Lookin' like a house...

Well today we got more than 1/2 of the OSB on the roof (all the front and the most difficult 1st course on the backside of the house). We would have finished all of it but the guys ran into a slight spacing problem between several trusses and had to do a little more cutting/sawing than they had hoped. Thankfully, the problem wasn't my fault although I think David Musser would have liked to blame me if he could have (he likes to give me - the college boy - as much grief as possible even though I have the cash each afternoon to pay him and his crew). Think Irish COTTAGE with light gray stucco, a blue roof, a red door (mortgage free) and roses climbing up the front wall next to the windows and door:This is a picture of what will become the kitchen (1st window where all the "stuff" is sitting), the utility room (2nd window) and the master bedroom (3rd window which will be in the master closet):This is a shot looking up into the NW corner of the dining room (the bottom of these ceiling joists will be covered with sheets of tin roofing affixed with the white underside down... this will create an almost flat and - hopefully - interesting look throughout the house). Cellulose insulation (R-50) will be blown in the attic above the tin.Looking down our 170' driveway at what is beginning to look more and more like a HOUSE!Tomorrow we should be able to complete the OSB and maybe get all the tin screwed down... YEAH!

The trusses have been set

Today was a BIG day in our continuing house building saga. Setting the trusses was a struggle for several reasons and went "over budget" (the $70/hour crane)but by the middle of the afternoon we had the trusses set... tomorrow the OSB and tar paper goes on... by Friday we should be under roof (in the case of our Tennessee Irish cottage a Hawaiian Blue tin roof). Here's a picture from the NW corner showing the knee walls and center trusses:Here's a shot from the other end of the house (the gable ends will be stuccoed like the block walls):And a shot from the back (the wider overhang is part of my passive solar design which lets in winter sun for heating while blocking the summer sun which is higher in the sky):And a picture of a "tuckered out" 61-year old:

Getting ready to set the trusses tomorrow at 7 AM

Alexis, her 87 year-old mother and I spent the day finalizing the preparations for setting the trusses tomorrow morning at "O-dark-thirty." I was concerned that I had made a mistake in laying out the north and south plates but at the end of the day it came out just PERFECT! What a relief! Alexis was a big help in covering the end knee wall trusses with OSB and HardiPlank once she mastered the Paslode nail gun and the air-driven stapler (see pictures). Her Mama was a GREAT and willing "gopher":Here I am laying out the last 20' of the north wall... I was SO PLEASED that the measuring of the north & south walls came out just PERFECT!... parallel marks 24" on center front and back!One of the things I accomplished this afternoon was to get the top (2" X 8") plate cut and bolted down to the top of the east block wall (see picture below). It actually went pretty smoothly even though it was at the end of the day:The good Lord willing, we'll be under roof by Friday!

It was a long day... but I got a lot done

The day started with lots of errands: a trip to rent rolling scaffolding for Tuesday's "truss event"; a quick stop at Home Depot to pick up some pressure treated lumber and blades for my reciprocating saw; then over to David Musser's to borrow his staple nailer gun to further nail down the HardiPlank over the OSB (my Paslode nail gun drove the nails too far into the planks and they weren't holding as well as I wanted). Hundreds and hundreds of staples later the HardiPlank aint't going anywhere (a comical note: everytime I pulled the trigger on the stapler, Mosby barked like a seal and continued barking until I was finished... go figure?... he's a strange little dog). It doesn't look any different but believe me these planks are now affixed for the long haul!
During my discussion with the crane-guy he recommended that I cut and have ready 30-35 pieces of 2" X 4"s cut exactly 25 1/2" long to help us secure and align the trusses on Tuesday. Fortunately I have a power miter saw so I gathered up all my scrap 2X4s and cut these in short order.The south wall needs a little adjustment before Tuesday to make it perfectly plumb so I nailed two very long 2X4s together to act as a gauge and to hold the wall in place and perfectly vertical. It's amazing what a difference that extra 5 1/2" in extra height makes. The living room/dining room/office will feel cavernous with just that little extra height (thanks to Joseph Mansfield for pushing for the added height).Tomorrow afternoon and Monday will be devoted to more preparation for "truss Tuesday".

Tuesday, 7 AM... the trusses go up!

Yesterday I kept running out of gas between getting over my cold and struggling (shuffling around like an old man) with my Plantar fasciitis so I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped. Here is one of the outside knee wall trusses that I was able to cover with OSB and HardiPlanks. I had to leave the center top uncovered so the crane will have something to hook to. I nailed the underside of the HardiPlank up because it didn't have a finish and would be easier to stucco. I haven't figured out how to adjust my Paslode nail gun so some of the nails were driven too deep. I hope to borrow David Musser's air driven stapler and refasten the HardiPlank tomorrow while covering the other knee wall truss.
It was late in the day so the lighting wasn't very good for this picture but this is a shot of the top plate that I laid out with 2" X 6" blocks next to where each truss will be set (we'll nail through the trusses into these blocks rather than holding them down with just an angled "toe nail" or two):I scheduled the crane for early Tuesday morning so - HOPEFULLY - by noon we'll have the trusses set and ready for the OSB sheeting to be nailed on. Tar paper will cover the OSB and then the "Hawaiian blue" tin will be screwed down on top of that. EXCITING... a major milestone is just around the corner!

Weather.com said sunshine...

Weather.com was saying sunshine but most of the afternoon it drizzled rain. I'll probably have a relapse of my cold but I worked anyway. I waited as long as I could stand for the sun to peak through like the Internet site had promised before I started working in the on/off rain. When I got to the house site, I realized that I needed scaffolding for the south wall... scaffolding today to lay out the top plate and Tuesday when we - FINALLY - set the trusses. So, the first thing I did was to build scaffolding... it's pretty easy with a wood wall, scrap lumber and my Paslode propane nail gun (best investment I've made during the project... speeds things up dramatically!): My stuccoer friend, Sonny - I know you're thinking "Speedy" - Gonzales, came by yesterday for a visit and helped me measure the length of the north and south walls so I'd know if I needed to fudge a little when I laid out the top plate. Happily, my corner to corner measurements were exactly the same so no jury rigging was needed. It is VERY important to have the plate marked correctly north & south so the OSB will go on easily and meet in the middle of each truss rafter for nailing. As you can see I got the brackets attached on 2' centers on the south wall. Tomorrow I'll duplicate my effort on the north wall although I need to make a few changes to what the guys did last week and that may take a while : ( . The trusses will drop into these slots and get screwed as time permits.
Tomorrow - assuming I run into no problems "fixing" and laying out the north wall - I'll nail OSB and HardiPlanks (cement board) to the east & west gable end trusses. It just makes sense to do this work on the ground and let the crane pick it up and set it in place rather than have to do it on a ladder or on scaffolding.I know this truss has a funky look to it but it forms the outside of my knee wall that the "normal" trusses (i.e. the roof) butt into... kinda like this:

Five day set back...

Between having a terrible cold and hurricane Faye causing it to rain cats and dogs, our building progress has been slowed for the last few days. Now it will probably be Tuesday before I'll schedule the crane to come and set the trusses. In the meantime there are several things I can do to prepare. Today I'll mark the top plates 24" on center and screw the metal brackets down to hold the trusses in place. Also I'll nail OSB sheathing and the HardiPlank siding to the gable end trusses to avoid having to put those on while teetering on a ladder or scaffolding (this project assumes I can drag the trusses to a place I can work on them by myself?). Here's hoping today will be a productive day.