Roof Part 1

It has been a while since my last update and the roof is now finished. Here are some photos.

Laying the tongue and groove. It was not so easy. We found it easier to cut them in shorter lengths. A little warping of a board made it almost impossible to fit it in.

Inside View

Each board was carried up a ladder.

Adding facial boards

Sleepers with insulation and air vents

Ready to Lay Tongue and Groove

The bird block is finished and last night we removed the ridgepole lifting poles. Today I (Tammy) have been putting a clear sealer on one side of the tongue and groove. This evening we will start nailing the tongue and groove to the rafters. A small crew of guys from our church are planning to come help on Saturday. We don't have an easy way to lift the t&g up to the top so it should be interesting to see what we come up with. I sure hope the t&g goes together quickly. Some pieces are a little warped.

Bird Block

All the rafters are up and leveled. Today we are working on the bird block. You can see the horizontal boards being nailed in between the rafters at the top of the logs. We had a good rain this afternoon that cooled it off quite a bit. Thank you God!

We have our yellow pine tongue and groove for the ceiling and for the second story floor. We want to put a clear sealer on the one side of the roof that will be seen from the inside of the house and had hoped to start on sealing it today but with the rain that was not possible. Even now as I write the rain has begun to fall again. Away goes the power tools and lumber gets covered back up. This could be a test of perseverance if the guys didn't enjoy building the house so much.

We need to push to get the roof finished before winter weather hits. Sitting in a hot trailer in August makes me think winter is far off, but there are only 16 Saturdays until December. We have chosen not to work on the Lord's Day, so Saturdays are the only full days we work besides occasional vacation days from the paying job. We also usually have four evenings available to work, weather permitting.

Meanwhile, Mom and Gabby have been recovering dining room chairs and teaching the littles how to set a table. Our space is tight but 6 of us fit around our table while the baby uses her highchair. Poor boy just woke from his nap and he is hungry.

The Rafters are Going Up

The rafters are going up fairly easy. We are doing it like we were taught in the class and what do you know it works. Our house will have 13 sets of rafters and last night we put up the sixth set. Once they are all up then we have to get them all level and then they will be pinned into place with rebar.

After the rafters are leveled and secured, we will lay tongue and groove on top of them. We don't have our T & G because we are still negotiating the price. After the T & G, we will build boxes on top to fill with insulation. We have decided to use architectural composite shingles for the roof. We hope to be finished with the roof by September. God willing!

There was a rainbow yesterday. It reminded me that God is in control of all things and it also reminded me of his long suffering and mercy. There was actually a double rainbow. If you look closely at the upper right corner you will see the second rainbow.

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Problem Solving

The Problem: How to get up to the top of the ridge pole to pin it - safely!!
It was nightfall Saturday when at last the ridge pole was in position, but we were all puzzled. How could we get almost 30 feet in the air with no safely lines in place? We decided that we needed a 40 foot ladder.
But by Monday, Blane had another idea. He could strap a 12 ft. ladder to the top of the house.

It is safer than it looks. After strapping the bottom of the ladder to the top of the wall, we climbed up and strapped the top to the ridge pole. That ladder won't move! Then Blane Jr. attaches a safety rope to the lifting pole and pins the one side or the ridge pole to the RPSL (ridge pole support log) with rebar.

These things make Mom a bit nervous, but with a safety harness it's not too bad.

Next Blane Jr. wraps a chain around the ridge pole and clips his harness into it and scoots across to attach the safety line to the other lifting log.

With the safety line now in place, we need to raise the center RPSL into place and then we will start on the rafters which need to be planed and stained on the ground first before lifting them into place. 12 x 4 x 25 feet rafters will be another challenge to get into place, but our problem solving skills are improving!

Many Hands and Minds Continued

Daniel also came to help Saturday morning. Thanks Daniel!

We used the lifting poles to lift the ridge pole and set it on top of the wall to wait to be put into place later.

Next, Blane Jr. climbs the RPSL to trim them to the right size. 

Then, we moved two of the lifting poles from the corners to the center and strapped them to the RPSL for use in raising the ridge pole into position.

Lastly we got the ridge pole up. Yipee!!!

It would have taken us weeks to do what we got done in 3 days with a little help from our now life-long friends. Thanks again guys and gals.