Roof Roof

So Spenser says!

"Our" Mike plus a crew of three arrived at day break and tackled the garage roof. By the end of the day, it was covered. No one fell off and the day was clear and cool.

Mike's intention is to put roof on the sunroom next week...weather permitting.

I sent out about a dozen inquiries today regarding finding a cupola that has an integrated exhaust fan. So far we have received two responses. One said that, while their company does not sell fans, many of their cupolas have had fans installed in them. A second response was "no problem, send us some drawings". Most encouraging.

Timber, Cement Board, Trim

As expected, all the materials that "Our" Mike needs to start surfacing the garage roof arrived today. Also delivered were the 1x6 select pine boards for the sunroom roof as well as the cement fiber board for the soffits and trim pieces. Mike said the crew will be here tomorrow (Saturday) morning to start on the garage roof and he hopes to do the sunroom next week. He has not had the foam panels for the sunroom roof delivered yet. The sunroom will have two 2" layers of foam covering the pine boards. He is talking with the roofer to get the roofs shingled soon. The weather forecast calls for the highs to be in the 40's all week with a 30% chance of rain on Sunday (down from 40%) and a small chance of rain (20%) on Monday and Tuesday. After that, dry. If that holds, we may be under roof before the end of the month.

I was a little surprised when Mike said he still needed to supply Jim (glass roof) with one more measurement. I thought, from Jim's note, all had been finalized. I asked Mike if he saw the response that Tyler had sent to him regarding the updated drawings that Jim issued yesterday. Mike said he did see the response. When I asked him if he understood it, he said "no" and he would have to talk with Tyler.

Glass Roof Update

No outdoor efforts today, but we did get an updated drawing for the glass roof from the Jim. He has spoken with "Our" Mike and, based upon those discussions, he believes everything has been finalized and all is ready for them to begin fabrication. I responded to Jim, for T and myself, that once he gets approvals from both Mike and Tyler, he should let us know what the next payment amount will be so we can arrange it to be sent.

Yesterday, when I was chatting with Mike about the upcoming events in the garage, I suddenly realized that all of the supporting braces were gone. Previously, you could not even walk across the garage without ducking and weaving between the braces. While it was not obvious as to all that they were doing last Tuesday, one of the results was that the walls of the garage are now essentially self-supporting. Soon, hopefully, the sunroom will be the same. It is full of braces.

Hopefully, tomorrow we will have more lumber arriving. The weather is turning cooler and cloudy. The forecast for Friday is a high around 43F but then warming into the 50's over the weekend. A good chance of rain on Sunday. Next week should again be mild and dry.

Bright Day

A sunny and calm day. High about 50F. No work was attempted today in the backyard, but "Our" Mike showed up to meet with the lumber yard guy about the next shipment of timber. Later, Mike told me he expected the material will show up no later than Friday and they will put the roof sheeting on the garage on Saturday. While earlier, Mike had seemed fairly confident about being able to get the lumber readily, today's language did not seem like such a sure thing. Mike said he expected we would be needing to get the roofer involved before long and he confirmed they would do the main house when they come out to do the sunroom and garage.

Mike also said he still believes he will be getting the final dimensions to Jim (glass roof) this week which will initiate the glass roof fabrication. Apparently, the concrete guy stopped by (or called) to see how things were going as well. Yesterday, I got an email from John (solar) saying he has been following the posts (I'll be more careful about what I say going forward), he checked in with Mike and would try to stop later this week. Mike said we would be getting a quote from the supply company providing the Lincoln windows and doors for the garage, along with the foam insulation for the sunroom roof, wanting a down payment.

I brought up the cupola topic again. Mike said he left the catalog at the office and would bring it next time to finalize the selection. He said that in the garage, the exhaust fan would be mounted on the eight foot high truss cross member. I told him we could discuss it further, but reminded him that the original plan, for both the sunroom and the garage, was for the fans to be enclosed in the cupola housing itself. This brought up the issue of louvers to close off the copula vent when not in use. More to come on this and I am not sure we are all on the same page yet. We have discussed it before, but that was a LONG time ago.

I asked Mike if he intended to extend the garage attic flooring out to the eves. He said he was not but he would install a toe-board to keep things from falling off.

I also asked Mike if he would go ahead and procure and install a folding (not sliding) staircase in the garage. I suggested a heavy duty design (350# capacity) of aluminum construction. He said he would handle it. He has already provided spacing in the trusses between the middle and west garage door to handle a standard width (22.5") staircase.

Mike also said he called the City about extending the permit. They told him to talk with the City Inspector responsible for our neighborhood, which he did. She said that extending the duration was not a problem, however, she emphasized we should not let the current one expire before getting it extended. I assume Mike will handle this, but I need to confirm. The current permit expires three weeks from today (February 11), the six month anniversary of its issuance. Both Mike and I were surprised that there apparently no additional fees associated with the extension.

Attic Work

"Our" Mike and Nate showed up at day break this morning. They worked in the garage attic area. Not sure what all they did, but they did cut and frame the gable windows. They called it a day at noon. We never spoke with them. Yesterday, Mike said he needed more lumber, but he also needed to discuss some things with us. Apparently, he decided today was not the time. Not sure what to expect next. Forecast still looks good for the remainder of the week.

A Trussworthy Day

"Our" Mike, "Little" Mike and Nate arrived at dawn this morning. They started the day installing the attic flooring in the garage until they ran out of decking plywood. They then turned their attention to the sunroom trusses. By the time they left, about 4:00 pm, all the trusses were in place. It looks good. Mike asked me if we had decided upon the grade of 1x6 pine boards we wanted to use on the roof. I told him we would go with the "select" grade (the better of the two grades he showed us). I asked Mike if he had ordered the windows and doors for the garage yet. He has not, but he reminded me again that it is only about a three week delivery and he does not expect we will need them that soon. I fear he is correct, but I keep hoping for the best.

The weather today was very spring-like. High was around 60F with lots of warm sunshine and calm winds. We actually opened the main house and turned on the attic fan. I actually heard some complaints about it being too warm to work. Ha Ha. Tomorrow, and the remainder of the week, look equally good, cooling off a little toward the end of the week, but still in the 40's. We'll see how much we get done in this excellent weather. Maybe we will get close to being "under roof".

After the crew left, T got her first look at the sunroom trusses and how they will "interact" with the glass roof over the hot tub bay. I had forewarned Mike that she still might change her mind and decide to go with vaulted trusses throughout the sunroom. I made sure Mike was not on a ladder when I mentioned this to him. His initial reaction was as I expected, his knees buckled slightly and he staggered in shocked disbelief, mumbling "you're killing me". I assured him I did not believe she would want to make the change, but, it was still a possibility. He will be relieved tomorrow to learn she is happy with the trusses they installed today.