Roof Update, Snow, and Winter Car Maintenance

All we need is two days of weather that is not dropping rain, sleet, or snow out of the sky.  The temperature has dropped from the 50's to the low 30's and I am really not happy about that.  What happened to the days of 40 degrees temperatures?  I've already hauled out my winter boots, gloves, and coat.  Now comes the 6 months of winter and days that have little sunlight.  I swear it gets dark at 430PM.

The photo below shows the progress on the roof at the end of last week.  We have made a little additional progress but basically this is where we are at the moment.  Four more short rafters and then the plywood sheathing.

We feels like we are spinning our wheels.  Today for example I ran up town to get something and then we were going to work on the roof.  I was at a traffic light and put on my left turn indicator and it started blinking real fast.  That is an indication of that either the front or the back turn signal bulb is burned out.  Just great.  There are several chain automotive supply stores in the area so I stopped at one to get a bulb but first I needed to know if it was the front or back bulb.  So before I went into the store I checked and it was the rear bulb but I noticed my driver side headlight bulb has burned out.  Who knows when that happened because I haven't driven at night in eons.

Long story short.  It took us all day to change out the rear turn signal bulb because you need to remove the entire tail light assembly to change the bulb.  Who designs tail lights that need to be removed to change out a bulb?  Obviously the same person who designed the front headlight assembly.  

We still need to replace that bulb but like I said it gets dark at 430PM.   The method for removing that bulb is to access the headlight assembly from the back through an access opening in the wheel well.  We removed the access cover and turned the tire as far right as we could but still couldn't reach the bulb.  So tomorrow we remove the wheel/tire and replace the bulb.

I  was talking to someone later in the day and she said they had to take their vehicle in to the dealership to have a headlight bulb changed.  R and I just can't won't do that.  It is bad enough that those two bulbs cost 28 bucks but then to add on a dealership fee of at least $100.......ouch.

But while I was at the auto parts store I noticed everyone coming out with new wiper blades in their hands.  Some people were changing them in the parking lot.  So here is a friendly reminder to check out your windshield wiper blades now before the first big winter storm hits.  If your blades are OK but probably won't make it through the winter, just throw the used blades under your seat in case you ruin your new blades during an ice storm.  Been there, done that.  Never force them when they are frozen to the windshield.

Also, top off that windshield washer solvent bottle and squirt a few drops of oil into your door locks.  When the battery dies in your key fob and you try to use your key to unlock the door, but the lock is froze up from salt and road dirt, you will wish that you had squirted a few drops of oil into the lock mechanism.  Fun fact....it is mostly the driver side that locks up because the driver side gets more road salt/snow because of oncoming traffic spraying the driver's side as they drive by.

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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.

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