Black Top

I was hoping to hear from the art glass shop this past week regarding the stained glass window. Probably next week.

To my surprise, at 10:00 am on this Saturday morning, a crew of four showed up in an unmarked white panel van and told me they were going to apply roofing felt to the garage. They were fast, completing the job and gone by 11:30 am. No rain had fallen yet, so as long as we don't have any strong winds, it will probably stay in place and provide some protection to the garage roof plywood. Spenser and I toured the area after they had departed. There were roofing nails everywhere, including out in the alley. Spenser was so disgusted he refused to help me clear them out of the alley.

I found it interesting that yesterday, before they quit for the day, Mike put down felt on the sunroom 1x6 roof boards they had installed, but they did not cover the top row of boards. Therefore, not only will that row be rained/snowed upon, the rain will also get underneath the paper. Oh well, I am sure Mike knows what he is doing. He left a lot of select-grade pine board remnants all over the back yard. Most of these are not very long, but it is really nice wood (essentially knot-free). Spenser and I collected probably a total of 20 feet of these remnants and took them to the basement. We will find a use for them.

Sunroom Roofing Begins

It has turned out to be a beautiful day. Clear, sunny, little or no wind but cool with the high around 40F. Forecast for the weekend wet and cold with the chance of rain on Saturday now 40%. Still a 90% chance of snow (1"-3") on Sunday. Next week still forecast to be cold but dry.

"Our" Mike, "Little" Mike and Nate were back this morning and started installing the 1x6 boards on the sunroom roof.

Mike is cutting the grooves in the boards for the biscuits and handing them up to Mike and Nate who are gluing the biscuits into the grooves and positioning the boards. I did ask Mike why he decided to use the biscuit joints as opposed to dowels. He said the main reasons were that it was fast and we don't really need the additional strength that dowels would provide.

Cutting the Groove

Biscuit

Groove

Biscuit in Groove

They finished for the day by putting down some tar paper over the boards.

I sent a quote request to a cupola manufacturer in Salt Lake City. This is the company that Mike had originally brought to our attention. I need to consult with T about the specific style she had selected, but I am guessing it was something like the "Estate" style I show below. It is a louvered hexagonal design with a copper hip style roof. The have many different roof styles, materials of construction and colors.

The standard sizes they offer go up to 48" wide. The 36" proposed by Tyler for the sunroom is a standard size. I am thinking we will be interested in a 60" for the garage. This is not a standard size, hence my quote request. Based on the width/height relationship of their standard sizes, I suggested the height of the 60" wide would be 84". The height is measured from the lowest point of the base to the top of the roof. Taking our 9/12 roof slope, I calculate the cupola would extend 61" above the garage roof ridge line. Considering that roof ridge line is 21 feet above the ground, a 5 foot tall cupola does not seem out of proportion. Below I try show both the original 36" wide (58" tall) cupola and then the proposed 60" wide (84" tall) cupola on the garage.

I think the 60" is more in proper proportion. What do you think?

False Spring

The weather over the past couple of weeks has been very nice indeed. Cool (bordering on chilly) but, for mid-winter and compared to last year at this time, you cannot complain. As opposed to what was accomplished in December, when the weather was even nicer, we are actually getting some work accomplished in January.

Today, the weather turned cooler and completely overcast with the high in the low 40's and a gusty wind out of the south. Starting to look like winter again. Current forecast is for rain (70%) on Saturday and snow (90% up to 3") on Sunday. Next week is supposed to be dry but very cool with the high no higher than 24F on a couple of days and up to the mid-40's on other days.

T took off for Texas yesterday afternoon, spending the night in the Creek Nation (Muskogee, OK). I sent a note to John (solar) this morning asking if he had any input on the potential of enlarging the cupola on the garage. The current solar design calls for a 9 kW-30 panel system, but that premises a 36" cupola. I have little doubt the size of the cupola will either increase or we will add a second one. Looking at the proposed panel layout, it seems that the 30 panel option we have chosen would allow for a much larger cupola. On the Option 2 shown below, I am showing a cupola that runs 60" along the roof line. This size would be in-line with the guidelines we have seen from cupola manufacturers. John responded that the best thing to do would be for Tyler (architect) to send them a new roof drawing showing the new cupola and they would evaluate it. Again, it does not seem to me that it will be a problem.

