Wednesday, October 3, 2012

You know what I did today. Except for three hours to go to class, I was on the roof all day. Today demonstrated that building is slower than taking things apart. More tomorrow.


Thursday, October 4, 2012

I never went off the place today. Except for a few minutes to check the weather forecast, I worked on the roof from 7:30 to 5:00. There was a 20% chance of rain in the forecast, so I did put up the plastic sheeting and tarps. If I hadn't done that, it would have turned the 20% chance to 80%.

My grandfather died before I was born, but I wish I could bring him back and ask him the reason for this carriage bolt I found in one of the old studs.  

Friday, October 5, 2012

The morning was dark and on the edge of rain. In fact, a few drops fell. So I left the tarps and plastic in place and worked inside, taking down sheetrock and the old wood lath behind it at the south end of the southeast bedroom. When I got home from my afternoon class I spent the rest of the day taking more old boards off the roof and putting up new rafters. The evening brought a chill, so I had the first fire of the season. I put a little wood in the fireplace to keep it going, and sat in front of the fire burning old newspapers back to the middle of August. October normally is pretty mild, so I expect I won't need a real fire with lots of wood for a few weeks yet.


Saturday, October 6, 2012

In the wee hours of the morning I was awakened by the sound of rain, and I didn't have the tarps in place. Fortunately it was just a light sprinkle and didn't make a mess inside. After doing laundry my main activity of the day was building lower eaves at the east end of the roof. This was a design-as-you-go job, so fitting and cutting the pieces was slow going. This evening I dined on delicious carnitas at La Fiesta, then went to see Frankenweenie. Tim Burton has taken some heat from folks who were disappointed in his recent movies, but this one was good fun. You know where it's going, but getting there is an entertaining trip. A couple of the gags had me laughing out loud.   

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

7:20 AM, 45º. As soon as there was enough daylight to see what I was doing, I was up on the roof removing tarps. A little before nine I had to shed my coat. That's also when I took off the last of the old sheeting boards. With those out of the way, I started putting in new rafters. The first one took an hour and forty minutes. I learned on that one and the second took only an hour. The third was a little tougher because knotty old wood had me bending a lot of nails and having to pull them out and start over. I was about to finish that rafter when I took a wrong step and slipped, and took a fall about seven feet down into the room below. I landed on a plastic dust pan and smashed the poor thing to bits. After that I wasted almost an hour passing out a few times from shock, washing and bandaging three gashed fingers, and gathering what's left of my wits about me. After recovering I went back to work and got the next two rafters installed in just an hour. At the end of the day I had all of them done but two. I should get those done in the morning, then I'll make shims to lay on top of some of the rafters. Very few things are level or even in this old house, so the rafters will need to have shims on them to provide an even support for the boards that will lie across them.  

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I got a slightly later start this morning, a little before eight, and had the last of the new rafters in place by ten. I started making shims to even all the tops, and did more after my afternoon class. All the measuring and cutting and planing makes it slow work, so there's plenty more to do tomorrow.


Thursday, October 11, 2012
 

Success! I started the day with measuring cutting, and installing shims, and put the last one in place about 1:40 PM. Then I started nailing the new boards on. I had the first two rows in place about 3:40. Then it was time to cover up. With a 50% chance of rain in the forecast, I needed to get the plastic sheeting and the tarps in place. Unfortunately, there was a pretty stong wind from the south, which made the job take three or four times as long as it should have. I finally got it all buttoned up a little before 5:30. Naturally, the wind died down after I had nearly finished fighting the tarps into place. I just hope the tarps aren't too damaged from being wind whipped to keep the rain out.


Friday, October 12, 2012

It's a good thing I got those tarps up. A good soaking rain started in the wee hours of the morning and kept up with occasional breaks for several hours. Lying in bed I felt an occasional little drop hit my face, and I was afraid there was a leak. It turned out that a few drops were coming in through a partially open window. I spent the wet morning paying bills and, after the rain quit, walking to town to get the Camry which I left Wednesday for service. In the afternoon I went to my machine shop class, then did some shopping.


