Out with Jackson and in with Steve! Steve also lives in LA and used to share a house with Sam and Jackson. He is our second most frequent visitor.
Steve took over Jackson’s job as chief bucket truck operator. I continued cutting plywood, and Sam and John maintained their positions on the roof.
We charged along…
Like most projects, the last 10% took the longest. We saved the ridge for last since it is more complicated. We set up a string line from end to end as a guide to keep it straight. A lot of measuring was involved before cutting the final pieces of wood.
We were on a roll when suddenly rain showed up in the forecast. Time for more plastic… At least we could do it from the bucket truck this time, although it was still a challenge. The plastic was really billowing on the leeward side of the roof. We skipped the staples since they weren’t holding in the high winds and used wood battens instead. We put a lot of holes in the roof with screws. Hopefully that’s not a problem.
It was late and dark when we ran out of plastic. It was a familiar scene, only Steve was in the bucket with Sam this time. We found some spare tarps and covered the final section. Seconds after the last tarp was secured, it starting raining!
We all slept in the next day, and then Sam and Steve went out in the rain to build the cupola. I got to enjoy a day off to catch up on cooking and baking. The cupola is not just decorative but provides ventilation for the roof. There will be louvers on all four sides. There are alternative venting systems, but we like the look of the cupola (and it’s fun to say). It took many design iterations to get the scale correct.
We’re trying to convince Steve to stay here for awhile. He could open a pie stand.
More progress was made on the cupola as the rain continued the next day.
The rain stopped, and we completed the cupola project as well as the remaining plywood on the roof.
At last, the final sheet!
The roofers came to put on the underlayment. An ice and water shield was applied to the perimeter before the synthetic underlayment was nailed over the whole roof. It took them two days.
Sam gave them a ride in the bucket truck to reach the cupola. It’s all sealed up now! Unfortunately, they are busy and won’t be back for a few weeks to do the shingles.
Onto the inside of the roof… Steve and Sam put up steel tension cables. I didn’t have the reach or the strength for this job.
The cables make X’s in 4 of the 7 bays. The cables came with the steel kit but had to be assembled and cut to the correct length before installing them.
John helped with the last few.
We have one solid roof!
We celebrated our hard work at the Fresh Hop Beer Festival! Cheers!
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