Ridge Beam, Trusses, Loft Beams, Top Sil, Squaring

I love the rain.  It keeps everything cool and green just the way I like it and we get an abundance here.  I wasn't so thankful this weekend.  I'm trying to learn from my near death fall from last weekend to not work in the rain tired and alone.  That made getting much done a little tricky as the rain kept starting and stopping.  I would uncover the saw, climb the ladder, put in a screw and it would start raining.  Then climb off the ladder, cover everything up and wait.  Repeat.

My big goal was the get the walls square so further work could depend on that accuracy.  Everything I've read says if you don't start square that error compounds as you go.  The walls started out a half inch off from each other, better than I expected but still something I wanted to correct.  I used braces to push the walls.  I tried using ratchet straps.  I tried shimming.  I even tried looking at it sternly.  I wasn't really getting any closer to an equal measurement.  I did however get a nice step aerobic going on as I went up and down the ladder.  I also swore quite a little bit at my tape measure.  It's not easy to measure by yourself.  I ended up nailing the bugger to the top sil.  There was probably an easier way.  Then when help arrived we decided to undo the carriage bolts and whack the walls.  That fixed some related problems but didn't actually fix the half inch problem.  In the end I decided that putting up the second top sil plate, loft beams, and eventually rafters would magically push it into the zone of correct.  Plus extreme amateur me built this house and a half inch is probably the smallest mistake I'll make.  Close enough.

We also picked up the 18' ridge beam and house wrap while I had access to a truck.  In between the rain I put the completed trusses into place.  They look good up there but I'm still a little unclear how the rafters will rest flush on top of the trusses.  Maybe when I get the ridge beam up there and cut the birdsmouth cut (extra points for lingo?) in the rafters it will sit right.

Double Top Sil Plate

birdsmouth

Trusses installed and temporary loft beams in place

Roof Trusses

It was an interesting week for building.  The plan was to get the rafters and ridge beam up but advisement from sharper minds convinced me to construct the roof trusses first thus giving the ridge beam somewhere to live first was the better plan.  That's where the math comes in.  This English major isn't great with math.  I'm not even competent with math, not even simple math.  Luckily I had help this weekend.  Mostly I just assisted but I'm perfectly ok relinquishing control if it means getting a finished product that is done correctly.

I got my first taste of working in bad weather this weekend as well.  I had taken down the circus tent tarp earlier in the weekend to remove the damaged experimental ridge beam supports that broke under the weight of the tarp.  Have I mentioned how heavy and unwieldy this damn tarp is?  When the rain started getting worse I decided to put it back in place.  Math isn't the only thing I'm stupid about.  I climbed up on the top of my loosely secured ten foot above the ground walls and proceeded to solo pull the heavy tarp up.  Heights, wet wood, and stupidity don't really go well together.  I fell off the wall.  Super luckily the tarp I had been pulling up and throwing over my head had been pooling behind me and I fell into an improvised airplane evacuation slide ending up in a soggy undignified heap but unhurt.  I'm hoping I learned a lesson about working alone in unsafe conditions.  I counted my blessings and carefully dragged the tarp into place.  Then my help arrived and we built our trusses which was the only thing that went off without a hitch.

The next day I discovered another stupid thing I did.  Apparently water is subject to gravity.  Since I had removed my high point ridge beam braces my roofline was now flat.  During periods of continuous rainfall a flat tarp will collect said rainfall and under the forces of gravity will turn into a rather impressive water balloon.  But wait there's more.  In an attempt to drain my roof lake I pushed up in an attempt to coax the water over the wall and relieve itself harmlessly on the gravel below.  That tarp is heavy but when it has several inches of rain on top of it the weight is unmanageable.  That didn't stop me from poking at it with a spare 2x4 and poking a good size hole thus transforming my carefully protected dry insides into my first example of indoor plumbing.  With more help I was able to prevent some of the deluge but the damage was done.  I spent most of the rest of that build day trying to dry out my OSB floor.  I also shored up some studs that needed more support, finished a few small projects and installed some jack studs to support the loft.

