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.

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.

Update: the rest of the ceiling

I have been very negligent in taking care of my blog. It's kind of a slow time of year because of the weather and amount of daylight. These things have affected my work on the house. Also, as the year progressed, the amount of money in the house budget dwindled down to almost nothing. That certainly impacted what I've gotten done.

Prior to Thanksgiving I had as my goal the completion of the cathedral ceiling. I wanted it all on and at least some tar paper on top to keep out some of the water. So, I continued my working of the ceiling boards -- planing, cutting to length, edging, and rabbeting. I was able to get ceiling finished prior to the opening of modern gun season for deer here in my area (November 10th). Here are some photos I took just after finishing it:







Yeah, I could've added some more text. I'll do that on some other items soon. But for now, you can see the pictures.

Ron Paul for President 2008

Here is the choice that confronts us:


There is only one real option . . .

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.