Day 35 - Sheathing the roof

Here I am yesterday working out the gable end trusses over the master bathroom. Unfortunately, Gustavo had to leave early as he had six sheets of plywood fall onto his leg and he hurt his knee. Hopefully he'll be better soon.
Dad helped me out in the morning and we got a good start on the three sides of the roof. Once we lay out the first row all the way around the house, it shouldn't take long to finish it all up. We've got a roofer coming next Wednesday to put on the shingles.
I'll be heading home to Vancouver this weekend and I won't be back until the following weekend so I can get some projects I've been delaying done. Also Ryan and Shannon will be here that week and we'll most likely get the siding started.

Day 33 - Starting the Roof

Well we waited for the rain to stop and stop it did. After a beautiful sunny weekend I got to work in my t-shirt once again!

I got a few more pieces of the puzzle put together today, you can see the 'valley' directly above my van in the photo where I was able to start the sheathing and with help from my dad I got the 'gable end' over the master bathroom in place. Gustavo should be back helping me tomorrow and the rest of the week so we should get all the sheathing done and maybe some windows in by the end of the week.

Day 32 - Garage Trussed

We got the trusses on the garage and Gustavo sheathed the remainder of the house on Tuesday, then Wednesday morning we tried working for a few hours but had to stop as the rain/snow/wind combination was a bit too much for both of us. Considering we were climbing in on and around cold, wet slippery trusses we thought it best if we take the rest of the day off. Unfortunately today, Thursday was no better. Dad had a few things we could work on indoors and I always have projects on the go so after getting Gustavo set up building a wall in the RCMP building, I went down to my dad's shop to work on the picture frames I am making from an old table leaf from my late great-aunt Bernice.
Hopefully tomorrow's weather will be a little more forgiving and we can get some sheets on the roof so the last few pieces of the puzzle can be set in place.

Day 31 - Four Corners

The light from the sun was dazzling as it seems it's been awhile since we last saw such a sight. Today was another good day greatly assisted by the sun.
My latest helper Gustavo and I got quite a bit done. He nailed on all the "Hurricane Anchors", which is a tedious chore, while I pieced together the four corners of the truss work.

Like Gustavo said today, "It's like a giant Lego set". It's pretty exciting to see it all come together.

Day 30 - Spreading out the trusses

That's me standing on the beam and that's my dad inside stabilizing the trusses as they go in.
Ryan and I are on each end as we slide each truss into position, but as this ceiling is vaulted, the trusses are very top heavy. Dad built a clever tool to help keep the trusses from flipping over as we dragged them across the walls.
My feet were getting tired from balancing on the slippery walls.

And here it is, the house is starting to look more and more like a house! We got all the big trusses spread out and into position. There are still many pieces to the puzzle to go, but for now it's time for a weekend. Monday we'll continue putting in bracing and other required pieces to keep everything solid, and then we can start sheathing the roof.

Day 29 - Trusses arrive!

Our trusses arrived right on schedule and we set them on the walls approximately where they'll go. They come in bundles and it'll be our job in the next few days to spread them out and put them in there respective locations. Each piece is unique and labelled and we'll be solving a giant puzzle in getting them in the right spots.
After all the trusses are set on the walls, we braced them well for the night as another storm is blowing in. We've been pretty lucky with the weather this week. It sure

slows things down when it rains. Or snows...

Day 28 - Finishing the walls

Here's Ryan putting together the wall that will divide the master bedroom from the main living area. Today we focused on completing all the interior walls in preparation for the trusses which will be delivered tomorrow!
We got the beams installed yesterday (the big "T" in front of the main door and the one that spans the garage door opening). We are almost ready for trusses...

Day 27 - Digging the Trench

Ryan is here for the week and it's a good week for him to be here. Lots is happening this week. Yesterday we put up a few more walls (in the garage area) and today we had the excavator in to dig us a trench. The trench is for the 'Teck' cable to supply the house with underground power (the black line in the above picture), the (white) water line, and the (orange) pipe for the telephone and cable. We discovered that the neighbour's water is connected to our shut off valve so after interrupting his shower (!), we had to get the city involved and with the city inspectors and plumbers needing to be on site, it ended up taking all day!

The excavator got the new power pole installed, the trench filled, and cleaned up the whole front yard. He did a really good job. Ryan and I also snapped all the lines inside the house where the interior walls will be. Tomorrow we need to sheet the rest of the exterior walls and get all the interior walls completed as the trusses will arrive on Thursday.

Day 25 - End of the 5th Week

Well we finished off our 5th week by (basically) finishing all the exterior walls. A few more adjustments and tweaks and they'll be done. We are geared up to have the excavator come in again to dig our trench to lay in out power, water and utilities probably on Tuesday. Now it's time to head back home to Vancouver for the weekend to see my girl...

Day 24 - Theft!

Well after a mere 4 hours sleep, I arrived to work to find out that some idiot broke into our shed and walked away with over $2000 worth of tools.

Great way to start the freakin day.

The biggest thing that was taken was a rented air nailer, along with my circular saw, my good wrecking bar, my dad's shop vac, and a bunch of other hand tools.

After giving the police report and renting another nailer we went right back to it. We lifted the south wall.

Up...

Up...

and away!

We are almost ready for the trusses, which is good as they arrive next week!

And Ryan will be arriving early next week just in time to help put them up.

Day 23 - More Walls

Here I am heaving the great north wall. It's actually pretty easy with the jacks we borrowed from Brad. You pump the handle up and down, and the jack inches it's way up a 2x4 anchored to the floor.
We're making progress! This is the most enjoyable part of building a house. And the nice weather helped. It makes me think I should do this for a living.

Day 22 - Our first wall

We hoisted our first wall up today. Day 22, not bad.
With the help of Brian, my dad, and his newest carpenter Gustavo we lifted the 45 foot long wall into place with no problems. You can see in the first picture the jacks we used that crawl up 2x4's. Then it was just a matter of levelling and bracing the wall and it is now in place.
The next wall is put together (you can see it on the floor in the second photo) and Brian and I will lift it up in the morning.

Day 20 - Snow Day

Well it dumped a few inches of snow last night which prevented us from snapping our lines to lay out our walls, so we took the afternoon off. I went home to try and sleep away the persistent cough I've been enduring for the past two weeks (I also went to the clinic and got some antibiotics). We'll finish off the floor on Monday and start framing up the walls. The trusses are scheduled to arrive Wednesday of the week following next, so we've got our work cut out for us...