cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dried-In The roof is dried-in. It ain't pretty, but it works. Putting up roofing felt that high off the ground on a roof with a 12 in 12 pitch without scaffolding or roof jacks, by one's self, does not lend it's self to doing a fantastic job. If you walk away without having broken any bones, that's a success. It was about to rain as I finished the last course of felt and I just did not have time to properly install the aluminum ridge caps. But I couldn't have rain getting into the workshop. So I took a bunch of scrap felt that had been blown off by wind after the first time I'd partially installed it and I quickly nailed it down over the ridge. I was seriously rushed, it was getting dark, I was out of button cap nails and had to use plain roofing nails and I was working with scrap. So it looks like hell but it will keep things dry for a while. At some point in the next month or so I need to rip off the felt over the ridge and get the ridge cap on. Then I suppose I ought to get some actual shingles up soon. But I think I'm going to take a break from working on the roof for the next month. I'll close in the gable ends of the attic, install that last window and wrap the exterior of the walls in roofing felt. Maybe put a proper door knob with a lock on the front door. Finish building the ladder/stairs (it's kind of a hybrid of both) up to the attic. Construct and install a proper trap door for access to the well pump under the building, rather than just relying on boards and plywood laid over the opening. None of this should be particularly expensive to do, with the possible exception of buying a knob and lock set. It's mostly carpentry with materials I already have or with inexpensive 2x4s and maybe a sheet of thick plywood for the trap door. I wish I could have made this thing bigger. It's already starting to feel kinda small as I set up more tools and need to store more materials. After the new house is finished I'll build a bigger, better workshop of perhaps 400 square feet or so. This building I'm using as a workshop now will be turned into some sort of little cottage or something. Perhaps a hide-away to write in. One thing for certain is that I will never build a roof this steep again by myself. If I absolutely must have a 12 in 12 roof on another building then I will frame it and then hire a roofing subcontractor to do the actual roofing. A steep roof looks so much better than one with a shallow pitch. But if it's too steep to actually work on without risking death then it's not worth it. Maybe a 6 in 12 would be ok? I've made so many mistakes in this project. But it's ok. The resulting building still looks nice and will function well. I have now just about done something that I've wanted to do since I was around 8 years old. What I always wanted was to build a little house all by myself that would be my own little fort, cabin, hide-away, or whatever you want to call it. Now I've done that. The relief and sense of satisfaction is enormous. This whole thing has been completely worth the time and effort. It's one of the best things I have ever done. 10:05 a.m. - 2008-08-27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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