The Other Overhang.

Well, I got the other overhang ladder framed in today. My tin roofing material that I ordered was'nt in yet, so I never did go to town today. I still have a bit of prep work to do before the tin anyway. Probably more than I even think. I was kinda hoping to have the tin on before we get any rain, but it sure looks like I could get some rain tonight. I know we could really use it here, but it would be nice if would hold off for a couple more days or three. lol. The wind is kinda testing things also. Sure hope she all holds together.

East Overhang Ladder

Yesterday was a total waste. I spent the whole day trying to figure out how I was going to build my roof overhangs without hanging way over the edge to do it. I am not really all that fond of high heights. I actually built one of my ladder overhangs on the ground yesterday with a plan of hoisting it up and somehow putting it in place. Well I tried it, but when I got one end up to reaching distance, I started wondering what I was going to do with it now. It ended up being alot bigger and more awkward than it looked on the ground. By the end of the day yesterday, I had thoughts of hiring someone to put the rest of the roof on for me, but I kinda thought that, that would be like giving up. So I decided there must be a way to do this. This morning, after a little thought I decided to try something different. I connected the two outside pieces to the 90 degree angle they should be at and braced it with a 16 foot 2x4. Then I pulled it up to where I could get at it all. Then I nailed all my 4 foot ladder pieces in then slid the whole thing out to its 2 foot overhang and nailed all the other ends to the first rafter. Everything just seemed to fall into place. I did have a couple of 2x4 temporary runners for the whole thing to sit on as I slid it out. It was alot of playing around, but I got it built eventually. The other end is going to be just a little bit more tricky, because I don't have quite as much loft area to work on.

Sometimes I wonder how I let my little old shack get so big and tall. It'll all be good once it is done though.

So there it is. Thats all I've got done in the last two days is one end overhang, and it still needs a little touching up. But I am satisfied. The day went good, it just takes awhile to do all this with a one man army. Mom came out today. It was kinda nice to have someone there just incase something went wrong. Probably going to town in the morning for the tin for the roof. It's supposed to be windy according to the forcast, so I might as well be doing the town things I guess. I'm not real sure how I plan to get around on this roof when things are all done. Rock climbing gear? lol. If I knew exactly where things are going to go, such as the chimney and drain vent etc, I would probably install it as I went. But I'm not sure, and I just want to get it covered before the major rains comes. I am planning to put solar panels up there eventually too.

Trusses are On.

I had a two guys helping me with these trusses and gable ends. It was a big day and I'm sure we will all feel it in the morning. There is still quite abit of work to do before I can put the tin on the roof, and I know it won't go real fast because of the height factor. We did'nt spend a whole lot of time on precision today, I just wanted it all up there while I had help. Thanks Johnny and Guy, I owe you guys one.

Ready for Trusses

It's all sheathed and ready for trusses........I think. There are some spots on the sheathing that still needs nailing. I could'nt reach. Wrong ladder power and a partial trench in my way. If it were not for that, I almost feel like putting on the house wrap before the trusses, it would be alot easier for the top part that way. But I'm not going to, I just want to try and get a roof on before some major rains come. I just might have some help coming out tomorrow to help me with those trusses. But I am not going to hold my breath, for I know that it is Saturday night, and ya never know what could happen. (Thinking back of the way I was at one time). With help or with no help, the roof has to go on there somehow. If I were to do it myself, I was thinking about utilizing the winch on my quad and a snatch block. It would be time consuming by myself, but I'm pretty sure it would be quite doable.

The trusses are going to add 10 more feet and a little to my overall height. I hope the wind don't blow my house over. lol. Actually, it usually dos'nt get all that windy in here. Usually.

More Wall Sheathing Done.

I got the smaller loft in sort of. I know that there will have to be some modifications to it later for the wood stove chimney. So I left out one joist in the middle area. On this loft the joist spacing is 1 foot on center with 2x10 lumber. I don't have a wood stove yet, and am not real sure where the chimney will run exactly, so I did'nt mount everything to stay for ever. I could have totally left it out until the roof was on, but I am thinking that it will help with putting the roof on.
I was in the process of measuring my top plate for the truss spacing when I decided that maybe now would be a good time to finish sheathing the walls. (I know that I am a little backwards at times). It is a lot easier when I can do it from the inside. If I did this again, the walls would be completely sheathed before I stand them up, but I did'nt because I wanted to tie the split sections together with sheathing. It was quite a battle I had with some of this so far today, and I could'nt imagine doing it from the outside on a ladder.
My natural fridge is slowly disappearing. Today was the warmest we had this spring so far. I'm not sure what the temperature got to, but I'm sure it was well over 20 celcius. I had to go and put on a long sleave shirt eventually, because I thought I was going to scorch myself.

