More stairs and wall framing

On Sunday I cleaned all of the loose straw and bales of straw out of the house. There was quite a pile of loose straw in the living room. It’ll be used in the interior walls later, but for now I wanted it out of the way. I moved it onto the porch and then tossed it into my hay baler which I brought over from the barn. I figured it would be easier to move and store it if it was baled. There were about 15 bales worth of straw in the pile.

With the straw all moved to the barn, I spent Monday sweeping the floors. I started upstairs with a leaf blower. That made quite a cloud of dust! After I’d blown everything to the downstairs, I set the ladder up and opened the cupola windows. I already had several windows open on the first floor. As soon as I opened the windows in the cupola, dust began flowing upward and out. I was encouraged that the cupola will help with ventilation in the house. This is the first time I’ve had opportunity to test it so far.

Today, I wanted to finish the stairs. There were still three steps to build to take the staircase all of the way to the second floor. I started by putting 2x8s down for the subfloor on the stair landing after cutting rabbets along the edges. These boards will be the ceiling in the master bedroom closet also.

Cutting out the stringers for the last steps was simple enough. Once I had them cut out, I had to figure out how to attach them at the second floor level. One side only required putting a board against an already framed wall to put the stringer in the right position. I had to frame a short wall on the other side.

It was necessary to frame the third wall for the master bathroom. This wall is also one of the walls for the main bathroom. I left out two studs so that I will be able to put in the tub/shower unit when I’m ready for it. It won’t fit through the framed door opening. Once the tub is in place, it will be easy enough to insert the two wall studs in their proper places.

The final task for today was to frame and put into place the wall against the stairs. This wall will support an extra three feet wide section of second floor landing and serves as one of the walls for the main bathroom. It was simple to frame and fairly easy to put into place.

I swept up some dust created by todays activities and took a few photos before calling it a day. It’s still exciting to see the progress each day I work on the house.

Siding the cupola

My goal for today was to get the siding on the cupola. It took a full day, but I got it done.

The siding I used is wood shingles. I cut them to length from "slab wood" I bought from a pallet company. I bought several pallets of what are basically their culls from making pallets. I worked with two widths (3.75" and 5.75") because that's how they came, and I didn't want to rip them all to other widths.

If I didn't have to work around windows and the slope of the roof, the process would've gone more quickly. The basic idea is to cut the shingles 18" long. Then, staple them on the side leaving 8" showing. This provides a double layer coverage.

This idea worked on the sides of the windows, but not over or above them. There, I had to cut pieces to length so they would fit. On the sides, as you can see, I had to cut the angle of the roof pitch, too.

On the corners, I nailed one inch thick boards for trim. The shingles butt up against these boards on the corners, giving a finished look. I still have to finish the front corners of the cupola with this trim.

The rope tied around the cupola which can be seen in the photo is so I don't slip off the roof while working on the front. I put it around my backside and can lean against it. It allows me to have my hands free to work and provides a level of comfort and safety which I don't want to work without.

Cupola windows and sheeting the roof

Yesterday, I made a trip to Lowes (I hate giving them my hard-earned money) and bought windows for the cupola and some tar paper for over the roof sheeting. In the afternoon, I sheeted the cupola so that I could install the windows. I figured I could get at least one window in before it got dark. Once I got started, I didn't stop until I had all four in. It's kind of exciting to have the first four windows on our house!

Since it wasn't raining today and the rafters were in place, it was time to tackle the roof sheeting. I bought 44 sheets of 7/16" OSB about a month ago for this purpose. My original plan was to save the $300 or so I spent on OSB by using pallet boards to sheet the roof. They would've worked alright, I'm sure, but the OSB speeds up the process and makes a more even surface.

My dad (who I am very thankful for) and I started the sheeting process on the front slope of the roof. This is the 8:12 pitch side. The area to be sheeted was 20' by 40'. It actually went quite well. We were able to get the whole front side sheeted in about four hours. After lunch, we used nearly four rolls of 30# felt to paper over the OSB. I didn't take pictures of the work in progress because I was working. I did take a few pictures after lunch during the brief period of sunshine. Once we finished the tar papering, it was too dark to take any more. There'll be more photos when we work on the back of the roof.

