wrap it up

It's Sunday and this will be the start of the do it yourself section on the house build, not counting the foundation of course.  My aim today will be to get at least one window in and finished.  First I had to admire the last pieces of fascia which completes the roof preparations. I removed as much of the temporary scaffolding as I could.  Leaving some of it in place will aide the roofers in a week or so.

Left the scaffold for the roofers

So happy to be done all that.

I spent a lot of the day cleaning up and securing the piles of lumber for the coming weather.  We have all the siding and cedar trim as well as lots of dimensional lumber for the deck and interior wall framing in piles near the house.  I hope to get all the doors and windows under cover or installed before the snow flies.

It's a beautiful sunny day which makes it awfully hard to think of the long drive home.  After cleaning the site, again, I decided it was window time.  These windows are great, with easily removable window sections.  So out comes the glass to make them lighter.  A bead of silicone on the flange and in it goes. Grab the screwgun, place a few screws on the outside and then go inside to secure a whole bunch of metal clips. This sucker is never falling out.  Put the glass back in, place a row of tuck tape to finish the outside and it's ready for siding. 

Tyvek hose wrap in place

Office window in place

Bath and bedroom windows

The long weekend is coming up and, along with Kyla and Chris, and anyone else that wants to come up, we will put in as many windows as we can get to.  I have a long list of other chores but the windows and doors will be our main concern.

The colours this fall, as I've said before, are fantastic and it never hurts to stop and smell the aspen every now and again.

Across the street

SE from motorhome

NW from motorhome

The North Face

Comfort zone what comfort zone.  When its got to get done its got to get done.  We spent the better part of Saturday placing the last of the fascia on the hardest to get to peak.  Don't try this at home kids.  Nice to have it done and all ready for the roofers on the long weekend.

The North Face all done

Ross has a self levelling laser which we used to sight the central spot for the chimney to go through the roof.  Now I need to get some chimney bits and install them before the roofers reach that part of the roof.  Hmmm, I guess I'm not quite ready for them yet.

maybe next time

We tried to uncrate the windows but found the patio doors were just too heavy for the two of us to move.  I will have to make a wagon to set it on so that we can move it to where it is going.  There are some windows in the garage that we uncrated a while ago and, now that I have some Tyvek up, I will be able to install a few of those. Don't try to put Tyvek house wrap up by yourself when the remains of hurricane Igor are blowing through town. Not a pretty sight.  This was the last day for having extra help around.  Ross and Ken are off to bigger and better projects.   We're on our own and looking for all kinds of help for the long weekend coming up.  Don't hesitate to call I have a long list of things that
need doing.

weird little cricket roof section

busy storing for winter

Len

More green

It just keeps raining. Makes me think that this might be the end of summer/fall and go right into winter.  Hoo Boy!  It does slow down our project somewhat although I was able to get the last of the Logix foundation foam blocks returned and a load to the dump.  I'm trying to spruce up the yard before the snow flies.

The boys were able to get up 90% of the green fascia which looks great.  I will be going up this coming weekend to help Ross finish the trim.

Front entrance with temporary posts

North garage and upper room windows

West facing walls

I did have an issue to deal with concerning the 2x4 strapping at the roof peak on the great room.  The boys put the top 2 pieces of 2x4 right up to the top without leaving a gap for ventilation, 2 inches was required. Up I went with a skil saw and, set at 45 degrees, I cut a slot down the length of the roof.  Of course the saw didn't quite get all the way through so I had to make a second pass with a hammer and chisel.  I must have cut through about 20 nails, the saw wasn't cutting very well by the time I was finished. Straddling the peak to do this work out one way and then all the way back, another task I could have done without.  It's done now and we are almost ready for the roofers who are coming on the 8th of October.  I am really looking forward to being able to keep the water off of the floors.

I plan on stapling up some house wrap and placing a couple of windows for sure this coming weekend.  It is such a nice drive through Little Fort especially now with all the fall colours.

A quick weekend trip

We came up after work on Friday and drove the last half through rain.  We were worried that it might have rained all week, but it seems that the guys had 4 good days of work.  Most of the roof is sheeted and all the rafters are in place. 

view from rv showing sheeting on covered deck

the last rafters to be sheeted

We took a load to the dump

Len loading up the truck

and then did some prep work for windows - putting down the sticky water barrier so that the house wrap can go on.  Len also loaded up a suspect amount of Logix to take back to our supplier tomorrow.  But will it fly,Wilbur?

Note to self

Note to self: Dig any very deep trenches BEFORE 4 ft. of backfill is placed.  Well, Len worked much of Sunday getting the septic drainage line in, complete with clean-out stack, and then shoveling all that dirt back into the trench.

pipe in place

clean-out

buried with the clean-out above ground

what is the secret message on this rock, found in the trench?

Sunday was rainy in the morning, then cleared up.  Besides Len's trench work, we did lots of lot clean-up, did a dump run and tried to organize the wood around the lot.
Here is a view of the timbers up on the covered deck. Note the raked and leveled ground underneath where the trench was placed.

