Week Seventeen

We have made lots of progress these last few weeks, progress not possible without our fearless Gutterdawg (well, it would have been possible, only slower :)) However, he left last Friday and we are still plugging along. We did not accomplish all that we had hoped in his three weeks with us, but perhaps our expectations were too high. Either way, we are very appreciative of his time here, helping us. There is still much to be done and, unfortunately, still much on the roof or in the "too high" zone. As you can see, he had no fear of the roof and spent much time up there, strolling around, talking on his iphone. Whereas, we are lucky to get up there and just HANG on! In this picture, we had a nice set up because of all of the roof lines coming down and being able to set up our scaffolding right there to catch us (that's Bob standing on it). However, now our gutters are up and the scaffolding won't fit there any more :( We are sure happy to have our gutters up though. I think you will be able to see them in the pictures to come........

In a scurry to further help out, Gutterdawg helped Bob add some I-bolts into our beams, up under the eaves. This allowed Bob to harness up and tie in when he is working up high. This has been invaluable for us this week, but we still wish Gutterdawg was still here~! I don't have any pictures of this feat as when Bob is tied in and holding on, I am usually belaying him, The Scribbler is helping out with increasing and decreasing slack and Farmer Girl is playing at being "gopher". I am also praying I don't drop him! or if I do, that I am able to hold him up!!! I told him he should let me climb up there and try it out because I trust him to hold me, but am not so sure he should trust me to hold him! If we are able to get some shots, I will post them. Just know without this ability, we would not have been able to accomplish what we did this week. Check out the pictures below..........

We started last Saturday with building corbels, but not so trendy. Bob built them with 4 x 4 and 2 x 4 cedar. It smelled so good. (I saved the scraps to put in our drawers.) The Scribbler helped figure them out and design them, one of her many attributes. Farmer Girl was in charge of priming and painting them. And, why did we take time out to build corbels? Well, it's a rather long story! Let me start at the beginning.

There was much discussion about siding in the last few weeks. We had most of the hardie lap siding completed. The question was: What did Ellie want above the trim and on the dormers? I agonized over this for days, driving around looking at houses, trying to decide the best look. The roofer's opinion: he would do the Hardie shingles on only the front of the house (it's expensive and hard to put on with lots of waste) on the dormer and above that trim board on the gable end. Oh, and, also in the triangle above the entry. The Scribbler really wanted board and batt above the trim and then hardie shingles above the windows or vice versa. Bob wanted simple :) So, after much consideration, I made a decision that we could live with. We would do shingles on the dormer in the front, board and batt above the trim with shingles above that as well as on the side next to driveway AND above the entry. Dormer on back would be hardie or board and batt, but no shingles. Aiming for curb appeal here :) Decision made, shingles ordered, directions delivered and read....I was gone, when all this happened. Came home and Bob said, "Can't do it, won't try, too difficult, too much waste, look at those angles and that height. You can hire someone else if you want" I was devastated. The next day, I called our framer. He said he would take a look early in the week, but seemed confident he could do it and had done it before. In the meantime, we had a friend and neighbor, also a contractor, of some close friends come take a look. By that time, my "devastation" had eased and I was able to look at the situation in a more reasonable light. He saw the dormer and agreed with Bob that it would be difficult with a lot of waste. So, we agreed to only shingle above the entry and above the window in front and on the side. Everything else would be board and batt. I was happy, Bob was happy and so was the friend contractor because we hired him to do it! :) He will start on it next week. We had to complete the corbels first so they can be put up and shingled around. Thus, the story of the corbels and why we built them last week.

The board and batt has not been as easy as we thought it would be, but certainly cheaper than the shingles. It is substantially heavier to lift up to those heights and we have wasted a bit because of the angles. (it was a bit embarassing to call our lumber yard and order more once again........ I know he is wondering what we have done with it all. Those owner builders!).BUT the dormers are done as well as the front gable (see below and if you look real close, you will see gutters too). We began priming and painting the batts (batts are long, skinny boards that we are placing at 16" on center across the board vertically) this week too. Originally, they were going to be white, but we have had many discussions about that too. We have now decided they will be the same color as the board for simplicity in painting and the look it will achieve. Bob and The Scribbler cut and added them yesterday. They were also able to cut the ones for the front and back dormers as well using paper templates they used when cutting the board. I thought that was very smart and wise. I don't think I would have thought of that or had the foresight to do it. I think when all you think about is having all this roof climbing behind you, you would be constantly thinking of ways NOT to keep climbing up and down the ladder! or risking your life more than you have to! The Scribbler had those painted today in a lovely green color. They also surprised me with all they accomplished yesterday in my abscence. I was pleasantly surprised to see my first corbel in place all ready too. We worked on the front siding yesterday evening. We can do this now that the porch is done. Late this afternoon, a dear friend stopped by to help and he and Bob finished the board on the side gable too! We are hoping to add the batts tomorrow. One goal at a time, one day at a time.

I am looking forward to having siding behind us although there is still much caulking and painting to be done. Once that is done, it will look completed until you walk inside....much to be done there. Anyone up for some plumbing? (i keep asking.......)

Thanks for reading and listening to my rambles. Love, Ellie~