Roofing 10

I used the templates I made to cut the metal-roofing pieces for the roof valleys.

This involves making diagonal cuts on the top and bottom edges, cutting a notch to fit around the gable roof peak, and pounding flat the upper portion that must lay flat against the main roof peak.

By myself, I managed to install valley pieces along the southeast valley...

... and the southwest valley.

This last weekend, my loyal helpers Arlen and Dale came over to help install sheets of metal roofing.

We all agreed that, if my roof was straight from end to end, or even if I had installed shed dormers instead of gable dormers, we could have easily installed all the roofing in one weekend. But, no, of course not. (All of you who know me may chime in now...) If there's a way that is more difficult, time-consuming, and/or complicated, that is how I will do it! After installing one complete sheet of metal roofing, all pieces that followed had to be custom cut to fit around the south gable.

To add even more complication, it began to shower. Then...

... it began to hail. Yes, hail. On and off... shower, hail, sun, shower, hail, sun.

Arlen started sliding around--losing all traction on the roof. Notice in the photos that he started to counterbalance his weight across the roof peak instead of relying on any traction to hold him up there. For safety reasons, we quit for the day after installing only two sheets of metal roofing.

That night, we had our first frost of the season. And it was a big one! The frost on the JayBee roof was thick the next morning.

Once the roof dried off in the sun, we went back to work. It was cold (warmer when the sun was out!) but we got into a bit of a rhythm. Each roofing piece had to be custom cut to fit the south gable.

Then, it began to snow! We were so surprised, we kept thinking it was pollen. But, no, it was snow. If you look closely at the photo below (it will be bigger if you click it and open it up in its own window), you can see snow on the metal roof--and snow falling as well. Arlen kept saying that of course it was snowing--it's a requirement that it snow during a roofing job. I had been trying to keep us off the roof in 90-degree weather, but I hadn't intended to install it in the snow!

When we quit, we had two gable faces roofed, including the gable ridge vent...

... and one quarter of the main roof covered (with no ridge vent yet).

Also see:
Roofing 1
Roofing 2
Roofing 3
Roofing 4
Roofing 5
Roofing 6
Roofing 7
Roofing 8
Roofing 9
Roofing 11
Roofing 12
Roofing 13
Roofing 14
Roofing 15
Roofing 16
Roofing 17

Crawling Along

Thank you, faithful followers, for not giving up on me completely. I have been slowly making progress on the JayBee despite my failure to post regularly.

Here is further progress on the closet wall.

Below it is set in place. See how there is a ladder (for reaching high-up storage in the closet, and for climbing up to the storage loft) inside the closet wall? Once I set this wall in place, I immediately noticed that the closet ceiling light fixture was placed too close to the ladder.

I moved the light fixture back close to the JayBee's outer wall. (Also see in the photo below that the shower stall has been brought inside the JayBee; it is currently sitting where the toilet will be installed.)

I installed the portion of the air exchanger that protrudes through the north wall of the JayBee.

I haven't installed all the interior parts (that require a finished interior wall), but I did install the filters inside it.

On the outside, I used a leftover piece of ice and water shield...

...and installed the exterior vent. (I didn't realize until after the fact that this photo was also a headless selfie.)

The vent sits above the double north window.

The electrician came back one last time because he had neglected to wire up the thermostat that will control the electric radiant heat. In the photo below, the lower box is where the wires from the electric-radiant flooring panels will be connected. The upper box in the photo will house a light switch. Above that is another junction box that will house the thermostat.

Notice also in the photo that there is a wire that runs across this side of the shower-stall wall. I decided it was going to complicate installing my kitchen cabinets, so...

... I moved it into the wall instead.

During one of my JayBee-building days, my brother enjoyed a kayaking adventure on the river. I just happened to see him returning.

I got a really good deal on a portable garage that I plan to use for storage during the winter months. This will give me a temporary, weather-protected place for materials that get delivered without having to fill up the interior of the JayBee--allowing me to work on the inside of the JayBee unencumbered during the winter months.

I began setting up the garage by myself--assuming that I would hit a point when I'd have to ask others to come over and help. 10' x 17' didn't sound very big to me--until I started putting the thing together. Here are the roof-framing pieces together.

Then the side pieces added.

The garage came with 18"-long anchors that screwed into the ground; I securely attached them to the framing pieces.

One end cover put on.

Then the other end.

Then the roof and side walls. Finally, additional metal framing pieces were installed about six inches up from the ground along the inside of the side walls.

I managed to build the whole thing myself! I like it. It's spacious and bright inside. Now to see how it holds up through the snow.

The pear trees kept dropping pear bombs while I was assembling the garage beneath them. Just when I thought I found a large, perfectly-shaped pear, I discovered that a deer had found it first!

Also while I was putting the garage together, a whole bundle of turkeys came parading through. I snapped about a dozen photos, but each photo only captured one or two turkeys each.

In the space of two days, a very LARGE fox ran through my yard twice in broad daylight. I attempted to capture it in photos, but I ended up with a lot of photos of leaves and trees. (Yes, it made me wonder how my indoor-outdoor cats have remained alive all these years...)

Speaking of leaves, I don't have brilliantly-colored leaves around my house. Around here, the oak and ash tree leaves turn a dull yellow-brown and then drop off.  My river view is starting to open up again, however.

From the roof of the JayBee...

When I drive to work, I see brilliant fall colors. When I look out the window while sitting at my desk at work, I can watch this tree going through its autumn changes.

Beautiful night sky the other night. This was actually a crisp, perfect quarter moon--not well captured in this photo.

New Season, New Plan

It may be quite hot and humid at the moment, but there is no denying that the seasons are shifting. The sun goes down so early now! And those long, distinctive shadows in the afternoon... <sigh> A new school year has started. Summer is on its last gasp.

I think I am coming to grips with the fact that I really am a very slow house builder. I am still very enthused and committed to the project. I also don't seem to have any desire to try to speed up my process. I would rather continue to mosey along, working thoughtfully and methodically, having the time to shift my plans as new, creative ideas come to mind. All this means that I know I have no chance of finishing the JayBee before the next winter season. That means spending another winter in my old wreck of a house. That does not exactly thrill me, but I do think it is the best decision. This will allow me not only to finish building the JayBee but also to finish the monumental job of downsizing myself out of the old house.

I have started to work for pay again--part time. While it is sad not to be working on the JayBee 100% of the time, it does feel good to have some money coming in--to counterbalance some of what goes out. So far, working part time is leaving me plenty of energy to work on the JayBee during my off hours.

My recent progress...

The electrician came back to make adjustments to the wiring. That west-loft window framing is now free of wires, so I will be able to install the awning window there. The extra outlets I needed are installed. For some reason not shared with me, the electrician did everything on the list except attach wiring to the thermostat--so I cannot declare the wiring to be completely done.

Here are only a small portion of the templates I have created to help me cut pieces of metal roofing for the roof. Now that the electrician is basically done with his work, I think I can let roofing pieces proliferate all over the floor of the JayBee.

I have been working on the half of the JayBee's closet that will have permanently-installed walls (as opposed to the half that will swing open on ball bearings). After spending way too much time staring at the space, I had this great brainstorm: I decided to install a ladder on the inside of the closet wall that will be used to access storage high up in the closet and to climb up into the west storage loft. Here is that closet wall in process.

I pegged all the holes where I drove screws to hold the ladder rungs in place.

I would have finished sanding the ladder framing...if my sander had not broken before I was done.

I mentioned those long shadows... See who is sleeping in the irises?

I like going down to the river late in the afternoon because the light can be so spectacular then. Bear often comes with me.

A couple of days ago, George came with us as well!