Raising the Roof Part 3 - The Anti-climactic Finish and Other Things

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When last we wrote the roofing materials were perched atop the roof. Then it rained, then the sun came out and still no roofers. Then it rained again and the sun came out and still, the roofing materials sat on the roof. The roof membrane was in place so the interior of the house was thankfully mostly dry. 

Then one day, miraculously, the roofers showed up and installed the roofing material and most of the flashing/facia panels. So close...the roof panels and three sides of the facia panels in place, it was apparently quitting time, the west side facia panel not complete. Honestly we don't know if they were awaiting more material or if it was PBR time.

Meanwhile, Brian and crew kept at it inside the house. Brian had pre-painted the soffit panels and put up the panels at the back of the house, 14 feet above the second story deck.

They moved the windows and sliding glass doors to the house from offsite storage and began installing them. It's amazing the improvement to the view when you're looking at it from inside a window on a blustery day. The stairwell walls/rail was built and the beginnings of a fireplace began to emerge.

Garage picture window

Window in Scott's den/2nd bedroom on the first floor

Kitchen windows, installed, and transom windows to be installed over the living room sliding glass doors

Stairwell window and wall/railing

Stairwell railing at the second floor

Brian planes the rim of the deck in anticipation of the final finish material - ipe

And then suddenly one day, the roof is complete! The roofer onsite to wrap and heat seal the second floor deck rim in the same membrane used on the deck surface.

Roof complete! Anticlimactic, but...

Membrane wrapped, but not yet sealed, around the second story deck rim

And the fireplace base - above this will be metal studs surrounding the fireplace itself 

Brian also cleaned out and prepped the garage for the concrete pour on Thursday. 

In addition to the garage, they will pour the floor of the firewood storage at the front of the house and the pad for the heat pump unit for our heating and cooling system behind the garage. Stay tuned...

Raising the Roof - Part 2.1 (Kinda)

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Yes, 2.1. We have had a short reprieve from the rainy weather, so you'd think the roof would be complete - the sun is shining with balmy temps. Ah well.

What we have right now is a water-tight roof. The standing seam metal roof materials are stacked on the roof membrane as well as the custom stainless steel boot for the chimney. Apparently it's a difficult task to keep roofers out of jail. I'm not sure if Brian was pulling our collective legs, but so far it seems they aren't the most reliable bunch. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The materials for the standing seam metal roof were delivered last Friday and we wish we'd been there to see it. The flat metal was in a large roll. The metal was fed through a machine that formed the material into the standing seam roof panels and then sheared them to length - about 34 feet. They did this in the street and then piled the panels up by the house. I found a video online that demonstrates onsite roll forming, click here if you're interested.

Pocket door to primary bathroom

While we awaited the roofers, Brian and crew were busy on other parts of the house. Brian installed the hardware for the pocket doors including a nifty kit that enables plywood panels to be placed in between the metal frames. 

Brian pours over the plans after a meeting with the cabinet rep, Christy.
He's been wrangling a lot of subs lately.

Hank and Rob were busy sheathing the rest of the exterior, completing the living room/kitchen wall, the primary bedroom wall and the stairwell bumpout. They are working towards getting the house sealed up and weatherproof for the winter months.

Not all the views are perfect. The west windows in the primary bed and bath rooms will
have a frosted film on the glass for privacy and to improve the view.

Rob got started on the soffit over the bedroom balcony

And one of the supervisors stopped by to have a look around

For the Love of Stairs

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We have had access to the second floor of our new home for just over a month now. The second floor decking was laid at the very end of August, when we could first really see the views from the second story. 

The thing was, the second story was only accessible via extension ladder. Early on, while I was carefully, neigh gingerly, climbing the ladder to the second floor Scott quipped that Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did except backwards and in high heels. To which I replied, "Well, I forgot my heels!" Seriously, this whole climbing ladders thing wasn't comfortable. I don't know how Brian and crew did it many times a day.

For what seemed like forever there was scaffolding in the area that would become the stair well. Since the bump-out wall in the stairwell was over 20 feet tall with a window opening it makes sense, but still...climbing that ladder seemed unduly arduous. (Yes, I had to open a thesaurus to find that word, but it fits.) Not only that, but the scaffolding kept me from getting a clear photo of the view out the 3 ft by 8 ft window!