If it hadn't rained, the rafters would be on

So now it is Monday, and the rain is really coming down.  We are busy packing up tools and things to go home.  Ross and Ken came by to discuss some fine points of rafters, etc. and then went home to holiday rather than working in the pouring rain.  Len loaded up the truck, I loaded up the car and even cleaned and defrosted the fridge.  Joe came by to get his truck with the lift and helped Len move the last pallets from the neighbour's yard into ours.  Sorry, no pictures of this activity as doing it in the pouring rain was bad enough, never mind trying to document the event.  
Because we are going  back to "real life" for the rest of the week, we won't be blogging until the weekend.  See you then.
Cathryn

Stacking, unstacking, stacking

Today started out wet as it rained quite a bit over night.  By mid morning it was nice and dry and the sun came out.  We spent the day organizing things.  We started by uncrating the windows and placing them in the garage for easy access when the builders get to that point. 

Behind this curtain....windows!

Then we sorted all the 2X4 and 2X6 cedar into lengths and pulled out everything that will be used to trim the windows and made sure we knew where they went.

Window trim - nice colour, eh?

Long trim pieces in the garage

Then Len was busy cutting the rafters for the deck and needed to get at some 2X10's.  Where were they?  Under one of the stacks he and Tyler moved yesterday.  So we used the old truck with the lift to move three pallets and get at the lumber we needed.  I had Len take a picture to prove that, yes, indeed, I do some actual work some of the time.  Just happens that most of the time I am working, so is Len, and no one is taking pictures.

One board at a time is fine for me

To be fair, Len carried half of these boards and ALL the really big ones

 We stopped for a quick bite to eat because Len was desperate to get back digging in the pit of despair.  He got the septic drain put through the wall, the clean-out in place, and about 10 ft. of drainage pipe at the right slope out toward the septic field.

Len hefts a mean pick axe

When it got dark, Len had to come in but hopes to finish the trench tomorrow.  It is our last full day here this go-round so I know Len will want to make the most of it.
Cathryn

Raising the roof

The Gingrich family left after Tyler finishing helping Len move pallets from the neighbour's yard into ours.  We are to the point where the truck we borrowed from Joe needs to go back.  It isn't strong enough to move the last couple of bundles of walls, so we will figure out another way to move them. 

Tyler and Len with one of many loads

Caitlyn has a "ta da" moment on top of the dirt pile

Today we worked on getting scaffolding up so that the facia could be put up so that the roofers could roof.  They came with an on-site rig that forms the sheets and cuts them at the right lengths.  So more visual progress.    You will see the first piece of green that went up and also how good the tan roof looks with it (at least I think so).  We chose a light roof colour on purpose; it reflects the sun making for a cooler attic or house.

First green facia board placed

Rolling out our roof

First part of the roof - colour is tan (hard to see in this photo)

Sheeting continues

Although it is a long weekend, the carpenters will be back Monday morning and the roofers will be here tomorrow to do what they can.

Cathryn

Blame the Gingrich family

Sorry Dad, didn't get to the blog last night.  Tyler, Melissa and Caitlyn Gingrich came up for a visit and so we spent a very lovely evening up at our little campfire after a hot dog and marshmallow roast.  The stars were bright and the evening nice and warm without bugs. 

the guilty party

 Nonetheless, it was quite a momentous day.  The frame for the covered porch was raised and placed using the services of Pat from Interior Crane Services.  It was quite something to see that huge frame sailing through the air.

Up it goes

Pat, whose crane raised the frame

Once the frame was placed on the deck, the guys scurried around securing things and placing the beams as Pat flew them over with great accuracy.  Here is Len up on top securing the central beam.

crane places the last beam

Len says he doesn't plan to be up there again anytime soon

The Gingrich family arrived just after the frame was put up.  We put Tyler to work in the pit of despair, digging things a bit deeper.

Tyler, doing hard time

 As I noted to begin, the evening was quite lovely and we really enjoyed our visit. 

Enjoying the visit

our perfect little campfire

Cathryn

A small but important roof

Started the day by assembling the covered deck bent and the small bent over the entrance way.  No big problems except for the all the mud from the rains.  We laid out plastic covers and it kept our feet from getting too mucky.  Fired up the truck and crane and placed the entrance cover in place.  Soon the raftewrs were on and the boys were moving to the other roof for sheeting. 

Placing pegs in the deck bent

Bent ready to go

Entrance door top

Slinging the entrance into place

In place

Rafters on

Should be finished the sheeting by the weekend.  I decided to put some insulation in place before the sheeting covered over the space which would make it impossible to do. While I was up there I decided to take some photos from the very top of the roof while I still could.  After the sheeting goes on it is very difficult to keep from sliding off.  Looking forward to placing the deck bent tomorrow as that was going to happen next spring until we realized we needed it for the final roof line.

Insulation installation

View from the top

Len