Saturday, October 13, 2012

On another wet day I went to an auction in town. Fortunately the rain was only an occasional sprinkle and conditions weren't too miserable. My big purchase of the day was a heavy duty scale and weights for $35. The rest of the haul consisted of a 1/4" socket set for $4, a 3/8" socket set for $4, a shop vac for $5, several cans of nails for $5, and a pair of car ramps for $1. This evening I went to Winfield for dinner at the Mongolian grill, and found that the place has gone belly up and the building's for sale. I think that's because of the location on the east side of town. All three restaurants in that building have failed. With the Mongolian grill crossed off my dining list, I tried a Chinese place on Main Street and found it pretty good.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

All threat of rain was gone, and I untarped the roof and nailed on boards. About one I drove to Winfield for an auction because an old iron bed was advertised. It turned out that the bed was a pretty plain affair, and somebody else was willing to pay more for it than I was, so I came home and nailed on more boards. I ended the day with about half that part of the job done. I'll put on some more boards tomorrow, then start building the upper eaves. Those may take a few days.


Monday, October 15, 2012

At sunup, a little after 7:30 AM, I started cutting and nailing on more boards.  By 11:30 I had all the boards on the upper roof that I'm going to do now, and I moved on to building eaves.  My afternoon machine shop class reached its mid-point and had a short session, so I had more time to work on the roof. By five I had most of the upper eaves cut and nailed on. I should be able to finish them tomorrow. Here's a video showing some of today's work: ROOF PROJECT 10-15-12.



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Another crack-of-dawn start led to all the new boards being nailed on the upper roof, then I started on scaffolds. There's already one on the west side of the house. Today I made a shorter one to sit on top of it so I'll be high enough to work on the overhang. Tomorrow I'll but that extension in place, then make a scaffold for the east end.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

I wouldn't hate cold weather so much if it didn't turn my nose into a snot fountain. When I started on the roof this morning it wasn't all that cold, about 48º, but it was enough to keep me wiping every few minutes. Eventually it warmed up and I dried out a little. I finished the west scaffold and put it in place, then built the east one. I had both of them in place by two in the afternoon, then started on finishing the west overhang. By 4:45 the wind was blowing to beat the band and the temperature was getting low enough to bring on the runny nose, so I quit for the day. I noticed a lot of dust in the air today, but it wasn't bad here. A few miles away it was a different story. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol closed I-35 between Blackwell and Tonkawa after blowing dust caused a twenty-car pileup.     

Friday, October 19, 2012

I took the day off from school and drove to Kansas City for a beautiful evening. Vicente Fernandez is retiring from touring, and this was one of his last concerts. The old man is going out at the top of his game. He still has a great set of pipes and knows how to use them. At the sight of him, before he even opened his mouth, the thousands of people in the arena were on their feet cheering. Everybody knows the songs, and at the first few notes of each one the orchestra played another cheer went up. All evening there was cheering, chanting (Chente! Chente! Chente! Chente! Chente!), singing along, and a lot of tears, both on stage and in the audience. When he sang El Hombre Que Mas Te Amó there wasn't a dry eye in the place. It was an expensive concert, and I'm glad I spent the dough. When I went to see Count Basie I felt great for days afterward, and going to a Vicente Fernandez concert affects me that way too.   


Saturday, October 20, 2012

On the way home from last night's concert this morning I stopped at the Big Tool Store in Derby and picked up some items for my machine shop class that aren't sold here. My roof work of the day was on the upper roof's west overhang. I should be able to finish that tomorrow, then I'll get started on the east end.


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Mission accomplished, eventually. It took longer than it should have, because I had trouble making some parts fit together, but I finished all the overhang on the west end of the roof and got started on the east end. Now that I've done the west end, maybe the east end will be easier. I won't finish tomorrow, because having missed class on Friday I'll be going to both the morning and afternoon sessions.


Monday, October 22, 2012

As planned, I spent all day in school, except that the afternoon session ended a half hour early because the teacher had to go to a meeting. So I did have some time to get a little bit of roof work done. More tomorrow.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Another early start found me on the roof at 7:30, a little before sunrise. I worked on the east overhang until I nailed the last board on that job at 12:30. After a break for a trip to town for lumber and groceries, I spent the rest of the day on the upper eaves. Once that part of the job is done, I can start putting on waferboard and roofing, but it may take a few days to get to that point. This current job has a lot of small parts to cut and fit. The strong wind blowing up to thirty miles an hour doesn't help.


