Roofing!

The past two weekends, we managed to get the roof up on the cabin. It's a 12 in 12 slope, so there is no way to stand on it without help. By installing sets of roof jacks every four feet or so, we were able to work fairly comfortably. Also, Jim has some jacks that fit on ladders and a plank to span between them, so that gave us a really stable platform to use to get the roof started. In addition, Jim was able to borrow a roof lift for the week, so we were able to use that to get the shingles up the roof. By the end of this first weekend, we managed to get the back side of the roof pretty much done, including a set of roof vents.

The next weekend, Jim and I were back up there, and Mike and Tony were able to make it too. We thought the second half of the roof would go really fast. We managed to get it done, but it was more work than we had imagined.

It was great to have the help and get the roof on. Not only was it fun to work with four guys, but it is a huge relief to know that the floor should now stay pretty much dry regardless of weather. For this year, there is still a little more sheathing to put up in the gables, we have to install the door and a couple of windows, and wrap the whole thing in Tyvek, but that seems a pretty minor compared to what we've got done!

It's a Cabin!

This was the week that I hoped to basically build the cabin. I met Jim after work on Friday, and Saturday we started framing the walls. Our friend Aaron loaned us his compressor and framing nailer, and that really sped things up. We had the walls framed by the end of the day. On Sunday, we put up the ceiling joists for the loft and the interior wall to hold them up.

Jim left Sunday afternoon, and I stayed to work all week. A full week of vacation is hard to part with, but I really want to get this cabin weatherproof as soon as possible. On Monday I was able to put up most of the wall sheathing and the loft subfloor. It was nice to get up on the loft and imagine how it will look from there when it's all done.
Tuesday was really tough because it rained most of the day. The next step was to put up the ridgeboard, and this was a daunting task on my own. It's a 2x12 about 30 feet long, and I guess that it was between 100 and 150 pounds. I had to get it 18 feet up above the floor level. I have to admit, I felt really proud to get it done.


Wednesday the weather was better, and it was a lot easier to really get to work. I framed the rafters over the loft, and I framed the dormer. This was all pretty easy because I was working off the loft, and I didn't have to lift the rafters very high. The rafters were built from 16 foot 2x10's, which is heavier than the minimum recommended in the rafter tables, but I'm sure I'll be glad to have the extra strength and ventilation that they'll provide.

On Thursday, it was time to put up the other 14 rafters that were not over the loft. This was a little more challenging because I had to get one end of the rafter up to that ridge board 18 feet above the floor. I found that I could just push the rafter vertically up until it leaned against the ridge board and then walk the other end over to the wall and rest it on the plate. It was exhausting, and, again, it felt really good have done it. Looking at the finished rafters, I really like how tall the 12 in 12 slope makes the cabin.

Friday I did some of the remaining framing like the rafter ties, the gable window, and part of the patio roof. It had been getting warmer and warmer all week, and this began to exacerbate a little problem that I'd been having. Aaron's compressor is really good - it's got enough power to keep up with you even when your driving a lot of nails. I was running it off of Jim's generator, which is also really nice, but is little underpowered for that compressor. With the heat, it quit running the compressor entirely, so I had to continue nailing by hand.

At this point, I'd spent five nights on my own camping and working. The neighbors were nice enough to stop by and check on me once in awhile, and had to make almost daily runs into Home Depot, but for the most part I was alone (except for Luke, of course). I would wake up and start work, and then stop when it got dark. There really wasn't much else to do, so it wasn't that hard to keep going. It was exhausting, though. I was really, really happy when Marie arrived with Jim and Julie on Friday afternoon to help with the second weekend.

With the extra help and a rented generator that could keep up with the compressor, we were able to finish up nearly all of the remaining framing like outriggers and barge rafters, gables, fascia boards, and the rest of the patio rafters. Jim was really confident jumping up on the plates or working off the extension ladder, and that really helped get some of tougher steps done.

Marie and Julie had picked out a good exterior door and the perfect color for it, so they painted it. The cabin's almost to a point that it needs its front door!

On the last Sunday morning, we were able to get up about half of the roof decking. Like I mentioned, I love the look of the 12 in 12 slope roof slope, and I think it will be great at shedding snow, but this is the time that we have to pay for that slope. I'm not really comfortable yet working on the relatively moderate slope of the patio roof, so the steep part of the roof is really intimidating.

At the beginning of the week, I had hoped to get through all the roof decking. The fact we were probably less than a day behind at the end of the week is still pretty great. Up to this point we've been saying "We'll be up at the land this weekend", and at the beginning of the week all we had was a floor. Now, though, I think it's much more than just "The Land", and we can realistically start calling it "The Cabin".