9.30.2015

After so much beautiful weather, it's hard to complain when it rains but at this point in the project, it's hard not to!  It rained on/off most of the day yesterday, but we still managed to get lots done. 

Jim went to the site in the morning and worked on making more drip edge - he now has enough to use for the auto bay roof.

Then in the afternoon, we took a trip down to the barn.  We've got to start moving our stuff out or else we'll be tied in to paying for the entire winter.  The main thing Jim wanted to get was his planer - he needs that to make the garage door frames.

We worked for a few hours and filled the truck up.  The planer was the worst thing - it is extremely heavy and it was like wrestling a bear for Jim to get it on the back of the truck.  Another time that another man's muscles sure would have come in handy. 

By the time we got the truck loaded, stopped at the orchard down the street for some apples and got back to the land, it was dark.  We just left everything on the truck and called it a day.

Unfortunately, the rains kept coming.  Jim used most of the day for project management.  He started out driving to Schenectady to a roofing company there that had some underlayment he was interested in that they didn't have at the company here.  However once he was there, he spent some time talking to one of their roof consultants and he recommended a membrane that goes underneath a metal roof - kind of like an ice guard product for the entire roof.  So Jim ended up getting that, although he's going to do a little more research.

Then he came back to Saratoga and had a meeting with his pro rep at Lowe's.  They had lots to discuss - they went over the roof layout drawing because she's giving him a quote for metal roofing from her supplier.  If you remember, our last quote was close to $20,000 which was totally out of the question.  Hopefully this will be a little closer to budget! 

The other big agenda item was our orange mold issue with the plywood.  She's been working with Georgia Pacific and store/corporate management to come to a solution.  It's still not a done deal because the store manager wasn't there today, but it sounds like we can come to a good resolution on that too.

He also picked up the wood he needs to make the garage door frames.

His next errand for the day was going to the cold-formed steel company to put in our next steel order.  That should be in early next week.

After all that, Jim called me and I headed out to Angel to help unload the truck.

Here's a full carload of supplies for upcoming jobs!

The rainy weather has made inside lakes again, which is quite depressing.  But this too shall pass.  Jim bought a floor squeegee at Lowe's so he was trying it out.  I'll be using it on the upper floor tomorrow along with some bailing, I'm sure.

Then we started tackling the unloading.  We used runners and old plywood to make different platforms to stage everything we brought back.  That way the water can't harm anything.

 

We worked until it was dark (and had to use our temporary lighting also) and got everything off the truck except for the monster planer.  That will be on tomorrow's agenda.  So even though it was rainy, lots of different tasks got accomplished.

 

High 59/Low 42 - showery

 

 





9.28.2015 - Auto Bay Sheathing Finished!

So, last night was the big Super Moon/Lunar Eclipse event.  Here in the North Country, we were lucky to have a beautiful night to watch it.  While it would have been even better at Angel, that would have required driving there late - staying home in our jammies and just walking outside at various points was a better idea.  These are obviously not great pics.

The Super Moon at about 9:00.

Just starting to see the eclipse...

This was actually the full eclipse and was quite red in appearance.  It was pretty amazing to watch.

It was back to work on sheathing today.  Jim got the rest of the screws put in the piece he put up at the end of the day yesterday and then got the next piece up into place.

Fastening down the sheathing...

Unfortunately, we had a brief period of light rain about this time.  It wasn't enough to make puddles inside, but it was enough to get things wet.  Working on the roof is tough enough but if it's wet - not good.  So we had to wait a little bit for things to dry out. 

Time for the next piece...you can see how steep the roof is by this picture. 

Putting up another toe board so he can fasten the next piece down.

Here it is - the very last piece! 

First, Jim had to put angle pieces on both sides of this triangle.

Setting the last piece into place!

Fastening it down...

Takes lots of effort to get these screws in - especially this high up!

Ta da!  All done!!!

It looks pretty amazing from down below...

We went up onto the deck to see what it looks like from up there - pretty crazy!  You can see how the land really drops off right at the edge of the scaffolding so it feels even higher.

Time to switch focus.  We want to make a trip down to the barn to pick up Jim's planer so that he can work on garage door frames.  So we emptied out some things out of the truck to make some room.  This is the first time for the Bobcat to bring in supplies on the new cement!

Moving the block into the shop for temporary storage...

...and back out the other garage door!

Then Jim loaded up the garage door pieces on the Bobcat...

...keeping things steady as we go down the hill.

Garage door pieces safely tucked inside until they can be put up!

 

Another milestone day! 



High 71/Low 60

 

9.27.2015

Another beautiful day on Angel! 

Jim got the piece up that he cut yesterday and then it was time for the next piece.   Getting it off the Bobcat...

...and sliding it into place.

Marking chalk lines for screws...

Wow - Jim can touch the top!  It's getting really closed in inside the building.

Time to cut the next piece...

Jim typically likes a piece of sheathing to span at least two rafters - however, on this piece that would mean moving everything over the losing a big piece of plywood.  So he had to cut this tiny triangle of a piece - he was okay with this one because it got fastened down on all sides.

Getting the next piece into position...

At this point, we had planned to take down the first scaffolding tower and move it over to the other side so that Jim could work on that.  However, he tested out just working off the plywood extension on the Bobcat and it worked out fine.  That saved lots of time and energy!

Again, the first row is critical so Jim needed to make sure this piece fit perfectly.

Taking measurements for the next piece...

...and getting it all cut.

The plan was just to get it cut and have it ready for tomorrow but Jim decided to go ahead and put it in place and just get it fastened enough to hold it.

Only 3 more pieces remain!  This side has been physically demanding - it's a steeper grade than the side pieces and Jim really has to work hard to get the pieces in place without them flipping backwards.  Plus, just holding on at this angle makes for a long day.  But when you step back at the end of the day - it's all worth it!

 

High 69/Low 46

 

9.26.2015

Jim spent a chunk of the morning on some loose ends - he got all of the rest of the house wrap tape finished as well as the rest of the bottom screws of the rafters on the sections he could reach from the scaffolding.

Then it was starting to put sheathing up on the back wall.  First, Jim put up more angle iron on the hip rafters.  Then he spent time making sure that all of the steel ledger pieces were exactly in the right place - this is a bigger section with no straight edge wall so getting the first pieces plum and square is key.

The next problem to figure out was out to get the sheathing pieces up to the scaffolding.  The forks only go out 4 feet and the sheathing pieces are 8 feet - that won't work.  Jim fastened a block underneath the forks and screwed it into an old piece of plywood - basically extending the forks.

He was able to then lift the piece of sheathing up to the scaffolding.

Then he had to drag it over to where he needed the first piece to go.

He put just enough screws to hold the first piece in place and then got the next piece up so that he could be sure everything was in a perfect position.

Then it was time to screw both of those pieces down.

Putting the end piece into place...

This is much scarier than it looks in the picture - this was taken from down below and Jim is just standing on the top of a piece of sheathing to put the next angle piece on.

Just enough time at the end of the day to cut the next piece - we'll pick up here tomorrow!

 

High 67/Low 40