Second floor subfloor

We’ve spent several days preparing boards for the upstairs subfloor which is also the ceiling for the first floor. Previously, I bought some cull lumber for this purpose. I stickered the boards after culling out the ones that weren’t usable for the house. That was a few years ago (I can’t remember if it was three or four).

Jon and I ran a few of them through the planer several weeks ago when we had a lull in other construction tasks. Dad and I started planing the rest of the boards last week. We had to run each board through the planer three times, taking off about 3/32” each pass. A few boards were thicker and had to be run through more times. The final thickness was 15/16” with at least one side on each board smooth enough for the ceiling.

The next step in the process was cutting the boards to length. The original lengths were from 8 to 12 feet long. We cut them to 48”, 54”, and 67” lengths. Then, each board could be edged on the table saw before finally have a rabbet cut on each edge so there would be a lap joint when nailed into place.

We determined the necessary lengths of the boards based upon the spacing between the floor joists, wanting the boards to span across at least three joists. For most of them, that is 48”. It’s easier to edge shorter boards on the table saw than longer ones. Also, I’ve left the boards at various widths. So, when they are installed, a row is put across which spans at least three floor joists, and then another row is put on.

While Jon and dad began installing the boards we prepared by Monday of this week, I finished cutting the rabbet joints in the remaining boards which had already been cut to length and edged. When I finished, I took them down to the house and checked on their progress. They were doing fine. So, while they worked on the floor, I put flashing on the front corners of the porch roof and installed the ridge cap.

The floor butts up against the cathedral ceiling at the front of the house. Dad cut the edge of the board at 55 degrees to match the angle of the cathedral ceiling. The angle matched, but the boards didn’t line up perfectly because the existing ceiling is not perfect level across its face. That’s okay. I’ll cover this joint with some molding later on.

By the end of the day, we had the floor/ceiling on one side, the landing that will be at the top of the stairs, and the first section on the other side installed. We’ll continue putting the rest in on Friday. Tomorrow, I have to process a few more boards which are already planed (the ones Jon and I planed a few weeks ago). We need some more to finish the job. If I get those ready, we ought to be able to get the rest of the east side done in a few hours on Friday. Then, we might stack a few bales in one section.

    

Straw in the house (and a couple of other things)

We finished unloading and stacking the straw in the house around 7:00 last evening. It was after 8:00 by the time I had my chores done which involves milking two cows. I didn’t take any photos yesterday, but I did take some this morning.

The straw was baled this summer after the wheat was harvested. I bought them from Tyler who lives near Bowling Green, Kentucky. He’s a very nice individual. He kept the bales in his barn until I was ready for them here since I didn’t have any place to keep them dry until the house was far enough along to put them in the middle of it. The photo to the right shows how the house looked when I made the deal to purchase the straw from Tyler two months ago. As you can see, there wasn’t anywhere to stack and store bales securely out of the weather.

I bought 300 straw bales four years ago (has it really been that long?) which I stored in the barn. I’m still going to use some of them, but several haven’t survived because of various factors. The cows ate as many as they could get a hold of (they had to really stretch and reach, but they did it anyway). Some were used for animal bedding. Some got wet from a couple small roof leaks. So, I needed some fresh, new bales.

To the left you can see what 300 bales stacked inside the house looks like. It makes it look a lot like a barn! It took about 40 minutes to unload the trailer. The trailer Tyler hauled them on (he delivered them) was a 30 foot monster. I thought we would shuttle the bales about 100 at a time down the hill to the house with my truck and trailer. But, he was willing to drive it down. It should be mentioned that it is a gravel driveway on a fairly steep hill. The photo to the right is of our driveway going down the hill which was taken last April. It’s hard to appreciate in this picture just how steep it is.

After the weight of the trailer and bales pushed the truck a bit on the gravel at the top, we chained my 4x4 truck to the back of the trailer to provide some extra braking power and made it the rest of the way down just fine. He was then able to drive near the house and back the trailer up to the porch from which point we unloaded and stacked the bales in the house.

Tyler had to wait until he finished work yesterday before he could deliver the bales. He had about an hour to drive, and it was a quarter till 6:00 when he got here. So, during the preceding hours, Dad, Jon, and I worked on the house. We framed interior walls for the mudroom, laundry room, and sewing room/study. In two places these walls butt up against the straw bale wall. I also wanted the ones against the timber frame there to help provide structural support for the straw bales going upstairs as in this section there is not a bale wall below them as there is in the other sections.

We also cut an installed some 2x4 blocking along the inside edge of the porch between the vertical stringers. We held the porch floor boards out the thickness of a 2x4 so that we could come back and insert this blocking. It helps to seal up along the bottom of the wall framed by the vertical strings. The starter strip for the siding will nail into this blocking.

Last week, Dad and I planed a few more boards for the upstairs subfloor. These are boards that I bought as cull lumber from a local sawmill and which have been stickered to dry the last two years. We didn’t get the job done because the motor in the planer was having some problems. It’s currently at a shop to be repaired. Once I get it back, we’ll finish planing the boards and then edge them so we can install them in the house. That’s the last major task before stacking bales for the walls.

After finishing our tasks at the house and before the straw bales arrived, I worked on making a bale needle. This will be used to push strings through straw bales in order to retie them to shorter lengths as necessary. It will also be used to push/pull strings through the walls to tie them to framing members. I only need to weld on a handle and do a little polishing, and it should be good to go. I’ll share a photo after it’s finished.

  

As you can see in the photo above, we finished installing the window and door bucks in the house last week. We also added additional vertical stringers as necessary. It’s quite exciting to be almost ready to put up the walls!

