Siding Ho!

I had some time off over Christmas, and wonder of all wonders my siding finally came in. I had decided to go with a weathered wood style vinyl siding from Kaycan.  The swirls in the siding match both the roof and some Polyroche fake rock that I am using to break up the huge mass there is.

Overall, I might just need to pick up another course of the rock and double it. Right now it looks good, but a second course of it might look better.

I also have ideas floating in my head for changing how I was going to frame up my front deck area. Dad did some railings and the like at the cabin out of  actual trees/logs and I might just want to copy that style for my porch. It means pulling off what I have already put in place, but the wood touch would look so much better I think. (I was planning to do something like this on the inside for my loft area, but adding some outside would tie everything together.

Ah weight. I get nervous about my frame more and more. ;)

Ah I want to get back up there and fiddle more. The snow just makes things so much harder though. I was getting nervous with my ladder.

Sliding glass door

I sprung for my siding and a sliding glass door this week. Very painful on the wallet but it makes the exterior that much more close to being done. The siding I chose looks awesome though and brings in the colours of the roof and the polyroche.

I have the polyroche faux stone siding for the bottom course and might have started on it, but the corners are really wiggity and I wanted to look up the installation methods to make sure I was doing things right. As it, I know how to do it now, but I need to cut stuff on the corners since I am not going to do the installation over the lathes. If I cut back my tyvek for that spot, I can do the alternate installation method of directly over the plywood.

It was bloody cold up at the cabin, in fact record cold for the region on that day. So while I got the door in, I did not do much else on the day. And then the cold had the truck not starting, so I was a little panicked that I might be stuck up at the cabin for longer then I'd like.

The door looks great though, and I sprung for the blinds between the glass, double sided opening doors that Home Depot had. I installed a five footer, but I would have gladly pirated their display model which was all of 3 feet perhaps? A perfect size for a tiny home I thought.

I still think I will need to install one more tiny window on the blank side of the house. If I stick it above the level of the large landing steps I am planning for my stairs it will add light to a semi-dark corner. Tiny to pick through the boneyard (or new and used) again.

Once I get all of this exterior work done, I can always do interior work over the winter when there is snow on the ground.

Minor things

I wish I had this place a little more accessible so that I could do work on it after work hours. But I went up and got the ridge cap on plus did my caulking around seams that might / and did leak. Started to fiddle with the front porch but as yet I need to pick up the sliding glass door so I don't want to get too far ahead with it making it a bitch to get the door in place.

At least I used up the majority of the crappy 2x4's in that porch.

Oh and I got my bird blocks in place. Happy time.

Roofing and stuff

God, I am so my father's child.  Went up over the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and tried to get my roofing material of choice on.  I am going worth a slate blue metal roof and with the days of time and the end of summer,  needed to get it on before all my hard work was ruined.

But of course I am fully able to screw things up. Something like lapping my tar paper/roofing underlay the wrong way around. Or little things like trying to get flashing sucked in just right.

At the very least I managed to get 90% of the  roofing on before I ran out of screws. I need to go back up, put the last sheet on and then get my ridge cap on. Then I can think of other things like siding and fun topics like that.

Looming little more house like?

On the whole it doesn't feel like I got a whole ton of work done this past weekend. More plywood went up, covering the dormer/loft area and a little more was added to the roof. The biggest addition was getting the skylight in place on the roof area, something that needed more then one person to do. Those things are heavy, all that glass and wood.

Overall I know where I sit in the whole getting the structure enclosed thing. I need to scab on a few boards in the loft area so I can enclose the area where the roof transistions from one pitch to the other. Right now I have nothing to hammer onto on the lower portion, but a 2x4 should easily fix that.

Another area that needs a 2x4 is the skylight. I made the opening that little bit too big that you do for windows, forgetting that of course, the skylight sits on top of the roof. This is actually also an easy fix. My spacing as it stands means that one more 2x4 on the inside of the current framing all the way around will make it fit nice and snug.

Then there are the two sections of the roof as it stands that are not covered. One is a small strip, easily cut  and set in place. The other side needs more plywood then that, but it is still fairly easy to do.

The biggest thing is my front area, where I plan to have storage and maybe another small window. This is the roof for my front porch, and would be important when it comes to locking down this porch against wind resistance when towing this beast. I plan on a small enclosed front deck with screens, but I am not too sure if I want posts or just some slanted beams that connect to the house proper. In any case, I need to rough in that front area before I can do anything further with the roof in that space. Maybe a little pressure treated lumber is in my future, just for wet resistance.


I need another roll of tyvek regardless.

Roof time

Well I just accidently deleted my last roofing post, so here it goes again.

I spent the last two weekends cutting, fiddling,  re cutting and getting my rafters up on the structure. When it came down to it I had given myself a little less headroom in the loft, and a bit more of an overhang to my main beam then I had thought I might do. Given that I made it with three 2x4x8's, doubled up, I suppose this was to be expected. The entire frame is 24' 4" after all. So I will need to scab another section on in order to make it that extra little bit I need.

Then again right now I am not building that area, the little front space extension that will serve as a roof over my porch and storage space, so I can get away with it for now. Other then that, a few sheets of plywood were stuck onto the roof, but I still need to add more, and close in my loft area up top with plywood. I was running short of the small screws I was using for this purpose, so I decided to come down at my usual god awfully early on Sunday. Really a waste to come down that early.

Scabbed in my skylight opening, but I need to cut the little rafter segments that will help support that area. Overall, it is starting to look like a house.

Two weekends of work

After two weekends of work, running out of 2x4s and a need for a lumber run, I actually have some walls up.

I banged together my ridge board, but I needed to remind myself on just how to get my angles and birdsmouth cuts correct. So I decided not to do any more work on the Monday and came home to bone up on just how to do this. Ah for those times I wish i could tap dad's knowledge.

I think i can cut them all and haul them up in my car. That will save some gas. That truck is a monster for has usage.

I think I will also relocate a Window from the peak in the dormer/loft to a wall by the bathroom. The bathroom does have a window in it but I have not cut it out from the plywood as yet. Changing some framing will not be easy but not impossible either.

Oh I forget. I need to look up how to frame in a skylight. There is one sitting around that is not in use, and it would look great on the house.