Little things...

After the lofts were finished, I put all the lumber and the eave trim and ridge cap in the loft and have started laying out the bathroom and kitchen.  I put in the electrical boxes yesterday and started drilling the holes for the wiring.  Today I finished the holes for the electrical and started fixing the hurricane clips that needed to be moved down.  When I originally put them up I didn't measure where the bottom of the clips ended up, so when I tried to attach the bottom half of the clip to the wall I ended up putting screws through the siding only.  That wouldn't work.  So I had to move the clips down about two inches to make sure I fastened them to the header 2x4.  I've been putting off moving the clips because the snow around the house is crusty and hard and not a very stable platform for the ladder.  But I decided to bite the bullet and see if I could accomplish the task safely.  I got one side all fixed. Tomorrow I'll finish the other side and maybe run some wiring.  I think I'm going to hire an electrician to hook up the breaker box and consult about the solar stuff.  No pics today, not much to see.

Lofts are in!

  A major event has taken place...I GRADUATED!!! And although I still wake up thinking I need to work on my paper, I can very easily (now) convince myself to go back to sleep for a little while.  It has also been very cold, I know I'm a wimp, but it has actually started to warm up a little into the 20's.  I also lost my warm gloves.  I suspect I dropped them somewhere after walking Nellie or something, so I don't expect to find them.  Guess it is time to get some new ones...sounds like a stocking stuffer coming on.

So after another long break from working on Ticklebelly Bungalow I finally made a path in the snow and  got back out there. (Supposed to snow again tomorrow.) I went last week and got one more piece of plywood I needed and had them cut it to size at the store.  That also meant that it would fit in the Jeep.  Got it home and it was 1/4 inch too wide.  Today I finally got out the saw and cut it down that 1/4 inch so it would fit.  Also needed to cut the length of the other piece to fit the loft and this is what I finally have!  A loft!  The plywood is secured and it is ready to go!

This is my current view when lying down in the loft.  Hehehe

I also have been working on the rafter vents and have the first row up.  Need to cut the remainder to size and that will be an easy 20 minute job to get the rest in.  On the other hand, usually that 20 minutes turns into 2 hours because of something I figured out differently or a new idea, but this one is pretty straight forward.

Up next...putting all the trim in the loft for storage and marking the layout of the walls, kitchen cabinets, and closet on the floor below.  Then I can start putting in the electrical boxes where they are going to go, and pulling the wiring.  I suppose I need to decide where my breaker box will be. :)

Big snow is coming! Good thing I finished the roof today!

Got started early today because I was keeping an eye on the weather.  It was in the 50's today, but tomorrow it is supposed to snow, and the rest of the week the temps aren't even going to break freezing!  Crazy weather! but the skiing is going to be good this year.

Today: first I took off the roof sheathing I put up before because it was crooked.  I snapped some chalk lines to keep everything on the straight and narrow. I put up the lower course of sheathing on both sides so I could work from inside the house.  But I was faced with a small dilemma.  The plywood sheathing that I needed in order to finish the lower course was being used as a platform between the lofts. Ah, then a revelation...I had a piece left over from the subfloor that I could use.  So now instead of a platform I had a footbridge, but it was enough that I could finish the roof without moving the ladder a bazillion times and going up and down, up and down.  After the first row was secured, I decided to put the first row of roof paper on, again so I could work from inside the house.  Can you tell I'm trying to minimize my time on top of the roof?  I also need to get a taller ladder in order to get up there.

A funny experience...I was putting on one of the bigger pieces (read that heavy) of sheathing on the bottom row and holding it in place with my left hand. It was getting really heavy and I knew if I didn't get it attached pretty quick I was going to drop it.  So I grabbed it with my right hand to rest my left for a minute.  My left thumb wouldn't straighten, so I very quickly attached the plywood and had to actually straighten my left thumb with my right hand.  Never had that happen before and it was strange because I didn't get a cramp or anything...very weird.  Anyway, I was glad that I didn't have to hold up anymore plywood because that was the last piece on the bottom.

So after the bottom row and the roof paper, I started the second row, about ran out of screws and had to ration the last few.  When I got to the second side I actually didn't completely attach each piece because I couldn't reach very far.  So I still need to add some screws on the far side of each piece, but I was really pleased with what I got done.  

Since the snow is coming I put the tarp back on and only had to use one.  That is a relief!  So much easier to secure one rather than two.  So excited for the progress!!!

So here are some pictures of the progress today.  Didn't get a pic of where we finished because I finished after dark again.  The eve trim is next so I can then put on the drip edge and then the metal roof.  Wahooo!  

Here's where we started this morning....

Bottom row of sheathing finished on both sides....

Top row started...

Roof paper on and top row almost finished.