Second Coat

Before...

... and after

Over the last couple of months I've been slowly working away at giving the house a second and final coat of paint (technically stain, but seems like paint in practical terms) and I'm rounding the corner literally and figuratively on the project.

In September I decided to start at the porch and then work around the back of the house, figuring that I'd cover the cooler parts of the house while it was still warm and then be painting the sunnier sides as the fall progresses. This has turned out to be a wise tactic as we are now in late November and all that's left is part of the south-facing wall.

Progress has been in fits and starts. Hurricane Irene was the first unexpected event that redirected much of our time and attention to helping others over the course of a couple of weeks. Then came teaching an intense two-week course at Yestermorrow, followed last but not least, by a brief stay in the hospital resulting from a cat bite.

Nonetheless, I've been making progress as time and weather have allowed and in this respect, I think we've been quite lucky. The stain requires 40 degrees or above for application, so I've been able to work with very few exceptions right up through the fall.

Our original plan --which we are working to complete-- was to have all the clapboard primed by the factory, then apply a first coat of primer before the clapboard was installed, and then finishing up with a final coat when the siding was in place. Although the house has generally looked finished for a good while now, much of the rafter tails hadn't even been primed, much less painted, and all the nail holes and clapboard butt-joints were rough.

It feels good to know that we're seeing this part of the project through to insure the quality and durability of the siding.

Roof roof roof

We spent the better part of last week doing all the trim/rough sawn edge work around the perimeter of the whole roof. This includes the drip edge, the roof trim, the ice and water shield and the visible rough sawn overhang sheathing. This is labor intensive and, once done, sets us up to install the plywood over the main part of the house and run right up the roof in short order.
This morning we polished off the very last of the pre-plywood work and then installed a few rafter ties. The rafter ties serve two purposes: mated to the rafters they complete the triangle that becomes the structural unit of the roof, tying the rafters together so they resist spreading from the downward force of gravity; their other purpose is to create a lowered ceiling effect on the second floor while still providing an open view up to the cathedral ceiling. There will be rafter ties on each set of rafters all the way down, so they will act in effect like a loft floor above the second floor. The ties need to be placed within the lower third of the length of the rafter which puts them about 7 feet above the floor.

I am particularly excited about the creative possibilities created by this element of the house design. We can hang things from them, create a loft on top of them, put lights in, on, or around them--whatever we like. They are going to give the second floor a playful and spacious quality that feels great to me. We only installed a few of them today. Once we've got the plywood up on the roof we'll put the rest up.


The weather today was an astounding 65 degrees. It was the first day in weeks that we actually felt hot. I kept joking with Joe that it was too much for me to take and that I thought we'd have to quit early. Given the fact that we are working up high and you have a lot to manage at the same time, its a blessing to not be fighting the cold at the same time.

Main Roof rafters

This week we've been working on the roof rafters over the main part of the house. We've got a few common rafters in (common rafters are the full length typical rafter that's not altered or modified in any way) and today put the valley rafter in place. The valley rafter is the crucial junction at the intersection of the two roof planes. Its a non-intuitive piece of wood and has a bunch of cuts. Joe and I discussed it for a bit this morning and then I let him puzzle it out. The thinking and planning takes way more time then the actual cuts, and to Joe's credit, it came out dead nuts. There are other complicated pieces to go in, but the valley rafter is the biggie.

Meanwhile I've be shaping, priming, and painting the fly rafters that'll project off the main roof gable ends. 34 of them in total. Its a repetitive process, but it's fun to get into production mode and work out the most efficient sequence of actions to mark, cut, shape, move, trim, prime and paint each piece in a series. Tomorrow morning these will start being installed in conjunction with more of the rafters.

Kitchen Roof Complete

The rough sawn 1x6 planks run over the roof overhang.

The Zip system sheathing taped

Joe, testing the laws of gravity.

The kneewall on the east side in place.

View from the driveway

We wrapped up the roof over the kitchen yesterday. In order to create the visual effect of looking up and seeing pieces of rough sawn lumber coming over the end of the building --over the gable wall-- we've had to plan for the intersection of the rough sawn lumber with the Zip system roof sheathing. This worked out pretty well. (The Zip system sheathing is the brown material in the photos).

After the rough sawn lumber was in place we then put up the Zip sheathing. This was one of those times where it feels like you move in slow motion for a day or so and then BAM you go into fast motion and things seem to fly for a while. In a short day Joe and I had the roof sheathed and taped. This means it's watertight and ready for the standing seam roof to be installed. We're storing tools under it now since its dry.

This morning Joe was away closing up his families' camp up in the islands with his brother, which gave me a chance to do a little cleaning up and organizing. I stickered some lumber that needs to dry a bit before being painted, cleared a storage space for our immanent window delivery, and prepped the next round of fly rafter for shaping and painting. In other words, I tried to organize a bit in order to keep things moving smoothly with oncoming work.

Joe showed up in the early afternoon and we continued cleaning and organizing for the next round of work (the roof rafters over the main part of the house). We then laid into completing the remaining kneewalls along the east side of the main part of the house. The weather has been chilly - in the 30's during the day and there's snow all around on the mountain tops. We'll take cold any day over cold and wet.

By the way, I'm pretty wrapped up in this whole process and if any of what I'm describing doesn't make sense, please feel free to write a comment or an email and I'll be happy to try to clarify things. If you want to write a comment, just choose "Name/URL" and enter your name. You don't have to have a URL address.

Roofing begins

Joe and I got the rafters over the kitchen in place at the end of last week. Yesterday we put in the blocking and fly rafters to create the 2' overhang at the gable end of the roof. The fly rafters are the short rafters that extend out from the end of the gable wall, creating a sort of ladder up the edge of the roof. With these in place we were able to install the rake board trim and then start installing the rough sawn 1x6 lumber that will be seen from below when looking up at the roof overhang. With the snow this morning, working was a bit of a challenge since we were pretty much wet and cold all day. A little warmer or a little cooler would have helped, but rain in the 30's is not fun. Suffice to say we enjoyed the hot meal Nance heated up for us for lunch along with a cup of hot cider.

The work we've done the last couple of days sets us up to sheath the roof over the kitchen and then move onto the main roof. That'll mean we're back to cutting rafters and working out the intersection between the two roofs. I'm psyched to do work this stuff out. Lets hope for some dry weather and sunshine. Getting the roof over the kitchen is perfect timing as our window order is scheduled to show up late Thursday or early Friday and we need to be able to insure they are kept dry. The roof will be a big help.