Just when his inventory is beginning to run low, Charlie Norman receives an unusual call from a man offering a barn full of disassembled barnwood. After replenishing his stock, Charlie goes to the aid of a childhood friend, Sarah, whose cabin has acquired a bad case of rot. He also takes his wife, Beth, on the job to build an antique mantelpiece for his eighth grade English teacher.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, a repeat client of Charlie Norman's, needs a reliable shelter constructed for weary hikers and campers trekking the Appalachian Trail. Drawing from the techniques used to build old barns, Charlie and his crew erect a pavilion -- but not without taking a break to visit the weathered cabin of a long-ago hiker.