Roof Update

Michael Janzen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:06:28 +0000

I spent the last two days working in the Tiny Free House and got the other window lowered about 8 inches to clear the eaves and finished adding pallet boards to the roof. It was very slow going screwing all those boards to the trusses. I used an extension ladder from the outside for the lower boards and did the peak from the inside by coming up through the framing.

My next step is to cover the roof with roofing felt to protect the house from the rain and start on the siding on my next trip… unless my father-in-law scores form scrap sheet metal for me. He mentioned he knew a couple guys with sheet metal shops that often have shingle size scrap pieces of metal. Seems to me some galvanized scrap sheet metal would make some very nice shingles… nicer than #10 cans and still very free.

The photos above are how it looked after I cleaned up my mess on Sunday afternoon. The last photo below is how it looked at the end of Saturday. As you can see I use an extension ladder on the exterior and screwed the boards on as high as I could reach safely.

Sunday morning, working from the inside on the orange ladder, I popped my head and shoulders up from the inside boarded up the peak boards. It was a bit tricky and I was standing on the top of the 6-foot ladder. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to get the roofing felt and shingles up there without actually getting up on the roof. I think I’ll be OK as long as I stay on the rafters. I guess we’ll see :-)

Construction Progress Report – Framed Eaves

Michael Janzen — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:38:55 +0000

It was a bit hot this past weekend but I got to spend a couple days working on the house. I had planned to put more boards on the roof but realized that I needed to first finish the eaves. They took a bit of time to build but I think they look pretty good, so even though I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped I’m still happy with my progress. I came up with the 16×16 diamond window in both eaves on-the-fly and plan to make little opening windows for ventilation.

I also realized the side windows were too high and needed to be lowered so I threw a temporary support in, unscrewed a couple pallets, cut them up and reframed. I only got one window lowered before I called it a day on Sunday.

Next Steps:

Lower other side window.
Finish putting boards on roof.
Finish filling in pallet boards on sides so I have something to screw the milled pallet boards onto.
Finish roof (roofing felt and shingles (The jury is still out on the final roofing material)).
Mill up a bunch of pallet boards for the siding.
Wrap it up with house-wrap.
Screw on the milled pallet board siding.
Install the windows I got free off craigslist.
Mill up pallet boards for trim around the windows and door.
Build the door from pallet wood, and install.
Seal the exterior with some kind natural free finish. (I’m open to suggestions.)

At that point I’ll be ready to move to working inside the house. My plan is to get all this done before the rain starts. At my current slow pace I think it’s possible. Here are a few more photos.

Tiny Free House » pallet boards

Roof Update

Construction Progress Report – Framed Eaves