The rafters are on

I can't believe how quickly time goes by. It was almost six months ago that we raised the frame. At that time it was my intention to get the roof on by the end of September. That didn't happen. I've continued to plug away at it, though. One of the good things about not getting the roof done on my original schedule is that it allowed another design change/addition: the cupola. I wouldn't have gone back and reworked things to add a cupola if the roof was already completed. Since it wasn't, once we had the idea, it wasn't too difficult to incorporate this new design element. In all fairness, too, designing, framing, and constructing the cupola also added time to completing the roof.

The roof isn't on yet, but we're several steps closer. Over the last two weeks, I've worked as often as the weather permitted on getting the rafters on. There are timber frame rafters, of course, but that's not what I'm referring to. These rafters are the ones that will hold the roof above the insulation over the cathedral ceiling. The timber frame rafters hold all of this and are visible inside.

I'm very pleased with how my design for the rafter system worked. I was able to use material salvaged from a mobile home roof and from some logs I milled, thereby saving several hundred dollars over buying commercial 2x4s for the structure. The 10" pieces of 2x6 I used to hold the rafters at the desired height for my insulation actually provide nice rigidity to the system. Once I add a few diagonal braces to the rafter system and sheet it with OSB, it's going to be completely solid.

I endeavored to get the overhang on the back and the front as even as possible. You can sort of see how the ends of the rafters line up in these photos. I may have to trim some of the ones on the back. The ones on the front will matter less than the ones on the back. The porch roof will tie into the ones on the front while there will be an overhang of about one foot on the back (the rafters extend 3' beyond the frame because they will overhang past the straw bale wall). At the peak, I didn't butt the rafters from each side; I brought them each close to the peak and then tied them together with some 1/2" thick boards.

There are 19 rafters on the front and 19 on the back. They are on 2 foot centers. Each rafter is connected to the frame at 3 or 4 points via the 10" pieces of 2x6 (and some 2x8). On at least two of those points for each rafter, I was able to toe nail them into the purlins on the timber frame, not just the vertical strapping.

Working on the 3:12 slope on the back of the house presented no problems. The 8:12 pitch on the front is a bit steeper. Although I can walk on it safely, it was more comfortable for me to nail 18" steps in four places on the front to make climbing up and down safer. You can see a couple sets of these steps in the photo.

While adding the nailers around the cupola for the sheeting, I needed to take the blue tarp wrapping off. I should've taken some pictures of it unwrapped, but I forgot to have my camera with me. I put pieces of the tarp back on to keep the rain out. It will also serve as a vapor barrier under the siding. I intend to install the windows on the cupola before putting the roof metal on. I expect the metal on the front of the house will provide less than secure footing.

It's noticeable in the photo above that the construction area needs cleaned up. I had my boys (ages 6 and 4) start on that project, but they didn't last long. In my desire to get the roof on while the weather cooperates, I haven't taken the time to get things picked up and straightened up as I should. That's on the to do list.

The cupola is on

As I mentioned in the previous post, one of the design additions to our house is a cupola. I originally thought about incorporating a cupola for the benefits it would have for ventilation as a naturally convective exhaust point for the whole house. There are other advantages, such as providing additional light in the center of the house and providing a really cool place to put a windvane (I'll have to get one).

I've worked on getting the various components for the cupola ready during the last two weeks. I was just going to frame it conventionally, but there were those 6x6s lying in the pile near the garage. So, they became the material for the cupola frame. I had laid out the dimensions and modeled this addition using Google SketchUp. This allowed me to easily figure angles and lengths for the different materials.

Yesterday (2/3/08) I shuttled all of the prepared materials and a bunch of tools down to the house site. My dad, who lives on the farm, offered to help me with the job at hand, and I am very grateful for his help. The first thing to do was cut a hole in the ceiling at the peak in the middle of the house. It extended from the purlin nearest the peak on the front to the purlin nearest the peak on the back. The space this allowed dictated the size of the cupola. It ended up being 4' 2" outside dimensions and 3' 2" between posts on the inside.