Anyway, somehow I seemed to short change myself on wall sheathing, and I am going to make a quick trip into town for some of that and a shower, in the morning. Once I'm done with the sheathing, it is time to start with the roofing. I'm sure the roofing will have me doing a little thinking for a bit to get things started. I'm kinda scratching my head thinking up ways of getting my gable ends way up there.

Interior Walls and Loft Framed.

The loft floor over the bathroom and kitchen. This is one of the advantages of a smaller house. Just one room to frame in. The bathroom. I still have work to do on the loft floor(blocking, fire block, attach the sub floor, etc.), but it can all wait until the roof is on for now.

Got the trusses home and a bit more lumber.

This is a view from where the loft window will be.

I have a bit more prep work before I put the trusses up. A smaller loft on the other side of the house.
Things have been drying up alot quicker around here than they usually do in the spring. I'm getting a little worried that soon work might get busy. Usually we're shut down for a couple months in the spring, but this could be one of those real short spring breaks. Possibly anyway. All I really care about is getting a roof on before some major weather.

I had a mouse in my shack for the last couple of days. When I first discovered this, I was on the phone when the dog was obviously after something. Then the mouse came out and started coming at me, I thought anyway. I let out a quick beller and jumped up on the chair. lol. It was a little imbarrassing, as I was on the phone. The following two mornings I watched the little guy touring around the shack at the other end from my bunk and I could hear him stirring around just as I was trying to go to sleep at night. As I was writing this blog I heard the mouse trap snap. Hopefully, that was the only mouse I had in here.

More Walls Going Up

Just one more small section to go in on the other side of the house, and all the outside walls are up. That section is all framed except for the window.

The living room.

Walls Going Up

I woke up early this morning and started putting walls up. It works alot better on the morning frost for getting around with the backhoe.

I got three wall sections up and the forth one is ready for action in the morning. I still have to build two more smaller wall sections and put up after that forth one is up.

This is the south view from my living room. I was up on the ladder. It's going to get interesting when the rafters start going up, it is a long way up.

Today was a pretty long day. Lots of phyiscal work and up and down and all around. I can see that if there were a crew of a few people, something like this could have been done in a couple hours, but it took me pretty much the whole day and I was going pretty steady. I should sleep like a baby tonight.

Some Walls.

The above picture is the larger section of the north facing wall. That will be the only window on the the north side.

This one is the larger section of the south facing wall. That window will be the largest in the house. There will be another smaller window on the south wall.

This is the west facing wall (back end wall). There will be a small window and a 32 inch door which I did'nt quite get done framing yet. Looking at the position of the window in these walls, it may look like the window is low, but they are all 76" to the top of the window. I don't know if that is a real common height or not, but it looked good to me. The walls are 10 feet tall.

Starting to Frame the Main Walls.

It started out to be one of those days right from the start this morning. I started out bright and early in the morning really eager to get to town and get some supplies quickly and head for home to build. I never even got out of the yard and the battery light on the old GMC comes on and the charge gauge is reading lower than normal. So get out the meter and test the alternator itself. Sure enough, it's had. So that was'nt a major deal though. Nothing that a little over 300 bucks could'nt cure and a bit of my time to change. Good thing the old Dodge was rested up and eager to go for a cruise. Then stopped at my favorite bulk fuel place for my monthly shower. lol. April fools. It must be at least once every two weeks. April fools again, I am actually a clean kind of a cat.

So I went over to my favorite lumber suppliers old yard to check out my trusses that I had them build for me last fall, thinking that I did'nt want to be waiting on them. lol. I sure hope they are not to badly warped out of shape. They actually looked pretty good concidering they sat out in this yard all winter. I need to have a look at them so I can plan my weekend framing expedition a little bit, as I hav'nt got a clue. I was planning on building my own rafter system, until I found out that it is a no no with the permit people. They have to be manufactured, or stamped by a professional engineer if I remember correctly. My rafters are the only item left in this yard, as they moved shop. I had to sneak in under the gate. Their new shop is'nt real far away, so I guess they should be able to load me up without a problem when the time comes.

I had a bunch of other running around to do in town. I even went for a drive around a couple of new parts of Grande Prairie looking at partially built houses as I drove by. Just to kinda see how different things look at different stages. I bought 25 sheets of OSB for my walls, some groceries and I should be all set for the Easter long weekend. I came home and put that new alternator in the GMC. It was a little over $300 and it has a lifetime warranty. Whatever that means. I think my reciept will probably wear out or get lost before that time comes.

I did manage to get a little bit of building done. It's not much, but it is a good feeling to get started on this up above the basement building. I should be able to get a good start in the morning.