Odds 'n' Ends

Here we are, the end of December, and the hard work is behind us. After the Don visit there’s been some puttering and a lot of ‘one-man’ type work between the odd weekends of mud and rain. With Cara’s assistance I plugged any ‘goofs’ in the steel roof with screws, however we’ll need some dry weather to put the ridge cap on.

Ben stopped out for a couple hours one weekend and we put the last piece of west side metal up, leaving only the north to worry about.

With the assistance of the picker and a free Saturday, I put the final top rows of screws in the east and west ends, put up (and squared) the gable fascia pieces, then set to work on the west side getting the soffits sorted. I spent Sunday cutting and installing all the soffits on the north side, trimming the fascia metal to size, and working on the NW corner transition. By the end of the weekend, I had all the overhead metal work done.

And here it is the weekend of the 20^th… With Ben’s assistance we framed out the front overhead doors with plenty of blocking, and got the first sheet up. I worked Sunday PM, continuing the sheetmetal across the front. If I were really playing it by the book, I would have started at the center of the north face and worked east and west to ensure the front was 100% symmetrical, but I’m sure it looks fine the way it is. The only things lacking at this point are a ridge on the roof, one corner to trim out (the supplied metal is scratched), and metal trim around the door openings before the doors and tracks can go in.

Siding Weekend

It was the Friday after Thanksgiving and the forecast called for semi-warm weather, but when I got out of the truck up at the road, it was anything but. The thermometer read 20F but the winds were really whipping and the ground was still ice covered. Ben was having some car trouble at home and I figured I better just call this off. This ended up being a smart move because after the sun came out, I pressed forward with the work I had planned, which turned out to be a one-man job anyhow. This included framing out an opening for the west side service door and installing the frieze channels and 2x4 nailing boards. Lots of fine tuning was required to get these to line up straight and still be within an inch of accepting the rear siding panels (which were pre-cut) while being level with where the soffits would attach. With that, Saturday’s siding plan could commence.

You couldn’t have asked for a better day temp-wise. We hit mid-40’s with a clear sky and warm sun. This was ideal for working on the gable ends of the building, but not so much the south side where the snow-covered roof was melting in the sun and creating a muddy mess below the roof line. That said, with a 9AM start, we put in the first rear sheet to prove out the concept and to set the alignment for the rest of the 45 linear feet. Piece of cake. Then we tackled the gable ends which required cutting each panel top at the correct angle of the roof. After a rudimentary check, the 4:12 roof pitch jibed with basic geometry. A 4 in 12 rise over the width of a 3’ panel meant a 12” slope for each. Using a Malco turbo-shear (which I cannot say enough good things about), we soon got the hang of panel lengths and made quick work of the job. By sundown, we had the bulk of both walls cut, installed, and screwed into place. I spent the evening on the net trying to figure out the best way to trim out the service door, not being satisfied with the ‘standard procedure’ which didn’t seem to address the issue of things like…rain.

And so it was Sunday the 30^th that Ben and I had a few minutes before our buddy Don D. would roll up, along with my father, not far behind. We put up the partial pieces of frieze runner and leveled and fastened in the service door. The temps were not as kind as the previous day and we’d spend frequent sessions warming up in the car between jobs, but on the plus side, there was no longer a mud issue and the snow was GONE. Cara joined us around the same time and after some odd jobs, we launched into the rear panel install. The work was swift, with two people staging the panels through the back wall, and three aligning/fastening them down. I’d be surprised if it took more than an hour to finish the whole rear. 

With manpower available, we snapped chalk lines, put in screws, and even cut/installed the final two partial roof sheets using the Malco to get from one end to the other of those 18’ panels. Once again I found myself on the roof, wondering what might break my fall at the bottom. By 1:30 we were done and headed into town to hear the latest Don D. tales.

The Garage: Weekend 4

Up to this point, we had a total of 2 weekends invested, digging holes, setting posts, nailing girts and getting the trusses/purlins up, plus random off-weekend work whenever the weather cooperated, which wasn’t much. Add in some help from Ben on the overhang jacks and some bracing, and a 3^rd Saturday for some solo-picker time getting the fascia boards on, and we were ready for the next installment.

Highs in the 40’s were forecast for the weekend of the 22^nd. Though a major threat of rain/snow was in the cards for Sunday. I took care of a few details Friday after work and we were ready. Around 9AM Saturday everyone convened and we started the steel roof install. The Bosch tools made easy work of installing the (many, many) screws. The steel was dry enough that I could perch myself on the roof and slide/up down to fasten what Ben couldn’t from the ladder. By lunch we had the north slope done and were moving onto the south. The sun came out as we started on the NE end and it took everything I had to keep from sliding off. My efficiency dropped to 50% and my shoes did more scratching of the steel than grabbing. Somehow we finished up right before sundown with roof on the place. Short of a couple end strips, the most difficult job was DONE. We retreated for dinner and drinks and to complain about our aches and pains. Guess we’re not as nimble as we once were!

I took it easy on Sunday, only putting in a couple solo hours to cut/install the rear truss braces while the rain came down. Next would be the steel siding.

The Garage: Weekend 3ish

The weather got cold and the snow got deep, burying any lumber stacked on the ground and making outside work a real bear. The high temps plunged into the teens and any after-work, work, simply couldn’t be done on a daily basis. Add to that a 90 minute window before night fall each day and any work was a scramble. That said, I got the braces cut and installed in the corners, buried a PVC line out for power, and capped the skirt board ends in prep for cement.

The next major event would be putting on the steel roofing. In order for that to happen, the overhangs would have to be installed. There were a couple small things left to do before that and Ben came out to lend a hand. Diagonal purlin braces and supports for the front trusses then meant the external bracing could come down. For once the weather was cooperating.

The crew got a reprieve for weekend three and I worked solo on putting up the 2x6 fascia boards and shimming them into line on both gable ends and along the front and rear. Some purlins had to be trimmed in place to smooth out the fascia, but it wasn’t too bad of work, aside from frequent breaks in the car to keep my fingers and toes intact. When the flurries rolled in mid-afternoon, I hitched up the picker and headed back to the lodge. It was getting dangerously COLD.