Roof leak fixed (I hope)

We had 3 inches of rain early this week, and it was apparent that there was still a leak in the roof in spite of the new flashing I installed. The flashing didn’t solve the problem because the issue it is intended to address obviously wasn’t the cause of the leak as I thought. The location from which the water was entering the house and getting into the straw narrowed down the source to somewhere near the chimney.

Once the rain quit, I investigated. The flashing around the chimney looked good except for one place – along the seam in one section on a rib of the metal roofing. All of the polyurethane caulk I used was well sealed to the roof and there were no other apparent entry points for water. That one point would be all that it took. It didn’t allow a lot of water to get in, just enough to cause problems, greater problems later on if not dealt with.

The photo at the right was taken in October of last year after I finished the chimney. It shows the flashing I installed. The suspected entry-point for the water is along the left edge of the flashing. the edge of it actually comes upon on one of the metal ribs. There was a place along there that looked as if water could get past the defensive measures I put into place.

I had been intending to dress things up around the chimney anyway. The leak provided motivation to get it done now. My fix involved roofing tar, silicone caulk, and a sheet of roofing metal. First (sorry, no photos of in-process), I tarred the upper seam of the flashing and the outer edges on the right and left. I cut a piece of roofing metal to fit around the chimney, open on the lower side. I removed screws from the roof above the chimney and then inserted the new piece of metal under the seam of the upper row of metal above the chimney and around the chimney. I wanted to leave it as one complete piece, but I had to cut off one side to get it around the chimney. This wasn’t a problem because they were plenty of overlap. I sealed all seams with silicone. Then, I screwed the new piece of metal securely to the roof.

Now, water will have to find a way past the caulked seams of the new sheet of metal and past the tarred edges of the flashing (now securely tarred to the underside of the new metal). I added some extra roofing tar around the back and sides on the outside where the metal comes against the chimney. It looks better and should keep out water when it rains. Now, we’ll wait until it rains again to see if I’ve solved the problem.

Water in a wall (or, I don’t like roof leaks)

I was trimming the ends of some bales in the kitchen this week (one of those little things I hadn’t previously done) when my younger son noticed a black spot on the ceiling near where I was working. He asked what it was. When I looked, I saw that it was caused by a mushroom that was now dead, but there were some live ones peeking out of the straw bale wall. That wasn’t something I wanted to see.

Sticking my hand into the straw in that section of wall, I could feel moisture. Of course, the mushrooms already told me there was moisture in the wall. So, I started pulling straw out of the wall. Some of it toward the center of the wall was fairly damp. Nothing sopping wet, though. The moisture extended down from the ceiling in a section of about 1.5 courses of bales and less than 12” wide. We removed the damp straw from the house, and I sought to determine the source of the moisture. Although it may be hard to see, the photo to the right shows the area from which I removed the damp straw. The “stick” in front of the void is one of the sapling pins we used to tie the bales together in the wall.

My first thought was that it was from condensation under the metal. I have a 2” ventilation space under the roof metal. Before we put up the kitchen ceiling, I added flashing to keep water outside of the house from this space if it was ever present. I figured that the flashing just wasn’t doing the job. So, I bought some 24” aluminum flashing and redid the job better than before.

It rained last night, and this morning I checked to see if the leak was taken care of. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. This did help narrow down the area through which the moisture is entering the house. It appears to be around the chimney flashing on the roof metal. I have been wanting to do more with the chimney flashing anyway. This leak provides motivation to do it sooner rather than later. I used a piece of flashing to redirect the water from the leak away from the straw bales for now. I’ll be fixing the cause of the problem this week.

I’m thankful that the problem presented itself at this point in time and not several months later.

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.

    

Three sheets

The weather today was much nicer than the preceding days. It was cooler (mid-80s), and the humidity was lower. There were several times I just had to stand still and enjoy how refreshing the breeze felt.

Dad and Danny helped this morning. Dad and I nailed on purlins while Danny cut the individual boards to length and handed them up to us. We were able to finish the east side, get all of the purlins on the back, and start the west side before lunch.

After lunch, Danny had some other work to attend to. So, Dad and I worked on finishing the purlins on the west side. We got them all nailed on without any problems.