Notice the trusses and plastic wrap I stapled to the floor.

My next debate is the ridge beam itself.  Originally I bought two ten foot 2x8s that I planned on joining together to act as my ridge beam.  I knew that a single piece of wood would be stronger but I couldn't figure out how to get an eighteen foot long board from point A to point B.  Delivery ended up being twice as much as the board.  I think I've decided the inconvenience of begging for access to a truck is worth it to make sure the spine of my manor is strong.  If I can get the beam to the work site I think installing the trusses and ridge beam is next on the list.  If I'm lucky I might even get a start on the rafters.

Truss temporarily put in place and loft studs

Wall Raising and Ridgebeam

This was a good week for visual progress.  I got some help and raised up the walls onto the trailer, drilled the holes for the carriage bolts and hand tightened them to the trailer.  The walls aren't exactly square yet but closer than I thought they would be.  Discussions led me to decide against sheathing the walls while on ground.  The weight issue was not the deciding factor this time but the fact that sheathed walls are harder to square and I didn't have enough confidence that they were ready.  I'm glad I didn't.



Once all for walls were up I could get a better sense of dimension and visualize where everything would go.  Next I tackled the roof framing.  Tackle is the most appropriate description as there was no elegance to the way I approached this process.  My first problem was probably attempting math.  I knew the total legal limit the house was allowed to be: 13feet 6inches.  So I measured from the ground to the top of the walls and subtracted for the additional height the loft/roof would be.  Makes sense right?  Then knowing my ridgebeam was a 2x8 I subtracted 8 inches from the extension height so I knew how high to build the guide the ridgebeam would rest on.  Still felt like I was on the right track.  I built my tuning fork shaped brace on each of the short walls and one propped up on a crossbeam in the middle, slid the 10 foot 2x8 beams into place and thought "done".  Then to be sure I measured the total height again.  Not...Even...Close.  I wasn't really all that surprised but how could I be more than a foot off.  This house is definitely going to fall down and kill me.  I climbed back up and put two 2x6 scraps in the brace under the ridgebeam and measured again.  Close enough.

Next weekend with more help I'm hoping to get a start on the rafters.  Also here is a picture of the big ass circus tent tarp I got.  It is a handful to work with but I'm hoping will work better than several smaller tarps that might leak.

Additional framing and fixing old framing

This weekend was the first day of build at the new site and the weather cooperated nicely, if a little too warm for my taste and way too warm for May.  Leveling the trailer ended up being easier than I was expecting which has me worried that I did something wrong.  The loose gravel hasn't effected the leveling quite as much yet but I'll keep checking as the site settles.  I've got two scissor jacks and the trailer jack holding it slightly off the wheel with cinder blocks ready to stabilize it.  Next I unboxed all the framing that I'd done so far.



Then I continued to frame around the windows and doors.




Then while trying to drag the long walls off the trailer and set them up by myself I damaged some of the joints and probably my back.  I took the long walls apart at the seam that I damaged which had the added benefit of making it easier to move and gave me the opportunity to replace some of the wall studs that got the early "close enough" measurement.




I got some help from my site hosts which made all the difference.  I even took some time to practice laying the plywood sheathing down on the finished short wall just so I could see what that will be like.  As the weekend went on and the heat kept getting higher the mistakes started become more frequent so when I framed my last window upside down I decided I was done for the day.  Hopefully I'll get to start on the sheathing next weekend.

New Site

It's been a painful month of no building progress.  I reached the limit for progress at the original covered site (if I built more it wouldn't fit out of the garage).  I found a great new site closer to home and have spent the last month prepping the new site with fresh new gravel thanks to my new fantastic hosts.


 Last weekend I moved the Manor closer to home and under the open sky where it promptly got wet.  Now it's under tarps and waiting for a rain free day to dry out, then the fun begins.  Next step is to frame around the new windows and door.

