August 2020

August 27, 2020July 6, 2021

South Side Soffit Installation – Day 4

Day #127

June 7, 2020 – Yesterday I made it around the south west corner with the soffit. Today I am working on the south side soffit installation. I tried to get an early start so I can make it around the south east corner.

Amerimax Vented Soffit — Just me, a square, my tin snips and a coffee.

The south side has the closet bump out. As I proceed around the closet I will have to create two inside corners. This is more intricate and takes a little more time to do.

Corner Detail - South Side Soffit Installation — Corner detail at the closet bump out.

Closet Bump Out - South Side Soffit Installation — Working around the closet bump out.

With the soffit complete around the closet bump out I continue towards the south east corner. Thankfully, the electric service entrance LB fitting is below the line of the J channel and the soffit.

South East Cotner — South side soffit installation, working towards the south east corner.

East Side Scaffold — Soffit and scaffolding on the east side.

Near the end of the day I rounded the south east corner and continued up the east side until I reached the bird nest and the family of birds that took up residence under the overhang.

Clearly this is the result of some bad parenting decisions. Since I couldn’t bring myself to relocate this unlucky bunch peepers I called it quits for the day. We have to head back home tonight to take care of some chores but we’ll be back in a day or so.

The new metal roofing is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, June 9th and the roofers are supposed to start on Wednesday the 10th. If everything goes as planned the cottage will have a new roof by the end of next week!

August 26, 2020July 6, 2021

West Side Soffit Installation – Day 3

Day #126

June 6, 2020 – Continued from yesterday, the soffit installation goes up and down each gable rake on the west end of the cottage and around the corner to the south side.

West Side - Gable Rake — Soffit installation on the west side of the cottage.

As I approach the roof ridge, I frame in, close up and cover the old vent opening with building wrap. In the photo below the soffit installation proceeds up the northern gable rake. The J Channel has been installed on the southern gable rake.

Old Vent Opening Closed — Old vent opening framed in and soffit J channel in place.

With the soffit done on the southern gable rake, the installation rounds the corner and continues on the south side of the cottage. This is existing overhang that for years, has been exposed with no soffit.

South Side Soffit — Soffit installation on the south side.

The soffit on two sides are is now complete. The south side will take a little longer as I have to work around the rhododendrons you see above. This will be tomorrows goal.

August 26, 2020July 6, 2021

Aluminum Soffit and PVC Beam Wrap – Day 2

Day #126

June 5, 2020 – Aluminum soffit installation continues on the north side of the cottage I framed a two foot overhang along the new porch roof to give us a little more protection from the elements. My baker scaffold makes the installation process easier.

Soffit - North Side — Soffit on the north side along the cottage roof.

The installation of PVC trim boards and J Channels on the porch beams precede the soffit.

Soffit - Porch Roof — Aluminum soffit installation complete along the north side.

The porch roof has a shallow pitch so I decided against framing a tradition “Bird Box” at the corner. Instead I turned up the J Channel and aluminum soffit before it reached the gable end. This allows the soffit to make a smooth transition and proceed up along the gable rake. You can see this in the photo below and also in this photo, No Bird Box.

Soffit - North West Corner — Soffit installation turns the north west corner.

Soffit - West Side — West side soffit installation along the new porch roof.

The soffit on side one is complete. Hang in there we are on the way to a new roof!

August 25, 2020July 6, 2021

Vented Aluminum Soffit Installation Begins

Day #125

June 01, 2020 – Over the next several posts I will be installing vented aluminum soffit under the roof overhang. The soffit runs all the way around the cottage. I will try to keep the posts short and hopefully you won’t be bored to death.

During the normal sequence of construction, the soffit installation proceeds the fascia covering. Therefore, if I complete the soffit before the Metal Roofing Contractor arrives they will be able to complete the roofing and the fascia without having to leave. This gets them in and out without delay.

Here we go…. from the north east corner in a counter clockwise direction.

First up, I install a couple of sections of PVC trim boards on the exposed porch beams. We choose Royal Building Products PVC trim for our beam wrap. Next, I fasten Aluminum J Channel to the trim boards. Then I started the the soffit installation.

Soffit Installation — North east corner of the porch roof.

Vented Aluminum Soffit — Vented aluminum soffit, J channel and PVC beam wrap.

This weekend, we stayed at the cottage an extra day so I could start the soffit. I am happy that we did. It is starting to really look good.

Next up, more soffit installation…

August 25, 2020July 6, 2021

Carpenter Ant Damage at the Closet Bump Out!

Day #124

May 31, 2020 – The last section of the old roof that needs attention is the closet “Bump Out”. The exposed roof rafters in this area are clearly rotted so I know that a repair is necessary. This morning I started to demolish this roof. In a very short time it became evident that we have Carpenter Ant damage.

Carpenter Ant Damage - Outside Corner — Carpenter Ant Damage – Outside Corner

Top of Wall — Carpenter Ant Damage at the top of wall at the closet bump out.

Unlike Termites, Carpenter Ants don’t actually eat the wood, they burrow through it to create their nests, called galleries. The burrowing process leaves a very fine sawdust behind. The top of the closet and outside wall contained large amounts of this sawdust.

Carpenter Ant Damage — Carpenter Ant sawdust build up in the top of the closet.

Carpenter Ant Sawdust — Carpenter Ant sawdust in the closet wall.

With the damaged wood removed I re-framed the exposed roof rafters, installed new plywood wall sheathing and new roof sheathing.

Closet Bump Out Framing — New wall sheathing and roof rafters to repair the Carpenter Ant damage at the closet bump out.

Closet Bump Out Roof Framing — Fascia framing.

Closet Bump Out Roof — Roof sheathing installed.

After the plywood roof sheathing I covered the closet bump out with 30 lb. roof felt. This will keep it dry until the new metal roof system is installed. This is the last section of the existing roof that needed to be fixed. The next major task is the installation of fully vented aluminum soffit underneath the roof overhang around the entire cottage.

August 20, 2020July 6, 2021

Rebuild of the West End Overhang is Complete!

Day #123

May 30, 2020 – Today’s goal is to complete the rebuild of the overhang on the west end of the old cottage roof. The construction on this overhang started back in November of 2019. When I finish this, it will be a good day!

To accomplish this task, I will have to add two rafters and the associated overhang outriggers underneath the existing oak roof plank . I already have scaffolding set up in this area to work from.

The installation of the first rafter required thru-bolting to the last rafter of the existing roof structure. To do this I tacked the new rafter in place, drilled the bolt holes and installed the thru bolts. To make it easier to tighten the bolts I pushed them into the holes from inside the attic. Once I had them through the existing rafter I was able to tighten them up from the outside.

Rebuild of the West End Overhang is Complete — New rafter tacked in place under the oak roof plank.

1st New Rafter — The first new rafter for the west end overhang bolted in place.

After I bolt the first rafter in place I install the outside gable end rafter. The overhang outriggers are toe-nailed at the cottage side and end-nailed thru the gable end rafter. With the last of the outriggers installed the rebuild of the west end overhang is complete!

To finish up the day I installed some 30 lb roofing paper on the overhang to dry it in. This is the end of the blue tarps. After I rebuild the roof over the closet bump out, it will be time to bring in our roofing contractor to install the new metal roof.