Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Onwards...






We've been wrapping up some odds and ends as we pause for Thanksgiving.

I cut the rest of the star pattern in the porch roof, which we then covered with (painted) tar paper. The effect is definitely diminished, which I'm kinda bummed about, but I'm glad they are there nonetheless. I wish I could think of some way to have them shine without having a translucent roofing material. Any ideas?

We cut holes for three vent pipes that pass through the roof as well as the stovepipe for the wood stove. The stovepipe will stand higher then it is shown in the photo when we add another segment from below and push it up and out a few more feet. We also taped up a couple of leaks revealed by a recent rain and added some more ice and water shield in the roof valleys for a bit of added security against future leaks.

To my satisfaction we engaged in a bit of materials management. Back a couple of months ago I ordered the wrong kind of rigid insulation for the basement. Its been sitting down there waiting to be returned for a long time, so we finally hauled it all out and had the lumber yard take it back, along with various other materials that we don't need. We moved the remaining 6x6's that will be needed for retaining walls on either side of the basement hatchway to near where we'll need them. That has opened up some space around the house that starts to let us feel the building as an entity on its own.

Today I spent the whole day cleaning up, organizing lumber stacks, gathering tools, clearing clutter, stacking rocks, separating and storing burnable lumber, sweeping, etc.... It felt really good to take care of all this stuff. It puts a little order and polish to our hard work.

Nancy's parents are coming for a post-Thanksgiving visit and I'm excited to show them our work. Before they get here I want to cut out a hole to get to the second floor from inside. As it is now its a little high climbing from the outside. From the inside it'll be an easy climb.

The weather continues to be generous to us, for which I am grateful

4 comments:

mary in Portland said...

I really like the stars and moon too... perhaps fill them with radioactive material?

Dave said...

Hey Mary,

Hmm... not too sure about that one!

Thanks for all your comments; for whatever reason, I can't comment back. I'm giving it a try from Nancy's interface.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dave

wendy said...

i've really been thinking about this star situation. i hate the idea that you can't see light through the stars/holes. how about getting little pieces of plexi that are larger than each star and caulking it into place on the roof. I think this would allow the light to come through while not allowing water to come through. not sure how that will work out with your roofing/tar paper etc. but, at least it is a germ of an idea. will keep thinking how to you might solve this as it would be a huge pity to not allow the natural light through--ruins the whole idea and effect!

gobble gobble! wendy

Dave said...

Hey Wendy,

I appreciate your thoughts about the stars in the roof, and I think your ideas are not far off. One way to solve it is to roof the porch with shingles, rather then metal, and wherever there is a star, there would be a piece of plexiglass rather then roof shingle, so the plexiglass would act as a see-through shingle.


Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Dave