Finishing Touches

Today Chuck came over and got me started putting the finishing touches on the roof. First we installed the rake angle. This is the trim piece that covers the gable edge of the roofing to give it a finished look. It also covers and protects the ends of the purlins.

Because this is recycled industrial roofing, there is no readily available form-fitted closure strips. These are the strips that go between the roofing and the ridge cap to prevent rain from blowing in where the valleys leave large gaps. So, Chuck had some U-channel made that tightly fits over the corrugations of the roofing. We put a bunch of caulking in the bottom of the U-channel and then along the edge of the roofing so that when they were cupped together a seal would be formed.

Then a strip of caulking was run down each edge of the ridge cap pieces and they were centered over the U-channel and stuck down. It sounds simple (and generally it is) but there is a lot of snipping and cutting with shears to make everything fit nicely. Multiple lines of silicone caulk at each overlap of the ridge cap ensures wind-blown rain will not find its way in.

When this was finished, the side laps had to be fastened down. This is where the edges of two adjacent roofing sheets overlap. Again, because this was previously installed material, there were already holes in the sheets. Naturally, they did not line up so I had to drill the underlying sheet at each of the existing holes in the upper sheet. Let's see, that is a hole plus a screw every 14 inches of each of 32 sixteen foot runs... that's about 384 holes and screws! Oh my aching back!!

Lastly, with caulk gun in hand, I hunted down each and every hole in the roofing that was not filled with a screw and plugged it with silicone. I reckon I might have to do this one more time before I die. Nah! I'll get the grand kids to do it :)

Well that's it for the roof. Next up are some walls and windows.

Bustin' It !

I will not bore you with the details of how I actually got the purlins and joists (stiffeners) in place but rather I will just tell you how it should have been done...

1. While the trusses were still on the deck (where it would have been much easier), measure from the peak along each truss rafter and locate the bottom edge of each purlin
2. Place a nail in the top edge of the rafter at this location to stop the purlin from sliding down the rafter and to position it correctly
3. Measure in from that point and down from the top edge of the rafter to mark the upper and outside edge of the joist hanger location
4. Using a block of wood with a spring clamp to hold the hanger 'closed', nail it to the rafter using those guide lines
5. With the trusses raised (and plumbed) measure the length of each joist and its corresponding purlin.
6. Drop a joist into its hangers and toe nail through the slots in the hanger
7. Top with a purlin allowing the nails in the rafters to stop it in the correct position. 
8. Nail the purlin to the rafters and the joists
9. Repeat 39 times

Needless to say, this method was worked out on the fly thus providing me many hours of gymnastics amongst the trusses. While this cost me time, I did benefit from the exercise and, in the absence of television, the entertainment value was high.

In the long run, this is what the purlin-joist arrangement should look like.

The black berries are in and so was Carolyn for the weekend. She brought fresh melon so we had a little fruit for breakfast Sunday morning.

On Tuesday, Chuck showed up to hustle me along. I swear two men together can do the work of three alone. There was a bit of work to do to finish off the purlins then we got busy scraping old caulking off the recycled sheets of steel roofing. Then holes had to be drilled to match the location of the purlins.

Before long we had the first sheets up!

A well deserved cooler at the end of a hot day.

A couple days later Chuck was crackin' the whip over my head again. That day we managed to finish the right side and completely roof the left side. Did I mention that this roofing once covered a part of the Georgia World Congress Center? Well it did. These are the last of those sheets salvaged nearly two decades ago.

Now I am just waiting on some sheet metal for the ridge cap and rake angle. In the meantime it has turned really hot (100+degrees) so I have retreated to the comfort of the AC in Atlanta.

One day while we were resting in the shade of the new metal roof, this little Hover-Bird (or one of his cousins) came humming over to see what we were up to and to check out the nice new workshop.

Before I bugged out I took some time to X-brace the corners of the building now that I have some nice new wind-catching sail bolted to it.

Besides the ridge cap, etc, I still have to drill holes and put screws along each overlapping seam and fill the old holes (this is recycled roofing remember) with silicon. Then I will have a rain proof roof that will support ten feet of snow.

Light Duty

Wednesday and Thursday, I formalized the cross-bracing, adjusted the left-right alignment of the posts, and picked up a load of wood for the purlins. Also, I got the metal roofing staged up at the building site. Roofing screws and joist hangers have been ordered. Ready for some major work next week.



As for this weekend, Carolyn and I are heading over to Athens to celebrate Sara's and my birthdays.