Fixing a post

Adding to the time it is taking to make the repair to the hayshed is the time I spent fixing one of its posts.  The post was not attached to the roof rafter.  Even though the metal sheets connected the post to the wall and it would not fall over (thankfully!) I found that when I climbed up the ladder against the post, the post would lean in beyond the rafter.  When I climbed up inside the shed the post would lean out beyond the rafter.

As you can imagine this presented a challenge to fix the post to hold it in place under the rafter as my only means to reach the top was to place the ladder against the post.  Helping me was a brief spot where the post touched the rafter and would stay in place.  Unfortunately this spot was not the one I wanted as the outside portion of the post would stick out a bit beyond the rafter and would not give an even surface to nail the metal sheets.

My solution was to nail a board on top of the post to hold the post in place where it wouldn't slide outward.  Then nail the rafter to the board to prevent the post from sliding inward.  Because my ladder leaned against the post that meant I had to do each side (inward and outward) from each side.  To make it more difficult the first board I used split and had to be replaced - meaning another round of inward/outward carrying and positioning of the ladder.

The second board I used was a part of a board I had earlier used today to hold the outside rafter to the next one inside.  Over the years, as the outside rafter wasn't resting on the post here, the rafter started to warp/bend outward.  I nailed a board to pull the rafter in near this point and stop the outward bend.  That was challenge between being so high up on a ladder and pulling the rafter in while nailing the board.  Especially when the board was dense and would bend some of my nails before they got all the way through.

So I thought the extra piece of this solid board would be good to use on top of the post as my first wimpy board had split.

Nope.  This dense board also split.  Why?  I don't know.

So I searched my wood scrap pile for another board and this board worked and did not split.

Of course the third board meant carrying and repositioning the ladder yet again inside and out.  Add in extra ladder carries because of a couple of times when positioning the post it slid too far in or out beyond the rafter and the only way to fix it was to go out or in and lean the ladder against the post from the other side.

*sigh*   I carried that ladder many more times than I cared to.  And one of the times I was collapsing the ladder one of my fingers got mashed.  After a little blood I now have a sore finger.  Ya... I used a few choices words during this afternoon's work.

I have extra lumber inside the shed making it harder to position the ladder as I had to carry the ladder over this lumber each time.

Why didn't I use the silver ladder?  That ladder doesn't extend longer and I couldn't reach the top of the post.

When removing the wood sheets and fixing the middle "brace" board I stood on the wood pallets. They are a little wobblier than they look and I made no sudden moves when standing on them.

Here is my end result.  The nails seen in the first photo were added after I finally got the bright idea of adding them to prevent the post from sliding in or out beyond the rafter before I got the board nailed on the post.  Once the post would slide beyond the rafter the only way to get it back under the rafter was to move the ladder inside or out and lean it against the top of the post.

While it doesn't look like it in the second photo the outside edge of the post is flush with the outside side of the rafter.