Roof design

I've been thinking about the roof. It will be a metal roof for which I've already purchased the metal in ten foot lengths. I got it for about half price because it's 'rainbow' colored. That means it's mostly green because it was painted as they switched from one color to the next. That's not a problem because it will eventually be sprayed with a ceramic coating by a friend of mine.

What I've been thinking about is how to construct the rafter system for the metal roof which allows me to blow cellulose insulation to an R-value of 50 or more (I don't want super-insulated straw bale walls without a super insulated roof as well). A 14 inch space for the insulation should allow for the R-value I want. This week I designed on paper the rafter structure that will allow me to accomplish this. My design looks like the picture to the right.

I calculated how many 2x4s it would take to construct these and shocked myself with what it would cost. My budget for this year is rapidly dwindling, and my class load this semester (only one section) doesn't allow any extra money beyond what's needed for monthly expenses. So, I did an assessment of what I have that is usable. I have nearly 200 2x3s that I milled several months ago. I was going to use them for other parts of the house, but they will work for this roofing need. So, that saved several hundred dollars.

The other part of the roof design that I've been pondering on has to do with condensation and venting the roof. A metal roof can more readily have condensation problems than many other roofing systems. My original idea for the roof was to build the rafter system on four foot centers and use 2xs for purlins on two foot centers to which the metal would be attached. This plan didn't allow for dealing with potential condensation problems.

I could use OSB or plywood sheeting on top of the rafters. Then, the metal could be attached to that on top of a moisture barrier. That would still not deal with space between the roof and the insulation for venting (a 1 inch space is the minimum). Also, 50 sheets of plywood or OSB isn't cheap (and my budget is thin). Sheeting would also necessitate a change in rafter spacing, but that's not a problem.

So, at this point in time, here's my plan: I will build the rafter structure as designed on 3 foot centers. Then, I will sheet the roof with 'slab wood' from a local pallet company. This 'slab wood' is actually boards resawn for pallets that come in 4" or 6" widths, 3/8" to 1/2" thickness, and usually 42" lengths. They sell a pallet of these for $2.00. I will buy several pallets of them, cut them to 36 in lengths, and then staple them to the rafters. On top of this sheeting, I will put down 30# roofing felt.

I will also buy about 150 1x4s from Cub Run Hardwoods. I'll cut most of these to 6 foot lengths which will span across three rafters. The 2 foot lengths I cut off, I will rip into 1x2s. I will attach these 1x2s onto the sheeted roof above the rafters as vertical stringers. The 1x4s will be placed horizontally across the vertical stringers to serve as purlins for the metal to be attached to. The vertical strapping will provide the ventilation space and the ability for condensation to drain to the bottom of the roof and out the venting.

That's my plan right now. It is contingent on a few things, like acquiring the pallet wood and the 1x4s, but that shouldn't pose a problem. It should create a roof system that will meet all the necessary objectives, things like keeping the rain and snow out, controlling condensation, and providing space for insulation.

The cathedral ceiling, part one

For various projects during the last few years, I've purchased bundles of cull lumber from Cub Run Hardwoods in Cub Run, KY. These bundles consist of 600 to 800 board feet of 1 inch thick lumber in various widths that they cull out for various reasons while operating the mill. It's great lumber and a good deal ($100/bundle) for barns and other buildings. Some of the boards are not usable, but usually most of the bundle is nice lumber, maybe with a blemish or a couple of knots. The bundles are made up of whatever species of wood they are milling at the time. Often, there is a mix of woods.

I purchased several bundles last summer and sorted through them, separating the ones that were potentially acceptable for use in the house. One of the uses I had in mind was the cathedral ceiling. After drying about 800 board feet in my greenhouse using a couple of box fans to circulate the air, my dad helped me to plane them to the same thickness (7/8"). We primarily planed only one side (some were thicker and were planed on both sides) since only one side is to be seen -- that inside of the house. We stacked these planed boards on the shed side of my garage where they waited until a little over a week ago.

I cut these boards to 4 foot and 5 foot lengths (they varied in length from 8 to 13 feet). These shorter lengths fit what I need for the ceiling, and they are a lot easier to work with than longer lengths. I set up a 9 foot fence on the table saw and squared the edges, trying to remove as little wood as possible in the process. After squaring the edges, I put a stacked dado head blade in the table saw in order to cut a rabbet on the edges. After about two full days of work, this is what I had:


The boards stacked on my trailer.


Stacked in the frame ready to be tarped.


I alternated the boards to calculate their total square footage.

I had almost half of the boards I need completed. I need to plane more that are dry for the rest of them. That job is waiting for either my new planer knives to arrive or the ones I sent off to be sharpened to return (they were quite dull).

I decided that I would put the boards I had completed on the back section of the ceiling on Friday. I used a framing nailer with 2" nails to attach them to the frame purlins. The boards' length allowed them to span across three purlins. They butt up against one another for each row on the purlins. This worked well since they are of various widths. Here's how it turned out:








There are several different species in this ceiling. As near as I could tell, there is oak, maple, hickory, and locust. The different colors and shades of the wood work well together with their random placement.



This is the view from on top looking toward the west. You can see the joints between the rows of boards. This side of the boards was unplaned except on a few of them.



This is the view off of the other corner toward the east. I thought it was pretty, so I'm sharing it.

It really didn't take long to nail the boards down. Yesterday, I put some 30# felt on the top of the boards to help keep rain water from staining them. I hope to have the front slope of the roof put on within the next two weeks. It'll depend upon when I have sharp knives for the planer.