Then, we laid out three sheets of metal on the front to figure out how they fit under the existing roof metal. We’re able to slide them up under alright, but we’ll need to cut off about 3 inches from the sheets on the front in order to make sure that the amount the metal overhangs is not too much. The metal can’t be slid up under the other metal far enough because of the rafters on the house (they butt up against these). I don’t need or want 4 inches of metal overhanging the edge. The goal is 1.5 inches, an appropriate amount for the gutters that I will eventually install around the porch.

After figuring out the front, we moved the sheets of metal to the east side to see how they lined up. They were fine. So, since we had them up there already, I went ahead and screwed them to the purlins. If we have no problems, it won’t be too difficult to get the rest of the roofing metal installed early next week.

 

Purlins and fascia board

Although I haven’t posted in a few days, I’ve continued working on the house. Jon hasn’t been able to come over to work since last week, but my dad helped me three days. I’ll be getting more done today.

Dad and I finished the porch on the west side of the house, putting up the two posts and the 4x6 headers. We also got all of the porch rafters up, including the corner over the root cellar and the corner that over what will be the summer kitchen. It’ll just be porch initially. Later, I’ll close it in for the summer kitchen (might only screen it – we haven’t decided yet).

On Tuesday of this week, I brought home some cement board siding. I have some more to bring home. I’d hoped to get it yesterday, but I had to change two tires on the trailer (one did not make it home intact on Tuesday). The tires are ready to go now, and I’ve unloaded all of the siding from the trailer.

On Wednesday, Dad and I started installing purlins for the porch roof on the front of the house. After we got going on that, we decided to put up fascia board all the way around. I had some 1x6s that worked great for this. We were able to put up all of the fascia board and get the purlins completed on the front and partially done on the east side.

The plan for today is to continue installing purlins so that we can start getting the metal roof on.

 

 

Another week’s worth of work is done

It feels good to get things done on the house. We are on schedule for being ready for the straw bales by the end of July. If our progress is good next week, I’ll call the guy I’m buying them to arrange for delivery sometime during the last week of July (which isn’t far away).

This morning we continued putting up vertical stringers on the west side of the utility room and mudroom. We got the north side of this section done on Wednesday. Having done the other wall of stringers, this wall went quickly. Once we had rafters up, we were able to frame the end walls with the vertical stringers.

I was glad to see that the length of the north wall above the root cellar and the west wall above the root cellar (and past it) were the same. I actually find this remarkable because the rooms here are the result of different sections of foundation built at different times coming together. I feel blessed.

At lunch time, it was beginning to rain a little bit. The rain didn’t continue, though. So, we were able to continue work in the afternoon.

We framed the kitchen with the vertical stringers for these bale walls. There is a door on the west wall that will lead into the summer kitchen. There is a six foot wide by 36” tall window on the south wall that will be above the sink. There is a 36” by 36” window on the east wall. We’ll be building the bucks for the doors and windows later. When they’re installed, things will look different.

We put up all of the rafters above the sewing room/study, utility room, mudroom, and kitchen. I’m planning on buying some more 2x6s from the local guy who I’ve bought other lumber from. I bought two exterior doors from him yesterday. One will be the front door and the other will exit from the sewing room/study onto the back porch.

I also picked up the roofing metal I ordered for the porch. I have some 10’ pieces of metal, but they wouldn’t allow for enough overhang. So, I ordered 11’ pieces of ‘rainbow’ metal. Out of the 50 pieces I received, two are black and 48 are galvanized.

Next week, we should be able to get the porch posts up and the header that goes between the posts put on. Then, we’ll put on the porch rafters and, hopefully, the purlins so we can put on the roofing metal.

Roof Metal

On Thursday, March 6, we started putting the metal on the roof. Again, my dad helped. Without his assistance, I would've been hard put to get the job done. We had a nice, warm day with no wind (handling pieces of roofing metal on top of a house when it's windy isn't a very good idea).

We started on the front roof. Based upon our measurements, the roof was square, meaning if we started out with the first piece lined up correctly, we ought to finish in the correct location also. All in all, it came out pretty well.

The metal I'm using is some that I bought for nearly half the regular price because it's "rainbow." As I understand it, these are the sheets upon which the factory cleans out the paint nozzles, making them different shades and colors. Most of mine are some shade of green. Part of the deal is that the sheets I bought were in ten foot lengths, rather than them being cut to the length of my roof. I wasn't concerned about having a seem on my roof, and the color won't matter once I have the roof coated as planned.

