More Windows

While working on the tuck point (blog to come), we have been working on a handful of smaller projects. One of which was cutting in some windows. Up until this point, we had never framed a window into a wooden opening. We had only put windows into concrete openings. Once we figured out the first window, the second one went in pretty easily. We found our instructions online, so I’m not going to go into detail on how to do it. It is fairly straight forward although, just like everything else it comes with its own terminology – king studs, jack studs, cripples etc.

We are about 2/5 done with the tuck pointing, but I am taking pictures of each stage on one section of wall that isn’t done yet. We should be done with that soon and then I will relay the results.

We Finished Shingling

In the interest of saving our sanity, we decided to rent a lift in order to finally finish shingling. We finished this project about a week and a half ago but I am just now getting around to blogging about it.

Let me tell you, this is a project I won't miss. By the by, shingling from the lift greatly improved our shingling speed. A big thanks to my Dad for helping us put the shingles on our roof. He is a apparently a glutton for punishment.

Blog Catch Up

It has now been over a month since my last blog. I figured I better get back to it, so here is a hodge podge of what has been going on.

We are nearly done shingling. It is going well and believe it or not we’re getting pretty good at it. Shingling on a steep pitch as ours is, is largely a function of weather. We just haven’t had that many days without extreme winds or rain or both.

On top of that, we spent some time helping our community fight a swelling Missouri River. We’re not out of the woods yet and the river is still rising. We continue to pray for the folks in the flooded areas.

We have been working on the second floor flooring on and off. The flooring is one of those projects (rare as they may be) that is turning out exactly how I wanted it to. We are blind screwing 2x6 tongue and groove down with 3” trim head screws. Here’s a tip. Get yourself some reversible bar clamps and use them as spreaders. It is so much easier to force errant boards into place.

My Mom and wife have starting tuck pointing the north wall. That process deserves a post of its own. Stay tuned.

This year we didn’t want to miss out on so much planting like we did last year. So, we planted (at least half of) a large garden.

We added 18 Canadian Haskaps to our Honeyberry plot. AND

We have finally started getting our poplars in the ground. So far we only have about 70 of 150 in the ground. We have mostly Op-367s, but I cut some ‘native’ poplar cuttings from my wife’s parent’s house last fall. It will be interesting to see which we get more growth out of. I plan to document the growth this year, as a lot of people seem to be interested in poplars as fuel for the woodstove – the Op-367 in particular.

One Year Of Construction

It has been a year of construction for the Barnhart family. In one year we have gone from this

to this.

Looking at those two pictures definitely makes it easier to haul our butts out there each night and weekend (although I do miss all the green grass). However, I can tell you at least two of us are tired of burning the candle at both ends. We are definitely not working at the same feverishly furious pace we were last year at this time, but we are still dedicated. Whenever I find myself burned out, I step back and look at the big picture. I step back and look at our massive and beautiful stone walls. So, happy constructionniversary to all involved.

Shingling Progress

We've finished shingling the north side of the house. Now for the south side.

You can still see some mud from our boots up there, but I think we'll let the rain wash that off.

We've also started putting up the 2x6 tongue and groove planks that make up the second floor. I don't have any pictures of that yet so I'll write more about that later.

Shingling

Since we've had all the fun we can stand putting up ice and water membrane, we decided to start shingling as soon as the temperature would allow. But before we could start shingling we needed to do some prep work.

We decided to go with 1x6 cedar fascia and standard drip edge. I spent the extra money to purchase stainless steel ring shank nails for the fascia boards. We could have used galvanized, but I didn't want to risk them eventually corroding and staining the cedar.

We also needed to put up some flashing in any area that could potentially be at risk for a water leak in the future.

The system of shingles we chose comes from the Novik company. It's a company out of Canada. The product is Novislate. It is a polymer panel made to resemble slate tiles. I won't go into to much detail about the panels since the website does a good job of describing the system.

We chose them because they are a good choice for collecting rainwater and they come with a 50 year warranty. A long lasting shingle is important for a roof with a steep pitch like ours. So far they haven't gone on as easy as I thought they would but we are getting the hang of it. One thing I'm a little concerned about is the fact that they tend to scratch easily. Only time will tell if this will be a problem.

We are a little further along than the pictures show, but we didn't snap any pictures the last time we were out.

Mini-Roofing

While we are waiting for some of our shingle supplies to come in, we are working on some "smaller" jobs. One of them is the small section of roof beneath the shed dormer. We wouldn't have to have this roof here, but it makes it so we can run a gutter the total length of the north side. This is what it looked like before.

We started by cutting mini-rafters. I took us a little while to figure out the angle and get the length right. But once we did, my Dad and I didn't have any troubles cutting them with the miter saw.

Next we ripped a piece of 1/2" OSB on the table saw and nailed it on with 16d nails.

And then we covered it with the same ice and water barrier.

I have to say, if you are going to do any roofing - do it from the ground. It's so much easier!