Roof and Woodstove

Last weekend, we were preparing to buy a SCAN woodstove from our local heating store. Due to prior negative experiences with this store owner, however, Jane would rather not buy from them. So, we also kept our eye on Craigslist. Suddenly, a Vermont Castings Resoulte II 0042 showed up for sale in Anchorage for $400. Jane convinced her dad to drive 1 hour from Wasilla to Anchorage to check it out. We offered the seller $250 for the woodstove and it was accepted. This woodstove was gifted to us by Jane's dad. THANKS DAD!!!
Being that it is a 26 year old woodstove, there are a couple of little issues that need to be addressed. Primarily, we have a problem with the flue damper in that its a bit loose and kinda falls apart when opened and closed. Jane is workin on it though.

Eli worked on the roof this weekend with the help from some neighbors (Pete and Jospeph). All the metal sheathing was successfully installed!!! Just a little more work left to do up there. And then, we can focus on the interior stuff and installing the woodstove!

All windows and doors in

All the windows and doors are in

started skirting the house in

one man tyveken army today

North Side

Got the pump jacks moved to the north side of the house. Started putting up some plywood on the gable ends.

Tyvek and windows and doors! Oh my!

Here is a video from before we began today's work.

Since the last update, we have installed more windows and put up more Tyvek.

As you can see, we have installed the sliding glass door upstairs.

We also installed the big window downstairs on the southside.

We have 3 of the 4 windows in on the East side. The one that isn't yet in was just purchased yesterday. We had framed the rough opening for a window we had supposedly bought in a package deal, but it apparently didn't exist and it was; of course, an odd sized opening (32x36). We would have had to special order that size window. Instead, we just increased the rough opening to accomodate a 36x36 slider window instead and picked that up at Home Depot right off the shelf.

Yes, Eli is standing on a ladder which is on top of the pump jacks. A 2x4 was secured through the rungs of the pump jack plank to keep the ladder from sliding off and Eli is harnessed in

We have to leave those little flaps of Tyvek down because the pump jack brackets are there. Once we take those down and caulk the holes, Eli will staple the Tyvek in place and tape the seams.

Pump jacks are removed

Kitchen window installed!!

Tyvek and Windows

Eli came home from Denali and it was right back to working on the house. We've been fixing the bumpy/loose Tyvek and putting on more. We've also been installing more windows.

Another window in

By 9PM on Labor Day, we had installed 5 out of nine windows and taken down the pump jacks to get ready to move to the South side of the house.

Duct Tape has one more use

After 2 long days of grueling work in Denali National Park, Eli arrived home at 3:30am on Saturday morning. After a short rest, Eli climed up on the roof and duct taped the felt seams on the roof in an attempt to stop the small leaks that had become apparent after a hard rain. Then, is was on to a 9 hour commute back up to Denali.

There will be a bit of a lull in the blog and the building while he is up there.

Let it Rain, the roof is on!

Finishing up the West Side

Taking a second to stretch the calves after finishing the eave metal and moving the toe kicks (what their feet are on)

Before and After

"Let it Rain!"

The metal will come later

East Side Roof Sheathing

Jane's prep work

Perched on the roof

Checkin out the work

Wednesday Morning ReCap

Still Roofing

We are working had to get the roof on before Eli has to leave town for a while.


We moved all the scaffolding and pump jacks over to the East side of the house on Saturday. On Sunday we put up most of the fascia and the south side fly rafters. Monday afternoon, Pat came up to help some more and the fascia and fly rafters were finished.


Plywood was loaded onto the pump jacks again and Eli and Pat jacked it up to the roof. Jane was in the rafters where she pulled the 5/8 plywood up. Initially, this was done by pulling on a rope which was connected to a pair of vise grips which were clamped onto the wood. Once the wood was within reach, Jane grabbed ahold and pulled it up while Eli and Pat pushed it up using their hammers. We had screwe a couple of 2x6 boards vertical to the world into the rafters to hold several sheets of plywood while we worked on placing one.
Another set of 2x6's did the same thing farther up the roof for the sheets that would be used in the higher rows.

Today, Pat is coming up again so that we can get some more plywood on the roof. Thank goodness it looks like another gorgeous day in paradise! Hopefully we can get that finished this evening.

The above video details the progress that we made as of Tuesday evening from up in the rafters. It also explains some parts of the roof.

Another day in the life.....



And let me tell ya, it was pretty scary putting on the eave metal between the jacks and scaffolding.

more roof work

First day of sheathing

On Friday night, we set up the scaffolding and a ladder jack setup on the West side of the house. The ladder jacks just weren't gonna cut it though.

We started off working on our own, installing the fascia and fly rafters (also known as barge boards). Then, Pat showed up to help us out. Thank goodness! Jane went up the pump jacks once (while in full harness) but really wasn't into it. Pat seemed fine with it. Unfortunatly, Eli had to bring the pump jacks down on his own after Pat left. This meant crossing back and forth from one side to the other until it was at the first floor window. There, Jane climbed out to help. An 8 feet fall isn't as scary as a 24 feet fall.

Pump Jacks going UP

Pump Jacks coming DOWN

The final tour for Saturday

Eli on the roof as seen from the peak. Yes, he is in a harness.

The Trusses

Saturday

We had everything in place to put the trusses up on Saturday. We had nearly a dozen people ready to come up and help, the scaffolding was in place and the boom truck was reserved from the lumber yard. But, plans began to change when the driver of the boom truck refused to drive his truck down our "steep" slope down to the house. So, we began making plans for manually lifting the trusses into place while the flatbed truck dropped our trusses onto the hard wet ground.

To make matters a little more stressful, we noticed that there was a little dmanage to one of the gable end trusses. All the while the wind howled in sharp gusts, tossing tarps and bending the trees. All signs told us to wait to put the trusses up. So, all hands were called and kept on hold for a couple of hours. While we waited for the weather to turn, we put in fireblocking and cut bird blocking with help from Jane's dad, Read. We also put in the plywood for the risers in the stairs, totally closing them in. A couple of hours later, the weather still wasn't cooperating. So, Saturday's plans were put off until Sunday.

Sunday

Sunday morning began slowly as the wind continued howling. But, in the distance there were spots of clear skies. While Eli cut notches in the first gable end truss for the lookouts, Jane went to town and got some last minute supplies and shortly after she got home, the crew was there and right to work. Scaffolding and planking wereset up to provide the crew with an elevated place to roll the trusses into place. We had a slightly different rolling experience to most because we had specially ordered trusses with a really large "energy heel". This allows us more space to insulate. So, we cut notches into the plywood before the trusses were put into place, thus giving us a castle look until the truss installation.

Then, when the trusses came up, they were set right into the notches, spaced and then fastened. After the second truss, the skies miraculously cleared and what had been forecasted as a rainy and windy day turned into a gorgeous sunny one.

Once everyone got going, this was a pretty rapid process. Including the time taken to make and install 4 lookouts on the gable ends, it took 2 and 1/2 hours to get all the trusses up!! The last gable end had to have some repairs done to it and had the lookout notched cut out before it was lifted.

The crew was fed a hearty meal and thanked profusely.

Then, Jane and Eli continued bracing and securing the trusses and marveled at the progress.