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Before going to my afternoon class I finished the east end of the upper eaves. After class I worked on the west end and fretted about the weather. The wind has been blowing like crazy for a couple of days, which makes me reluctant to try putting up the plastic and tarps. Meanwhile the forecast shows a 30% chance of rain overnight. That means a 70% chance of no rain of course, but the 30% is enough to cause a little rain anxiety.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

For several days a strong wind from the south brought highs in the eighties. This morning a little after six a front came through, sprinkling a few drops and bringing a northwest wind that dropped the temperature from 74º at five to 45º by eight. The cooler and cloudy day brought a welcome relief from the wind as I worked on the upper eaves. It was slow work, with a lot of measuring, cutting, and fitting, and even some sawing by hand where an electric saw couldn't reach. I should finish the eaves tomorrow and start installing waferboard, and  I expect I'll be putting on shingles within a few days.




Friday, October 26, 2012

Today I finished the upper eaves, driving the last nail about 4:30. Doing the same job on a new house probably would have taken about half the time. With nothing quite even, square, or level here, there's a lot of special fitting and cutting, and sometimes removing a board for even more fitting and cutting. I quit a little early today to bring in firewood. We're getting overnight lows in the low thirties now, with a descent into the twenties predicted for tomorrow night.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

This was laundry day. On the way home from the laundry I saw an auction sign, so I went to check it out. At first I didn't see much of interest, but looking through the stuff on one of the trailers I noticed a couple of items that made me stay. I ended up spending $1 for a huge comforter (king size I think),  three boxes of miscellaneous stuff for $1.50 (I wanted the box of brass air fittings in it), a box of switch plates (I wanted the brass one) for $1,  and a box of respirators for spray painting for 50¢. When I got home I put the comforter on my bed, along with an extra electric blanket on top of the one that was already there. During the current renovation my bedroom is partially open to the outside, so it's almost the same as sleeping outdoors. If the extra electric blanket works, fine. If it doesn't, at least it's an extra blanket. Right now the number one priority is getting the new roof finished before the good weather goes south. I'll close in the south wall after I get the roof done.

Sunday, October 28, 2012 Adding the comforter and the extra electric blanket did the trick. It was 44º in the room when I went to bed, but it was so warm in bed that I had to turn down the controls a couple of notches. On a lazy Sunday morning I didn't get up until nine, then spent the rest of the morning playing at the computer. About noon I went to work  putting wafer board on the roof, and by five I had finished the lower roof and started on the upper. I should finish that tomorrow or Tuesday, then it will be time to put on the metal edging, the tar paper, and the shingles.  The shingles are slow work, but I hope to have them at least mostly done this week. The ten day forecast shows a thirty percent chance of rain next weekend. If I can beat that, I'll be delighted. Once the roof is done, I'll put some siding on the front wall and then nail on the plastic sheeting and take care of some chores that have been waiting while I worked on the roof.

Monday, October 29, 2012

It was a chilly start, 36º when I got to work on the roof a little before eight. By the time I left for my afternoon class just before noon I was working without a coat. Even with three hours off for class, I got most of the wafer board screwed on. I'll finish that in the morning, then I can put on the metal edging and start on the roofing.


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A few minutes after eight I was on the roof. I continued measuring, cutting, and installing wafer board, and drove the last screw in the last piece at 12:50. After a break I got my big grinder and smoothed off some sharp edges. I ended the day with a trip to town to buy groceries and a roll of aluminum flashing. Tomorrow I start putting on the metal parts. These views of the southeast bedroom and my room show why I need to get the roofing on and finish the wall before a real rainstorm with a strong wind from the south comes along.  Here's today's video:  Roof Project 10-30-12.
 
Wednesday, October 31, 2012

When I bought wafer board for the roof I stacked it in the garage in front of the wood pile. Now that I've finished that part of the roof project and used all I'm going to use, my first job today was moving the three left over 4' x 8' sheets from the east side of the garage, in front of the wood pile, to the west side. With those out of the way now I can get wood or stack more. The ten day forecast looks good, but someday soon I'll be bringing in and using more firewood. Today's roof work was installing aluminum flashing along the peak of the upper roof. Here's a short video: Roof Project 10-31-12.
 

HOME