cupola. I'll get some pics tomorrow. These days are way to cold and way too short.

Brian

[Dan Bolton]

Looks excellant!

[ennismaple]

Love the look of it! I hope you get soem good weather to get the steel on. I've done steel roofing in January before and it's not fun...

[briansickler]

We were able to get the metal roof on one side today. I think the temperature reached around 25. But we kept at it and got it on there. I'm very pleased. It came out pretty darned straight and even. We plan to start on the other side tomorrow. There will be a little more fussing around with the stacks on that side. Here are some more pictures that I promised. Have a good one.

[jmattice]

Thats a great looking sugarhouse!! It looks like you'll have so much room in there.

[briansickler]

Thank you all for the nice compliments. I really enjoy posting our progress. We were able to get the roof on 1/2 of the other side. We are to the area where the stacks come up through. Seemed like a good place to stop for the day and regroup in the morning. Besides it snowed just enough all day to bother us. So tomorrow we'll do the roof jacks and hopefully finish the rest of the roof.

Try to keep warm....My toes are just starting to thaw out. :)

Brian

Sappin' Dog Picture

[briansickler]

We got all of the metal roof on the back side except for one last piece. It got too dark to finish. The roof jacks are all in and sealed up good.

[briansickler]

We started the siding boards on the windy end. There will be windows. I'll put those in later. I just want get it closed in asap. Had good luck with the roof.

I may have stumbled onto a great alternative for installing roof jacks in the side slope of a metal roof. When looking through a product catalog my local building supply gave me, I found that they offered flat stock in any color. It's 10'-2" long by 43" wide. I used this in the section where my roof jacks went. I cut it to the width of a regular sheet of the roofing and bent a 45 angle on each edge so it went up into the corrugations of the sheets on each side of this secton. Then I ran a piece of this flat stock (with th 45 angles on) right up well above where the bottom of the stack would be. Then the jack went on similar to the way you would do a shingled roof with no corrugations to worry about below the jack. The jack is nice and flat on the piece of flat stock. I did run a bead of sealer up each side of the jacks under the roofing like you would with shingles.

[Sugarmaker]

Brian,
Great shots! Looks cold though! Nice feature on the roof jack transition to the roof with the flat panel.
I set my evaporator on Jan 9 2001 and was making syrup on Jan 23. We had enough walls up to keep out the wind and started in boiling. Looks like you might make it!

Regards,
Chris

[briansickler]

We have the one end and two sides of siding boards on. I enclosed the center section where the evaporator will be with plastic. With two kerosene heaters going we were able to get the slab poured for the evaporator. We used quickcrete 5000. It took 27 - 80# bags for the 3' x 10' slab. I will continue to heat it for a week or two. As usual here are some more pics for you.

Brian

[Scottie]

Brian

Nice looking sugar house. I am currently in the process of building a 24 x 32 sugar house/garage and I have made the doors in my cupola/ventilator so that they will open up. Does anyone see a problem with this or do you think it will affect the draft?

[briansickler]

Thanks Scottie, No there shouldn't be any problem with draft. Most sugarhouses traditionally had cupolas that open. With modern hoods on evaporators and steam stacks they are not needed. Even though I will have hoods and stacks on both pans, I have included a cupola with doors that open. It will allow me get rid of some of the heat if needed. Also, I personally think a cupola ads to the look that I wanted for my sugarhouse.

Brian

[Sugarmaker]

Brian,
Very nice work! Thanks for posting again. Cement should be ready for a arch soon.
Regards,
Chris

[briansickler]

Brian,
Very nice work! Thanks for posting again. Cement should be ready for a arch soon.
Regards,
Chris

Thanks Chris,

Yes, we officially have a place for the arch. I can't wait to have our first firing in the new sugarhouse. I still have to brick the new arch and plumb in the feed tank etc. I have a 400 gal. bulk tank for storage and will have a 100 gal. feed tank up above in the loft. I have 2-300 gal galvinized and 1-100gal galvinized for extra storage if needed.

Brian

[Sugarmaker]

Brian,
Your 2 x 6 will fit well on that pad, but looks like a nice 3 x 8 or 3 x 10 would fit in the future too! Nice to plan ahead!
I assume you are going to brick the arch after you set it up in the sugarhouse?
Also lots of folks raise their arch on some blocks ( 8 inches) to make firing easier on the back.
Well you should have plent of room for expansion for a while.
Regards,
Chris

[briansickler]

Here are some pictures showing the progress on the sugarhouse. I have to get the arch in there tomorrow and get it bricked up. I hope to be tapping in a couple of weeks from now. I picked up the brick today along with two buckets of refractory cement. I'll heat the sugarhouse some to dry the cement and keep it from freezing. We're coming down to the wire now. I can't wait to boil for the first time in the new sugarhouse.

Brian

[cvmaple]

That looks excellent. I'd still be working on the roof trusses!! Post a picture when you get boiling. Hope you have a good season. cvmaple

[DRod2]

Was wondering if you had a blueprint to this shack as I was looking to build something very similar in size!

[briansickler]

The only blueprint is in my head. I did a sketch for the code enforcer with dimensions, but that won't help you much. It's a simple pole building with a 10/12 roof pitch. The building is 36'x20'. I set the posts 12 feet apart on the long side and 10 on the ends. I can answer any questions you might have about building it. The two end bays have lofts over them the center bay left open where the evap is.

[DRod2]

Is it an open room inside or do you have walls up? If you have walls what are the size of the rooms and what is in each room?

[miller maple]

very nice lookin building, here in the next couple years im am hoping to, build a sugar shack like this.

[briansickler]

Is it an open room inside or do you have walls up? If you have walls what are the size of the rooms and what is in each room?

The one end will be a kitchen...12X20. The rest open, unless I put ro room in one corner of it.

[briansickler]

I ran the electric out from the shop. I put in a 100 amp sub panel in sugarhouse. Used direct bury in conduit. Also ran a heat pipe out from my outdoor furnace for the kitchen end and ro room. I plan to run a water line out from the house...not done yet. I still have to pour the floor in the sugarhouse. Work is slowing up now so I should have time to get her poured before the deep freeze sets in. I have to get the drains in place first. So much to get done. I'm gettin' ready to tear into it. I'll keep you posted.

[murferd]

Brian nice looking setup & sugar house! What kind of pump is that you have to pump up to your feed tank & also what size is that tank & where did you get it? Do you have to remove pump at night to keep from freezing?

[briansickler]

Brian nice looking setup & sugar house! What kind of pump is that you have to pump up to your feed tank & also what size is that tank & where did you get it? Do you have to remove pump at night to keep from freezing?

Thanks....The pump is a sprinkler booster pump from Lowe's. The tank is 100 gal. CDL from Bascoms. Mostly I just pull the plug to drain the pump, although I have taken it inside a couple of times. There's a float switch up in the tank to turn the pump off when full. There's a toggle switch on the pump as well Here's the link for the pump:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_24840-48284-58418-UTL1_0__?productId=3338912&Ntt=stainless+pump&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dstainless%2Bpump&facetInfo=

Brian

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

Very nice work Brian. Working on building mine this summer. Did your roof drip?

Thanks, Dave K.