5.27.2016

Just when you thought scaffolding was over for a few days, it's not!  Jim worked this morning building up the other two towers higher.  He has it worked out well now - he can go in/out the living room window without having to climb up/down the towers.  The living room windows are the only ones that haven't been installed yet so that worked out well.

Jim worked the rest of the morning on making the steel fascia backing and finishing up all the work on the rafter ends, including the plywood pieces.  Then he cut and primed the pieces of trim board.

At lunchtime, we went to pick up another roll of copper.  Then it was back to work on the roof.  This section has a lot of prep work and different areas to work around, but it should go quickly once all that gets taken care of.

Here Jim is taking off the old drip edge...

Attaching the trim board...

Making the small piece of drip edge for the overhang...

Bringing in our new roll of copper! 

Typically, Jim gets 8' rolls - this time the guy gave him a 10' roll so it was a little more difficult to deal with - it was the longest piece Jim could get in the break.

 But it's nice to have a little longer piece of drip edge.

Caulking before putting up the trim board...

Putting up the trim board...

Then attaching the drip edge...

Stapling on the temporary drip edge spacers...

Putting the drip edge into place...

All in place - looks good!

Putting up the first shingle...

A few courses down...

This is the complicated part of this roof (well, besides the very top which we'll deal with another day!).  Jim had to make lots of cuts on the shingles to fit around this little overhang.  The tough part though is figuring out the flashing that will transition from the step flashing to the flashing for this overhang piece.  Jim was working on that puzzle at the end of the day.

 

High 85/Low 65

 

5.26.2016

Today was ALL about scaffolding - one of the most physically demanding tasks when you are doing it by yourself - plus it was hot!

It's exciting that we are at this point to be able to take down the scaffolding in front, but the excitement wanes as the day goes on because the job seems endless!

Taking the highest levels down is of course the hardest.

Making good progress...

While Jim was at the windows, he took the outside protective plastic off.

Getting closer...

Yay!!  All the scaffolding that Jim wanted to take down is now down!  He wants to leave the scaffolding that's in the side of the hill, if possible, for the next phase.  The building looks so clean!

Before we could move any of the scaffolding frames to the back, Jim had to first move the pallet of bricks that has been back here.  He was a little worried that the straps wouldn't hold everything together.

But all went well and Jim got them moved out of the way.

Jim loaded up the frames onto the forks of the Bobcat...

Moving them around to the side of the building...

Then he unloaded them and carried them around the back of the building.

 

Then it was time to start building up again!

 



As if he wasn't already hot and tired, a little shoveling work had to be done to get the scaffolding in the right place.

Bringing back the rest of the cross braces and platforms...

At the end of the day, Jim got a lot of scaffolding rebuilt in the back.  He's at a good height to start working on some roof work tomorrow - very exciting!

In between tasks, I continued doing more painting - primer on the backing boards...

And the exterior gray on more trim boards.

 

Another day that Jim was really glad to get home!  But it's nice knowing that the scaffolding is down in front and he can start roof work tomorrow.

High 84/Low 61

 

5.25.2016

Poor Jim had kind of a rough day today.  This morning he just didn't feel quite up to par.  He soldiered on and worked on scaffolding - probably not the best thing to do when it's really warm out and you're not feeling great.  But Jim doesn't let anything stop him.

So he got the scaffolding sections down in front of the auto bay and all the planking over the auto bay roof as well as the planking between the towers.  A lot of work.

The towers were feeling pretty wobbly - this front tower has been here since last year.  So Jim dug out the feet and made sure everything was level.

Then he built up a tower on the other side so that he could work on that side to put the trim boards up.

He got the first little corner trim up and then the very front trim board cut, painted and predrilled...

Jim tried to get the board into place from the scaffolding, but it was too far away to be able to hold the heavy board up into place and then work on it.

So he had to get out the ladder and work from there...

Making sure it's all level...

Doing some acrobatic fastening work!

Putting up the next plywood backing board...

Then Jim had to work on a template for the little flashing collar on top of the shoulder...

Once his template worked, time to make it out of copper...

Attaching the flashing...

Cutting the final trim board on the front gable...

He primed the cut edges and predrilled but then we had to wait until the primer dried and he could paint it the exterior gray color since it will be sitting on the copper.

So while we waited for paint to dry, Jim organized some decking and brought it down from the top of the hill.  He had put these pieces on Craig's List - they are 10' sections so Jim wasn't sure if anyone would want them, but someone called and was supposed to pick them up at 5:00.

Once the primer was dry, Jim painted the gray and then we had more waiting to do!

Jim had started the morning by going to our little NAPA store in town and picking up a new battery for the truck.  So he got that all installed and was able to move the truck out of the way.

After the buyer came and they loaded up the decking, it was time to put the last piece of trim board up.  This one was really tough all the way around - the other pieces we were able to get out of the windows, but this one was too long.  So Jim had to carry it up the scaffolding.

Then it was just tough to get it in place and get it clamped well.  In fact, Jim got the Bessie clamp on and was doing some adjustments and the clamp slipped off and came crashing down on the side of his head!  I felt so bad for him!  The clamp is all metal and very heavy but even more than the pain was the surprise of it falling down from above when he wasn't looking!  But again, he soldiered on and was able to get the trim board fastened into place.

End-of-the-day - all of the trim boards are complete on the upper parts of the front!  A big accomplishment!  I think this was especially one of those days when Jim was just glad to get home!

 

High 88/Low 56