"Our" Mike, "Little" Mike and Nate showed up today, as promised, for a second day of work this week. Today represents a total of 4.5 days of activity since December 10. They finished the fascia and soffits on the garage and installed the roof vents for the two garage wet bars. They then turned their attention to the sunroom, starting on the fascias. They put in a good days work, which they always do, when they show up. No word on whether they will return tomorrow. Earlier in the day, I asked Mike if he ever sent the final dimensions to Jim (glass roof), which he said he would do last week. He said he had not, but assured me he would do so. It will be nice to get that aspect of the project going again.

Emerald Green

"Our" Mike, "Little" Mike and Nate showed up this morning and worked throughout the day on the garage roof, in anticipation of having the shingles installed. Mike said he thought it would take him a week to prepare the sunroom for shingling. The garage is starting to look like a roof.

The supply company delivered the foam insulation for the sunroom along with the retaining hardware. We had the 1x6 pine boards and thermal barrier boards delivered last week. Since we decided not to use the tongue-in-groove siding that Mike originally suggested, he has decided to install biscuit joints on the exposed sunroom roof boards to keep them from deflecting and gaping due to the distances between the sunroom trusses (32"). Sounds like a good idea as opposed to just hoping for the best. The other option would be to install dowels. Not sure why he chose the biscuits versus the dowels. From what I can find, the dowels provide a stronger joint, but are more expensive. We may not be needing a strong joint, but one that just keeps the boards aligned. The sunroom roof will consist of a internal layer of 1x6 pine board with two 2" layers of foam and a 1/2" thick thermal barrier board. All of this secured with 7" screws to the trusses. The asphalt shingles will go on top of the thermal board. We don't know what the "R" value of the sunroom roof will be, but I assume it will be higher than the windows.

Thermal Barrier Board

Foam

With the shingle installation coming soon, it was necessary to make a final decision on the color. T was leaving for a week long trip to Texas this afternoon, so we traveled over to the supply company before she left to verify which color of asphalt shingle we would put on the new roofs as well as on the main house. T selected the GAF Slateline Emerald Green. She also confirmed she was OK with the samples of the slate provided to us a couple of weeks ago on the new gables and for needed repairs on the main house gables. I relayed all of this in an email to Mike and he acknowledge receiving it.

We are deferring the final selection of the cupolas for now. We believe we will want to go with a larger size on the garage than what Tyler had premised. Tyler had premised a 36" cupola on both the sunroom and the garage. This may be OK for the sunroom, but seems too small for the garage. The rule of thumb seems to be that the cupola should be 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" per foot of unbroken roof line. With the 40 foot garage roof line, that would mean a cupola between 50" and 60". It has also suggested that we could consider putting two cupolas on the garage. We need to be careful about getting carried away with this as, at some point, it may impact the number of solar panels we can put on the garage roof. While we are deferring the decision for now, we need to make it soon so that the solar portion of the project is not delayed.

We have also been exploring the best approach for installing forced ventilation through the cupolas. I have received several responses to the inquiries I sent out last week about installing a fan in manufactured cupolas. The responses have ranged from "it cannot be done" to "sure, no problem, for a price". One of the most interesting was one which suggested installing a normal exhaust fan on the roof and then mounting the cupola over it. Interestingly, Mike told me that he had talk with Frank (HVAC) and Frank had recommended the same approach. Something to explore.

Mike said he would be back tomorrow to continue work. I know he would like to get the roofs on and shingled over the next week or so. The forecast for the upcoming week is much cooler than we have had for the past two weeks. Other than a chance of rain this weekend, the chance of precipitation during the work week remains low.

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.