I hefted the pieces of the cupola onto the roof with a rope. My dad was kind enough to hook the rope onto each piece so I didn't have to climb up and down the ladder multiple times. The posts were the first parts to be set in place. Because this was an addition that I hadn't planned from the beginning, I decided to use lag screws rather than mortise and tenon joints to attach them to the purlins. We then placed the beams on top of the posts. These were also attached using lag screws and as12" long by 1" diameter peg. I had already assembled the cupola ceiling and the roof framing. So, these were easily set on top and attached.

We sheeted the roof with pallet boards I purchased in early December ($2 per pallet load). These boards were 3/8" to 1/2" thick and about 4" wide. With three sides sheeted, we stuffed in insulation and then completed the sheeting.

To finish the job for now, the roof was tar papered and the cupola was wrapped with a blue tarp. I'll be installing the rest of the frame work for the windows this week. The windows will be installed later. The roof metal will be put on next week, if all goes as I hope.





The weather was quite warm for February -- near 60 degrees. It was overcast, but no rain. The photos would be brighter and better if there had been sunshine. I'll take some more photos later.

The roof revisited, ventilation, and air conditioning

Here it is almost five months since the frame raising and I still don't have the roof on the house. I wanted it on a long time before now. It just hasn't come together. The ceiling took a fair bit of work. If this project wasn't being done debt-free, then things would probably be done more quickly. As it is, I must invest a lot of labor in order to save money. That just takes time.

I talked with a friend of mine who is, among other things, an insulation specialist and consultant about my plans for insulating my roof. He's the same guy who is going to spray the ceramic coating
on my metal later. With his input, I decided to go with a 10" space for the insulation. He'll come down from where he lives in Indiana and dense pack cellulose insulation in the space sometime this spring or summer. It'll provide about an R-40 insulation value, plus it will effectively create an air-tight roof. There is much to be gained by air-tightness.

Once the bale walls are plastered, the rest of the home will be very close to air tight. This will be great for heating and cooling. However, careful consideration needs to be given to ventilation of the indoor space. With an air tight home, moisture and pollutants within the home can create problems; there needs to be some sort of ventilation plan. I will have lots of windows, and they will provide ventilation. But what about the times when I don't want the windows open? As I've contemplated the situation, I have had as one of my desires to design and install a system that can basically work without dependence upon outside power and limited input from me. Tough design criteria.

The main part of the plan I've developed so far involves a cupola in the center of the home at the peak of the roof (I guess a cupola pretty much goes at the peak). I have the parts of it ready to be installed. If the weather is good, I'll hopefully install it within the week. It will be approximately 4 feet by 4 feet. There will be windows on each side -- a 2'x3' on the front, a 2'x2' on the back, and a 2'x18" on each of the sides. The front and back windows will be rigged so that I can open and close them from inside the house below the cupola (since it would require a ladder to get into the cupola space). These windows in the cupola will provide ventilation using the natural chimney/convection effect the cupola will provide. Initially, the windows in the house will provide the air intake while the cupola works to exhaust air, controlled by how far the windows are opened.

Another aspect of the system which I will add at a later time is natural cooling for the house. This system will utilize the cupola and the stack effect it will create. Incoming air will be controlled through duct work that is connected to underground tubes through which the outside air will flow before entering the house. These tubes (nine 4" sewer pipes each with a run of 50'-75') will be buried about 4' in the ground where the temperature remains fairly constant (about 60 degrees). I'll see about drawing a diagram of this later. Because of the insulation value and tightness of the home, I expect that the constant flow of conditioned air introduced into the house through these tubes will not need to be that great. So, the system will help condition the air in the house at a comfortable level without any electricity needed. In the winter, the same system can be used to introduce air for ventilation that has been warmed by the earth.

The natural air conditioning aspect is still be developed in my head. The cupola, though, is nearly a reality. After I have it installed (without the windows), I'll get the roof put on. I have some friends who are going to help me with that soon.