Owner Building a Home - Day 47 - The Roofs are Ready . . . Mostly!

Another hot and glorious day followed a storm last night.  Though it hardly rained, it was certainly windy and the lightning flashed.  I slept poorly, as I usually do during storms, envisioning the roofs blowing away and the house falling apart.  My imagination gets the best of me during storms!  Needless to say, I was glad to see everything just where it was supposed to be this morning.

When I arrived, the most important thing was to discuss the locations of the duct work with the HVAC dude, my dad.  He needs to run the ducts so we can have hot and cold air to each of the rooms and I need those bulkheads to look like they were supposed to be there later on.  In conjunction with Mr.W, we figured out where the ducts needed to go and how I could make it look pretty.  With that all set, they (dad brought along a family friend to help for the day) set to work running a lot of the ducts for the second floor.

While they worked in the house, Jay and Mr.G started making the rest of the fireplace chase.  The first half of the chase was made a long time ago and now the second half is ready to go as well.  Since it would be nearly impossible for us to lift the 7' wide x 10'+ tall wall up onto the first chase, we are getting it craned up on Monday as well.  Why not use the big machine instead of killing ourselves trying to lift it up by hand?

Mr.E and I are practically experts at siding by now (okay, maybe not!) so we went to work putting the siding on the gable end of the garage.  Once again, we reiterate that it is much easier to work on these areas when the roof is on the ground.  This section of roof is a 12/12 pitch which means each end of the siding is cut at a 45 degree angle - I could use my speed square to quickly mark each cut.  Plus we figured out a better way to measure more accurately so that each cut wouldn't have to be redone 3 times.  Finally, because we were only putting siding up to the window opening (which will later be cut anyway to install the trim around the windows) we weren't too concerned with how accurate the window-side cuts were.  Somewhere within 4 inches of the window opening was just fine.  Also, because the roof is a 12/12 pitch and each cut is a 45 degree angle and we know that each piece is exposed 7 inches, it was really easy to figure out the measurement for each additional piece.  Just subtract 14 inches (7 for each end) for the next piece up and away you go.  Since we had to work up on a scaffolding of sorts, I cut a number of pieces at a time and then installed them.  Today I used a particulate respirator while cutting the fiber cement and though it was less dusty, it sure was hot, sweaty and a bit stale to wear.  I gladly took it off each time we attached the siding just to get some fresh air.  We worked on the south side of the garage installing siding so it was hot, the siding was hot, the tools were hot and we were hot but we finished it mid-afternoon and it looks great!

Room above the garage - before siding

Room above the garage - with siding



Room above the garage - the office

Mr.W made sure all of us knew what we were doing, helped us when necessary and installed the soffits and fascia on the same area we were working on.  Towards the end of the day, he and Jay added the additional bracing on the roofs necessary to ensure they stay just as they should when they are lifted into place.  Tomorrow he and Jay will make the last-day checks to ensure all the bracing is correct and in place, that nothing was forgotten and double and triple check to make sure everything looks good.  Last minute checks happen Monday morning!  As it is right now, the roofs are practically complete and all of us will be happy when the roofs are up and that worry can leave our minds.  At least until we have to climb onto those roofs to finish shingling!  :)

At the end of the work day, I was tired.  My neck is sore and I should really see a chiro and I haven't been sleeping well.  So, I decided to lie down on the floor of the office and rest.  It was a wonderful rest, especially with this view out the top of the roof:

Makes me think we should finish the roof with Plexiglas so I can always watch the beautiful blue sky - you know, when it is not pouring rain or covered with snow!

On one final note, Nana sent treats along with Papa (my dad) for the kids - Ari (and the others) were rather delighted!  Thanks, mom!


Photo taken by AJ, aged 7