Update on the Game Room Roof

Progress has been slow due to the weather, appointments, and the fact that we are rookie roof framers.  The weather is cooler colder but not too bad, but it is the rain that is the problem.  We worked on the roof one afternoon while the precipitation waffled back and forth between a mist and small rain drops.  We finally quit when the deck started getting slippery because all of the leaves that fell in just 2 days.

The photo below was taken several days ago (so we are further along) and we are ready to put plywood sheathing on the gable end.  We had to wait until we knew what our roof pitch would be before we could settle on a gable vent style.  The house has two styles of gable vents and one of the vent styles is in the photo below and at the top of the photo.  

Our roof pitch is one that doesn't have a ready made gable vent in this style so we are going with the style of gable vent in the photo below.

We can make the vent after we finish with the roof as long as we make the cut out for the vent before we sheath the roof.

So that is where we are with the roof but we are getting there.  We are getting burned out on this project so the day we put down the felt paper and nail the drip edge on can't happen soon enough.  The roof shingle part will be hired out.  

We removed all the plants from the window boxes and the bareness is killing me so my plan is to fill one window box a day with evergreen cuttings.  One year I waited too long and the soil was frozen solid so I had to use hot water to thaw it out.  That was both a hot and cold mess.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle  

Building a Peaked Roof on a Flat Roof

We have been VERY occupied with framing this roof.  The back and one side of our house has a hip roof design but the front of the other side have a gable roof design.  Since the flat roof area is inset into the hip roof on the back we had no choice but to finish building out the hip roof.  But this left a 40 inch bump out and we decided to frame that roof area with a gable roof design.

The photo above was taken during the tear off phase and before we installed new framing underneath to make the area flat.

We used new wood for the joists but the attic decking is old wood we are reusing.  We used joist hangers and R said he jumped up and down and it felt very sturdy.

I have no idea how many times we framed the hip roof portion only to take some of it back apart.  Thank heaven for screws.  The hip roof design is complicated enough but when you have to incorporate it into a nearly 100 year old hip roof and you are rookie hip roof framers.....well, let's just say I am glad that our neighbors live more than an earshot away because we had some really intense discussions.

But today we rounded a corner and installed two sheets of plywood and it was wonderful.  They went right into place and we breathed a collective sigh of relief.

My photos aren't great because we were running out of daylight.

Tomorrow's plywood installation will be tricky shapes but the pieces will be a lot smaller.  Today when we installed the 2 full sheets we kind of cheated.  The plywood is thicker than most roof sheathing and because of that it would be impossible for the two of us to get that plywood sheet on the roof without either one of us or both.....breaking our backs, falling off the roof, destroying our already old injured shoulders, or and we laughed about this....that we would be found dead under a sheet of plywood with only our feet sticking out like in the Wizard of Oz.

How did we cheat?  We cut the sheet of plywood right down the center lengthwise.  This cut the weight in half and made the handling a lot easier.  We made sure to butt up the cut edges so there weren't any gaps, not even the slightest.

But on a prettier note.  The photo above are of the last of the roses blooming in our yard.  Clockwise from top left is a Red Knockout rose bud, Pink Fairy, Red Knockout rose, and the white roses are Gourmet Popcorn.

The leaves are falling and the temperature is dropping fast.  This week's forecast is for high temps in the 50's all week.  I can handle that as long as it doesn't rain.  Sunny and 55 degrees is actually perfect working weather.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle

Before and After Photos of Umbrella Base

I was excited to paint the umbrella base that R found yesterday.  You can read about it here.

The first thing that I did today was haul out my spray paint and my plywood spray painting board.  I have an old piece of useless plywood that I use when I spray paint.  It works better than newspaper because the wind can't blow it up and into the wet paint.

I always start with the bottom of the item that I am painting.  This way the top is the last part painted and will not get scuffed if I had to flip it over to paint the bottom.

The bottom of the umbrella base had 4 rubber feet.  I say HAD because only two complete feet were remaining.  One was missing completely and one was half scuffed away.  I ran to the hardware store and couldn't buy an exact replica but I did get something to replace the four feet.  This will protect the paint finish when moving the umbrella base.  I'll install them tomorrow.

I gave the bottom and the edge two coats and then mowed the backyard so that the paint could thoroughly dry.  The top required more patience because of the decorative design and received between two and four coats depending on the area.

The 'BEFORE' photo

The 'AFTER' photo

The final result is spectacular.  The details really show up now that it is painted and has a sheen.  When it was dull you didn't notice the raised detail.  Now that it has a slight sheen, it casts a shadow and you notice it right away. 

I cannot believe someone was going to toss this base just because it required painting.  I used a black satin spray paint with primer included.  I used roughly 2/3rds of a can and the paint cost less than $5.00 for the entire spray can and roughly two hours of my time to paint (most of that was waiting for it to dry).

This was a world class SCORE!!!