Decking the roof

Monday morning they were at it again working like beavers.  Today they got half of the roof decked with plywood, and I also saw evidence of more work inside on the threaded rods which will tie the whole structure to the concrete slab.  This picture is the underside of the porch showing the rafters and the decking above.  Somehow the porch seemed much bigger with a roof over its head.

This is taken from the west looking east at the upper bedroom.  The porch roof is on a gentler slope that the house roof.

Now I'm up ON the roof which was really fun.  You can tell the different slopes from the porch to the main house.  This is looking down on the house to the west.

Partially decked.  This is looking toward the "Evita Gallery" -- the upstairs deck.

The back of the house has what they call a "12 on 12" roof basically meaning that it's very steep.  This picture may not make much sense if you haven't seen it in person, but I was trying to capture the fact that the roof on that section of the house slopes down very steeply and scoots right off the edge.  It looks very dangerous and I won't be going out there.

Here's one more shot of the front porch looking east.  The rolls of felt roofing paper are sitting there ready to go.

Roof framing finished

This is a sideways shot of the "Evita Porch" as I call it.  It's the upstairs porch that looks out "over the crowds below" as Evita did from her mansion in Argentina.  Joe has been practicing waving like royalty from up there, and soon he will have a roof over his head to do it!

Here we are from the west side again.  The rafters are all installed, and the decking will begin probably Monday.  The house isn't really looking like what I thought it would look like from the drawings, but I think it will be OK.

Getting to the roof

I'm standing up through the ceiling joists in one of the upstairs bedrooms. This shows the peak of the house with the rafters going in. That center board is about 3" X 16", and I don't know how they got it up there.

The house looks a little funny in this picture I think because of the angle or because the roof isn't finished. Anyway, this is this afternoon looking at the west end of the house. The roof is going up one board at a time.

Here's the tree house looking down from the upstairs window. Doesn't do much good to take pictures from there any more.

Rafter detail.

More rafter detail.

This is under the roof and the inside of one of the four storage areas upstairs. I'm not sure how it will be finished out, but it will be great storage.

6-09-08 Framing

Here are two of the framers working on the joists for the upper deck. This is above the front porch and the front door. You can see that the joists are very substantial pieces of wood -- should be very sturdy.




This is Steve, who seems to be in charge of this crew. He's studying the plans to see just how to go about framing the roof. I thought they would bring in ready made trusses, but he says that they can't get them up there so they will build the roof one stick at a time the old fashioned way.

This was taken later this afternoon on my way home. It's a shot of the finished upper deck joists from up above. I'm standing in the doorway that will lead out to it.

A shot of what will be the stairwell.

This is taken from the west side of the house. I'm standing under the big oak tree that I'm trying to save.

More upstairs framing

This is the front porch with the ceiling joists just going in. The gap you can see in the middle is where the upper deck will be, and I guess they'll put some stronger flooring up there.




You may not be able to tell much about this picture, but I wanted to show the hurricane straps that are now part of the building code. The vertical metal bars running beside those studs (which are actually 2 X 6's) are threaded rod which is tied into the slab, and they will run all the way up to the roof and tie it down. It's quite a system, and, of course, very expensive, but we have to do it now. At least it keeps the insurance down.

This is a detail of one of the 16 columns that support the porch. The metal piece is actually a "U" shaped strap which was sunk way into the slab. the bolts you can see run all the way through the columns. the columns then will be strapped to the roof to hold it down in high winds. This will be the place to be in the next big storm!

Here's a picture (taken with the camera in my phone, so it's not a very good quality) taken on March 1st of this year.

And here's one taken yesterday, June 6th, at the same spot. Quite a difference!

Upstairs framing

Here are the engineered floor joists for the upper floor. I've never seen any like this, but they certainly look sturdy!

Here's a look at the front of the house with the plastic sheathing on. You can just see the floor joists under the header for the porch.

Another view of the joists. Many more of them installed in this picture.

From the bottom of the stairs tonight -- Joe is walking up the steps. You can see the framing for the upper floor beginning to take shape.

The framers take all their ladders with them each evening so we had to climb up precariously to get to the top. Joe is standing in the upstairs "lounge" area. the view from up here is incredible -- you're literally up in the trees.