New Home Construction Progress

[ragswl4]

I haven't posted in a while as our progress has been hampered by the weather so it has been a little slow. I also moved this here as it is probably better than in "Finished Projects".

The roof framing has been slow going and now I know why understanding geometry is important. We made a number of mistakes on the hip roof rafters as we were not thinking in three dimensions. After a few trial and error mis-starts we finally got it. (Think wasted wood). The rafters are 2"x10"x20' fir, very wet and heavy which has also helped to get me in better shape.

The picture on the right is the beams that support the roof. They are 6"x16"x22' glulams. Each weighs about 600 pounds. They were a real challange to get in place. We used three 6ft levels of scaffolding and a winch to hoist them up to the walls. Lots of heavy breathing.

For amateurs I guess we are doing OK. At least we are getting better and this garage is really the training ground for the house.

[footprintsinconc]

nice! looks great!

[JR]

It's starting to look like a real building, Rags! Keep it up.

JR

[big tim]

Pardon my ignorance, 2"x10" for roof rafters? Wow. On my house the roof rafters are 2"x4". Certainly on the garage they are.
Did you want extra safety, or is that code up there?
Just curious.
What a view!!

[Hellrazor]

Pardon my ignorance, 2"x10" for roof rafters? Wow. On my house the roof rafters are 2"x4". Certainly on the garage they are.
Did you want extra safety, or is that code up there?
Just curious.
What a view!!

A hip roof carries more load then a normal roof and it is not a truss system which helps balance the load. Since that is the garage, you don't have any weight bearing walls to help you out either. He is in snow country on a high elevation, you need to take snow load and wind into consideration on top of that.


Rags, Nice work and framing a hip roof sucks. Wait until you see how much plywood waste you will get. Let me know when you get to the shingling part, i'll give you a few tricks for shingling a hip roof if you haven't done one before.

[ragswl4]

A hip roof carries more load then a normal roof and it is not a truss system which helps balance the load. Since that is the garage, you don't have any weight bearing walls to help you out either. He is in snow country on a high elevation, you need to take snow load and wind into consideration on top of that.


Rags, Nice work and framing a hip roof sucks. Wait until you see how much plywood waste you will get. Let me know when you get to the shingling part, i'll give you a few tricks for shingling a hip roof if you haven't done one before.

You are correct. We have to consider snow load and as the house and garage are sitting out on a cliff the wind load will be pretty high at times. We can get upwards of 60-70mph winds.

I expect we will have a lot of waste when we install the plywood due to the various angles and lots of them.

I appreciate your offer of advice on the shingles and it is humblely accepted. Building the roof is tough so I can imagine that the shingling will be no different. I have to first figure out how to scaffold for the shingles (and later the siding) as the back and sides are 24ft off the ground not counting the peak of the roof. I must say this has been a learning experience and afer we figured out how to do it, it was very satisfying. I would say that my experience with building cabinets and other smaller projects helped. We made a few jigs (spacers with correct angles) to help with sizing and cutting the rafters. I spent a week studying how to do it and still screwed it up at first. I can say I won't ever do another hip roof after we finish the house, at the house is a bunch more complex.

[Hellrazor]

I appreciate your offer of advice on the shingles and it is humblely accepted. Building the roof is tough so I can imagine that the shingling will be no different. I have to first figure out how to scaffold for the shingles (and later the siding) as the back and sides are 24ft off the ground not counting the peak of the roof.

The shingling isn't that bad, its just slightly different from doing a normal gable roof. As far as scaffolding, forget that on the sides that are on the cliff. If height doesn't bother you that much, sit on your butt and slide up the roof until you get the first rows in place so you can turn around. You can install the drip edge/whatever you plan to use that way too.

The siding is a different story, not sure how you will be able to easily do that. One way would be find someplace that rents something like this:

http://www.alumapole.com/alumapolemain.html

[JimD]

I used pump jacks on a vinyl re-siding of your last house and would use them again. At the time they were only about $50 apiece. They slip over a 4x4 post (or two 2x4s glued and nailed together) and I used a couple 2x12s for planking. It made working a lot easier and safer. You would only use them for a little while on a roof, however. If you have siding to do too, they would be a good investment IMHO.

Jim

[ragswl4]

I used pump jacks on a vinyl re-siding of your last house and would use them again. At the time they were only about $50 apiece. They slip over a 4x4 post (or two 2x4s glued and nailed together) and I used a couple 2x12s for planking. It made working a lot easier and safer. You would only use them for a little while on a roof, however. If you have siding to do too, they would be a good investment IMHO.

Jim

Thanks and we have a ton of siding to do. Two stories high on both the garage and the house.