I bought 15 sheets of 11' long "rainbow" metal two weeks ago, because I needed a little more length for the front. I also needed more metal than I originally purchased for roofing the porch along the back of the house which wasn't in our original plans. We started by putting the 11' sheets on the lower edge of the roof on the front. I left a four inch overhang for the porch roof to slide under later.

Above the 11' sheets we put down a row of 10' sheets. These overlap the lower row by nearly eight inches. I also added a bead of silicone caulk on each seem and overlap. I don't want water to find its way through, over, or under the metal. The two sets of metal apparently came from different factories, because, although they are all "classic rib" design, there were some slight variations between the two lots. Not enough variation to matter, though, just how the ribs fitted over or under one another. With the overlap and caulk, there isn't any problem.



I took pictures when we came back to work after lunch. We had almost finished the front at that point in time. We were able to finish the front and put nine ten foot pieces on the back before the day was over. To install the last two pieces on the front, we tied a ladder onto the strapping on the back so that I wouldn't slip off while screwing them on. Working on the back was much easier and quicker than the front because of the roof pitch.











It rained on Friday and then snowed on Saturday. It cleared up on Sunday, but it took all day to melt the snow off of the roof. So, dad and I had to wait until Monday to finish putting the metal on. We had to cut seven sheets in half for the back for the top row (the back is almost 15'). There's only two inches of overlap between the rows of metal, but we caulked them well. So, it should be a sufficient overlap.

We finished the back, flashed around the base of the cupola, and installed the ridge cap before we quit. We did get a little wet because it sprinkled for a while before we were finished. The pieces of ridge cap that I bought are different colors because they were cover sheets for other orders. But, at $2.00 each instead of $10.00 each, I wasn't going to complain, especially since they'll be painted white later anyway. So, my current ridge cap has two colors: red and black.

Roof: vertical and horizontal strapping

Since my last post, I've continued to work on the house as the weather has permitted. On Sunday, my dad and I sheeted the back of the roof and put the felt paper on it. I also added some braces under the eaves on the ends of the house. There was two feet of 7/16" OSB with a 2x3 hanging out past the end of the frame there. Adding some 2x braces from the edge of the overhang to the house frame helps to stiffen up that part of the roof. Eventually, there will be some framing to help support the overhang of the OSB. This framing will be on the outside of the bale walls and will support the wood siding. I'll add this when I frame the porch -- framing the porch comes after the roof is finished.

Monday was a nice day with a temperature of more than 70 degrees. It was quite breezy, though. With the sheeting completed, I was able to begin installing the vertical and horizontal strapping. The vertical strapping employs 1x2s which I ripped from 1x6s. The 1x4 which I also yielded by ripping these boards serves as the horizontal strapping. The vertical strapping is on 2 foot centers, directly over the rafters I added for the insulation space.

I attached the vertical strapping on the back of the house before moving on to the front of the roof. Actually, I was going to install the horizontal strapping on the back before beginning on the front, but the combination of warm temperatures, warm sunshine, and windy conditions led to portions of the felt paper on the front of the roof tearing loose from the staples that were meant to hold it on the OSB. Rather than leave it flapping in the breeze, I stapled it some more, finished the vertical strapping on the back, and then began installing vertical strapping on the front. I figured that with 1x2s nailed onto the front every two feet the felt paper wouldn't tear loose very easily. (I know that stapling tar paper on a roof isn't the ideal method of applying it, but it was the quickest way at the time.)

After installing the first 8' 4" of strapping on the front, my dad joined me and assisted in putting the first five rows of horizontal strapping on the front. He handed the 1x4s to me, and I nailed them on.

It rained Tuesday, but today was a nice day in the mid 40s. So, with dad's help, I added more strapping. We finished the front of the roof by lunch time. After lunch we completed the installation of the horizontal strapping on the back of the roof. Since it is a less steep pitch (3:12), it went quite quickly.

We measured to make sure that everything was as it is supposed to be so that that metal roofing will end up square and that it is the right length. Things checked out like they were supposed to, so we'll start installing the metal on the front in the morning (the forecast isn't calling for rain).

The reason for the strapping is to provide a ventilation space under the metal roofing. The vertical strapping allows any condensation on the underside of the metal to drain out to the bottom by holding the horizontal strapping up off of the sheeting. The metal will be screwed onto the horizontal strapping. With the sheeting and the strapping, I shouldn't have any problems with condensation. I also expect that it will help keep the heat of the summer sun from warming the inside of the house (along with the ten inches of dense pack cellulose between the roof sheeting and the cathedral ceiling, of course).

