Asphalt in our hair - and more - September 23

We're not dead yet, though sometimes it seems we are only a breath away. This project has taken us by force and now even the prospect of writing about it seems daunting (imagine that!) But, we have reached a milestone moment that needs to be documented. Against all the odds and the elements, Dave and Taury have FINISHED the roof! It is done. We are still in a state of shock. But, I am jumping ahead. Lets start at the beginning.

The last you heard, we had finished the south roof. I failed to show you a proper picture of it, though. Here you go.




Ain't she a beauty! Yep, all done up. The roof braces have come off by now, but we failed to get a picture yet. Hold your horses.

So, with that side of the roof finished, we dragged all of our scaffolding to the other side of the building and started gnawing away at that leg of the project. All try and save you the repetition of the last side by making the repeated processes brief. Dave trimmed the one inch boards back to the proper length. Dad came over and helped us to lay down the sleepers (the 2x4s that go between the insulation as you may remember.) And than Dave spent a lot of time cutting the insulation. This time, though, he skipped the table saw and cut it with a big sharp butcher knife. I hear the process was much less dusty. Dusty or not, I was going to have nothing to do with cutting of insulation as my skin rebels violently. So, while Dave cut the insulation, I worked on framing in and installing the windows in the back of the house.

Here is the window I put in while Dave cut insulation for the South side (all these windows we got for a song at Big Jim's Discount Windows - we are excited about all the sunlight we will have.)




So, these last couple weeks, I've been working on the windows that will light the rest of the place. Here are two future window holes.




Nice, ehh? Oh yeah! And here are the windows in place. All trimmed out and looking sharp.




Meanwhile, here is Dave installing the insulation he spent all that time cutting. He means business!




Speeding on ahead, we got my dad back for the plywood installation, and this darn thing is looking more and more like a roof!!!




Ahh, but we cannot just speed ahead this time. Here is where things get different from the other side. On this side, we have a chimney hole AND the cricket. What is a cricket? We're not sure. That is why we have been talking about it at every single spare moment since July! You see, the walls on this house are rather short. In fact, Dad had to cut the door down in order to install it. Because of this, an overhang on the roof would be problematic because everyone who was six feet tall or more would conk their head coming and going from this house. We can't have that. So, the discussion of this cricket has gone on for a long time. How will it be made? What slope? Should it be a shed roof? Is it vented? Will it work with the roof we already have? This is a gross summary of a conversation that has lasted a solid two months without interruption. I think some of you even got to take part in the conversation at our wedding. You know who you are - Dad, Thor, Roger! Perhaps there are more of you that I don't know about. Regardless of how many people talked about it, there was always more opportunity for discussion. Dave and I left for Pennsylvania to go to his cousin's wedding last weekend and as we were running around getting our things together before we left, my father slipped me another sketch of this cricket "to think about on the long drive."

After all of this. We finally came up with a plan. Or, I should say, they did. I personally had my fill of the cricket conversation and so tended to just slip out whenever the discussion resumed. On Wednesday, the 17th of September, I traveled with my mother to go and visit Haley and Orrin, Dave delved into this fabled cricket on his own - with a bit of further consulting from my father. Mom and I returned after dark, but were curious to see if anything had been constructed in our absence, so we peaked in at the shack before heading home for dinner. In the gleam of moonlight we could see the beginning framings of a cricket!!! Hallelujah!

Here is what it looked like the next day in the sunlight.




Wow! So, Dave and Dad continued on it while I did some site-work (the yard has been an absolute disaster since we started roofing!) I went home early that day with a bad cold, and they continued on. The results were really exciting after all this talk.




And then even MORE exciting and the plywood was applied.






All trimmed out, this cricket was looking very grand.




A note about that name. We know that technically, this is not a cricket. And, it is not really a dormer either. So, on Thursday, as we mumbled and churned the names around trying to find the correct term for this little structure, Dad came up with the title
"DORKET"
Naturally, what one might call a cricket and a dormer when combined. So, the thing got branded the Dorket and we haven't called it anything else since. It really changes the look of this little shack and we are now fishing for a new name for the whole building because it is certainly not a shack anymore. If you have any creative suggestions for a name for our house, please email me!

Okay, so the fabled Dorket built, I was feeling a little bit better the next day and went ahead with securing the walls to the new framing I had added inside the building. Here I am, trying to look healthier.




Saturday, I went to celebrate my niece Maren's 5th birthday and Dave stayed at the house to apply tar paper. We had put the bituthane on together that morning, and here is where I found Dave at the end of Saturday.




We were in shock that we were coming so close to the end of working on the roof. It feels like months! It has been months! There has just been too much to do this summer and we are running a little bit behind our planned schedule. We got out of bed on Sunday morning determined to finished the roof! All it needs are drip edge and shingles! We can do this! We marched across the lake to begin the battle. Sunday, September 21st - the LAST DAY OF SUMMER! We set to work. The weaving of the shingles at the joint between the roof and the Dorket proved slow going as it required a lot of calculation and we wanted it to be perfect. Here is Dave about halfway through the day in front of our accomplishment so far. At this point, Dave has caught the cold that I had earlier int he week and is feeling pretty crumby. He hides it well, though.




On Sunday, we managed to get the tough parts of the roof done. the valley on both sides of the Dorket came out nicely. The day ended late, though and we trudged home - the roof still incomplete. We would have to wake up one more morning knowing that the roof still was not finished.

We did wake up, though. Late - I might add. And we headed back to the job. Dave was feeling even worse, but we were driven and could not stop. I had the top half of the roof shingled by the time we broke for lunch.




All that was left was the ridgecap now. So, together, we attacked this last bit.




See the lake? That is why this is so worth it. the water is crisp and blue and the leaves are starting to turn. On the first day of autumn, September 22, 2008, the roof is finished.