Ah! Scaffolding finally moved so we could clearly see the view!

This week, Brian on his own for hopefully the last week, we trudged on site to find...the beginning of stairs! Brian cut the stringers himself, 11 inches deep...nice, with the platform that would become the six foot deep landing with a view.

The next day, stairs complete, it was so very nice to walk up stairs to the second story!

Seriously, the stairs make everything so much easier! Saturday cleaning is easier. Moving equipment around is easier. And this week, maybe, moving windows and sliding doors upstairs to be installed!

Managing Water

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Last week Neal the excavator was out to install the rain drain on the west side of the house and run the rain drains down out to the street. While there he also buried the sewer line at the sewer cleanout.

Rain drain at the west side of the house

Rain drain at the east side of the house and future sewer cleanout

First thing Monday morning the plumber was on site to connect the drains from the decks to the drainage system and out to the street.

Second floor deck drains

Under the second floor decks the drains run back into the first floor wall

Second floor deck drain, east side

Cast iron pipe runs through the wall and into the crawlspace in the laundry

Cast iron pipe runs through the wall and into the crawlspace in the 2nd bedroom/den

The first floor deck drains run in to the crawlspace

First floor deck drain

In the crawlspace the four drains are connected together into a single drain pipe

The single drain pipe runs up to the front of the house to connect to the rain drains

And all of that was just the first part of managing water on the decks! The decks are large and the city didn't want runoff from the decks going down the hill. So we have to employ a strategy for the deck surfaces commonly used on roof decks. Enter the roofer.

An angled rigid foam base is placed to direct water to the drains

A felt material is placed over the rigid foam and up the walls to retard water penetration

Then a sealed rubberized membrane is laid over the felt and up the walls 

All of this is underneath ipe hardwood "tiles" that make up the walking surface of the decks. There is a system of adjustable-height pedestals that level the deck tiles and keep them in place. For now, plywood will be placed over the membrane to prevent damage while Brian and team seal up the house!

Raising the Roof - Part 2

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This has been a milestone week at the house - we have roof! Well we have sheathing on the roof, but I am getting ahead of myself. 

Brian was installing roof trusses and outriggers last week, Rob and Hank were at another job doing the same thing, except they had all the scaffolding equipment. Before our roof could be sheathed the fascia boards had to be put up, but that required the scaffolding. Scaffolding and help arrived on Tuesday and we arrived just in time to see the painted fascia boards go up at the front of the house.

Brian and Rob putting up the finish facia at the front of the house

Scaffolding on site, Wednesday the crew began sheathing the roof with 3/4 inch plywood. They also had to finish the fascia at the back of the house, 14 feet above the second story back deck. They began sheathing at the front of the house and were about 80% done at the end of the day.

Scott, very wisely, taking a photo of the roof sheathing from the ladder and not climbing up on the roof!

Thursday we arrived on site to hear banging, not hammering, at the back of the house. As the saying goes, "Weld it, grind it, beat it to fit!" What we heard was Hank and Rob placing the rim beam for the primary bedroom deck. This is a big deal because placing the beam meant they could start on the last part of the exterior framing - the soffit over the bedroom deck and the pony wall at the west side. Click on RENDERINGS and look at the "Exterior from Northwest" rendering to see what I'm talking about. They had also completed the fascia and sheathing of the roof.

Hank poses over the primary deck rim beam

Moving scaffolding around, Rob scales the ladder where the stairs will be

Roof line at the back, northeast, corner of the deck

Brian told me a story about how he can always tell from the outside if a house in town was built by his dad. His dad always made a point of mitering the fascia boards so that they meet at a perfect corner instead of a butt-joint. Below, 14 feet above the second story deck, is a continuation of that mark of excellence.

LJ Allen mitered fascia corner

Fascia and sheathing complete!

The roofer wants to get the standing seam metal roof installed next week (bonus! I thought it was the end of the month) so Brian had the HVAC guy come in and cut a hole for the chimney...in our perfectly good roof!

Chimney hole in a perfectly good roof

The roofing crew will be back this weekend to apply the membrane to the sheathing, thereby making the roof waterproof and ready for the metal roof. Lots more stuff went on this week, but this is a roof-specific entry. Lots to clean up this weekend at the house and we'll take more photos as well.