Then I have a decision to make: sheath the walls with plywood while they are still on the ground and easier to work with which unfortunately will make them heavy as hell and I'll need lots of help to raise them, or raise the walls and try to muscle the plywood sheathing into place by myself.  I'm concerned that after I lay the glue I won't have time to screw the plywood down before the glue sets.  Wall raising party?

Windows and a Door

I went window and door shopping this weekend at Millwork Outlet in North Bend, http://www.millworkoutlet.com/.  I was pretty impressed.  They were very patient with my ignorance.  I went in with only a rough idea of the opening the windows needed to fit into and they walked me through the whole process.  Thanks guys.  I got three normal sized single hung windows (the open up and down type), one larger single hung window for the trailer hitch end wall, and two of the smallest windows I could find that open for each of the upper lofts (I've already forgotten how they open, casement maybe).  The door also has a window in it.  That means lots of light but also potential heating/cooling problems.  That was the highlight.  Then I took some of the windows to the build site to introduce them to their new home.  They were not impressed.

It took me most of my half build Monday experimenting with placement, measuring studs, jack studs, sil plates, and headers (getting good with my lingo) to mock up what I think will work.  Improvising off my plans has been frustrating for me and only by laying things out can I visualize the problem and look for solutions  My door ended up being taller than I had planned on.  The standard door is 6'8'', the plans call for 6', and any modification on that complicated things beyond what I was willing to deal with so I went with big door option.  The question came when examining how the new door height would effect my window placement.  Should the top of the door be level with the top of the windows?  If so they would start to interfere with my loft placement and my hopeful idea of placing shelves above my windows.  I decided to lower the windows, keep my shelves, and plan biting comments for those aesthetically minded folks who think I messed up my viewing lines or some such.  The plans call for the windows to be three feet off the floor, which sounds like it would be fine for the living room and bathroom but in the kitchen I wondered if the counter would be in the way so I raised them all a bit.  A bit is now one of my official measuring terms, as in 77 inches and a bit.  Do you think that will be a problem later on?

The rest of the windows and the door will arrive in a week or so and hopefully by then I will have a better plan by then.

Also I almost drove a screw through my thumb.  I offered up a blood sacrifice and smeared my viscera on the demanding wood frame.

No pictures for you this week, use your imagination.

Wall Framing

I've fallen a bit behind on updating here.  Wall framing is something I've been looking forward to.  It's the process that most traditionally reminds me of what building a house is.  The woodworking feels like a nice entry level experience and all the corners so far are right angles.

Over the last two weekends I learned pretty quickly that I don't really know how to read framing plans.  I also finally realized that got what I paid for with my plans.  When you only spend $99 you aren't necessarily going to get plans that walk you through each step or include everything you need.  At this point my plans have become more of a suggested guideline than anything else.  Most notably my plans don't detail how to frame around the wheel well.  I'm assuming this is because no two trailers are the same and they figure the builder can adapt.  I did, but it took a while.  The walls are only braced in place with a few screws just so I could see what I was working with, make sure everything looked roughly level and to make room to build the next section.

I added some beefer headers above my windows, which I haven't fully framed yet, to accommodate the book shelving I plan on putting above the windows.  My plans didn't have any headers whatsoever.  I'm still a little unclear if I did the wall corners properly.  My favorite lesson so far has been there may not be a properly.  House on wheels means no code compliance or inspections so as long as it doesn't fall down and kill me I'm content.  Living dangerous is something new I'm trying.

I didn't complete my window and door framing on purpose because I thought it might be easier to frame around the windows and doors that I find and might be overstocks, factory seconds, or returns, instead of framing based on my plans and then have to find something to fit the space, maybe even have it custom made.

I am glad I decided to construct my framing with screws instead of nails as it means I can take apart and adjust as needed, and it has been needed.  Next step will be prebuilding roof stuff.  Maybe the next step should be figuring out what the roof stuff is called.