The sheeting and the strapping aren't perfectly flat like I would prefer. There are some high and low spots (you can see some in the photos). I've tried to avoid these, but I haven't been perfectly successful. The 1xs I used for the cathedral ceiling contributed to some of the unevenness because of how they have moved because of moisture. Tar paper keeps most of the rain off but not all. Some water gets under the paper. Sometimes, it seems that it is better at keeping moisture under it from getting out than it is at keeping it from getting under it. This created some issues for the ceiling boards and will require me to sand out some water marks later.

Also contributing to some of the unevenness of the roof is the bow to some of the 2xs I used for rafters. I put the crown up and held them as consistently at ten inches from the ceiling boards as I could, but they were not even at all points along their lengths. Once the metal is installed, I'm hoping that most of the unevenness will not be noticeable. My consolation, though, is that it will be a solid, well-insulated roof that has cost me less than half what it would have if I purchased more "perfect" materials. I could only guess at how much it's saved me from paying someone else to install this roof. In my case, I have more time than money, and I won't be able to see the roof when I'm inside the house anyway!

I say all this, but it really isn't that bad. It's just a small irritant to me that it isn't perfectly even, however unrealistic that is.

I'm looking forward to finally having the roof finished -- only six months later than I anticipated!

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.

Beginning to frame the roof

Last Sunday (2/10/08) I started on the roof. The first step is framing the rafters with the 10" insulation space above the ceiling boards. I'm using lumber that I milled, lumber I salvaged from an old mobile home I demolished, and boards from a pallet company.

In this photo, seven of the rafters are attached to the timber frame. This is on the back of the house, and each rafter needs to be about 14' 6" long. They are made up of two 2x3s I milled and three 10" long sections of 2x6 to hold them up the required distance. The 2x6s are nailed to some vertical strapping and are also toe-nailed into the purlins on the timber frame. I also nailed a 3/8" to 1/2" thick pallet board to the two rafter boards at the joint to help with strength and rigidity. I will add some diagonal braces later to help ensure they all stay rigidly in place. The OSB I'll sheet the roof with will also impart rigidity, tying it all together. That will be sometime in the next couple of weeks, if the weather allows.

Here's a closer view of the same thing. The vertical strapping I used came from the pallet company, also. Originally they were approximately 2" by 4", but I ripped them to 2" wide. They were mostly 4 feet long with some 3 footers. At this width when I secure them to the roof, it places the rafter right above them, simplifying the layout. The rafters are on 2' centers.

The back of the roof is easier to work on because of its 3:12 slope. The front is 8:12, which I can walk on without slipping, but it still makes me nervous. I don't relish the thought of sliding off. So, I've nailed steps of 18" long 1x1s over the purlins for added safety while installing the rafters on the front. The front rafters are built the same way as the ones on the back of the house. They are 19' 8" long and consist of either two lengths of 2x3 or three lengths of 2x4. The 2x4s were ceiling joists in an old mobile home in their previous life. In their original form, they are 9' 6" long, but they taper on one side near the end so that they gave the mobile home roof a rounded slope. I cut most of the taper out when building my rafters. Yes, we had a little bit of snow this week. I waited until it melted before climbing up and working on the roof.

In this view from the east end of the house, you can see the profile for the rafters. Also, you can see the overhang on the back of the house. The straw bales will be stacked to the rafters. So, the three feet that the rafters on the back stick out allows for covering the straw bales and the wood siding I'll put on as well as allowing for at least a one foot overhang. The rafters on the front only overhang the frame by 20". The straw bales will be stacked to the rafters, but the porch roof will tie in to the main roof at that point. So, there is no need for more overhang on the front.

Here you can see the back of the house with my progress there. I was able to get 14 of the 19 rafters on the back so far. You can also see the cupola. I roofed it last week and framed it for the windows. It's wrapped with a blue tarp to keep the rain out for now. I'll be purchasing and installing the windows before getting the metal roof on the whole house. I kind of figure that the metal on the front of the roof will be a little slick for working on. I'll have to for some things, I'm sure, though.


I took this photo yesterday evening, showing my progress so far. I'll start on the near side of the front roof next.