Month: December 2019

Day #110

November 02, 2019 – Back after a few weekends off. I’ll be framing the 2nd span of rafters in the last roof section. First I remove the temporary weather protection (blue tarps) to expose the old roof planks.

Old oak roof planking exposed.

With the tarps removed I begin cutting and removing the top 7 or 8 rows of the oak roof planking. This gives me access to the existing ridge board.

After I have access to the existing ridge board I can install the galvanized joist hangers and begin setting the 2nd span roof rafters.

The process of roof plank demo, hanger installation and rafter setting continues until I reach the end of the new porch roof. After the last 2nd span rafter is set into place I drop back and nail everything up. 

This gets me to the end of the day. No rain is expected tonight so I can get away with just a few tarps to cover over the roof. Tomorrow I’ll be installing the new plywood sheathing on the last roof section. We are getting closer to the metal roof installation!

Day #109

October 13, 2019 – Today is a milestone day! I started the roof rafters in section three. It won’t be long until the roof framing is complete.

Toady Frogmeyer came over to see what I was up to. I offered him some coffee but he wasn’t having any of it. Anyway….

To install the first span of roof rafters I construct a short knee wall. The wall is framed on the ground and then lifted into place atop the the existing exterior wall. After the framing is fastened, it is gusseted with plywood sheathing. This knee wall provides support at the mid span of the roof rafters.

Once the knee wall is complete I begin setting the first span of roof rafters in section three. There are twelve rafter in this last section. I hustled up all twelve rafters and had the last one set in place by about 2:30 PM. At about 3:45 PM I had the blue tarps nailed back down to keep out any inclement weather.

After I cleaned up I headed for home. The renovation and the second span of section three roof rafters will be on hold for the next two weekends. We have a PANA Conference at Bedford Springs next weekend and a SOFA Designer Bag Bingo the following weekend. I’m sure we will soon be fighting the weather and I also have to drain down and water and winter safe the drains. Busy, busy, busy….!