DECK THE HOUSE

APRIL 26, 2010

This has been another week that has brought much change to the house. Frank started the week with tractor repairs--on three of them! Then he started making the deck. It is as long as one side of the house--22 feet--and 10 feet wide. Frank attached the ledger to the house on Monday. On Tuesday he placed the support posts on their cement pads, and put the main frame up. Wednesday he put up the joists. Thursday he attached the rail posts.
























Meanwhile, I caught up on this blog, then went over every inch of ground around the house and outward a number of feet with a magnet. I also went around the piles of supplies. I found nails, staples, screws, barbed wire--from an old fence, and sundry other metal pieces. This took parts of 3 days. Friday, both of us worked on attaching the decking itself. Frank cut it. I kept screwing on the boards. When I got too far behind, Frank would stop sawing and help me screw.

Saturday Frank finished the decking, and began attaching the rails to the rail posts. Today he finished the project with attaching the balustrades.






















Here is the finished project.

Today I filled our large trailer with wood scraps we had thrown on a pile on the driveway. We need to move the pile because, with the deck, we now have less room to maneuver into the garage.

This was our view south this afternoon. We have now had three days with some rain each day. We really need it. It has been very dry. But guess what? We no longer get water in the house!

OPERATION ROOF

APRIL 19, 2010

Perhaps a statement is needed here. The dates I use take you to the date at the end of the post, which may or may not be the date I post them.

Operation Roof finally arrived! Monday morning my sister Phyllis and her husband Eric arrived to help Frank and Franklyn. They filled in the rest of the rafters on two sides of the roof, and fastened sheathing on it. That evening Frank's brothers Glenn and Barry, plus Cousin Clair Mast arrived from Eastern PA.

Tuesday was a huge day with the five extra men helping Frank. My job became chief cook and clean-up detail. My could those men work! My could they also eat! Franklyn, being an architect, was supervisor and trouble shooter. Glenn did most of the sawing. Barry used his great skills to figure out and mastermind strange angles, etc. Frank and Clair kept busy going from one place to another, bringing lumber, working details, and fastening pieces. One great thing about this crew, is that they moved to different jobs as needed or when they finished what they were doing. By evening all the roof rafters were in place (even those around the skylights), and two more sides were complete. Phyllis and Eric had to leave that evening.

Wednesday morning we had drizzle. It may have dampened bodies, but not spirits! The remaining two sides of the main roof were completed, and they began working on the cupola roof. (Sometime around this point, the Cupola/Lookout looked to Frank like a gazebo, so he renamed it "Gazebo.") Isn't this a neat pattern?

The afternoon became sunny. Franklyn and Glenn started erecting the carport.

Thursday the men went into the restaurant at the local stock yard for breakfast. (Every Thursday is Livestock Auction.) Back at the job, the main roof and Gazebo roof were finished complete with a "Cadillac" of tar paper that is water and ice proof. The carport was up and and the roof covered with regular tar paper, as they had run out of the other. This was actually more than Frank had anticipated getting done. Everyone was happy and tired.



Friday morning the men restacked the piles, combining all of each type of lumber (2 x 4's, 1 x 6's, etc.) in separate piles, and recovering them with plastic. They moved the lumber for the deck to the opposite side of the house where it will be needed.

Frank went into town and returned with more of the "good" roof covering and plastic. They tore the regular tar paper off the carport, and recovered it. They "wrapped the Gazebo with the plastic to keep rain out, and replaced the plastic on several of the windows on the main floor. They also worked on clean-up detail outside the house, since I had not been able to cook and keep clean-up current. They filled the back of Glenn's pickup with wood scraps and trash--mostly dirty plastic from empty piles of supplies. After lunch, Glenn, Barry, and Franklyn tossed their belongings on top of the wood, and headed back to Lancaster County--Glenn and Barry to home, and Franklyn to

visit relatives there before heading home to Texas.

In the afternoon, Clair, Frank, and I cleaned up inside the house--sorting and putting away tools, bagging more trash, sorting and storing more wood scraps, and sweeping and blowing out the sawdust.

It was a little discouraging to realize that after all this was done, we still had 21 stacks of supplies, including the three crates of roofing metal!

Now our house looks like this! Isn't she beautiful!

Saturday Frank and I went in to Lancaster County also. We visited Dad, and then went to a King Get-Together in honor of Franklyn. We were surprised that Mom felt well enough to come also! We ate and visited for hours. All of Franklyn's aunts and uncles were there as well as several cousins and their children. Even Keith was there from Pittsburgh! Here is a picture of the three Franks.

THE ROOF

APRIL 12, 2010

I'm sorry about the delay, but our computer caught a very bad virus. We had to scrub the hard drive, and start over. Luckily we have learned to backup everything.

Several things still needed to be accomplished before we were ready to proceed to Operation Roof. We needed to dig holes and make concrete supports for the car port and for the deck. Frank bought an auger to dig the holes. He also bought a cement mixer, which we used to mix the cement to fill the holes. Re-bar and bolts to attach the posts were added.






















Frank also routed out the curved shape on the outside of the logs, so he could attach the carport to the house. He then attached the post to which the carport was attached.

I spent a lot of time "grubbing"--changing this mess............. into this.

Lastly, our roof arrived. It came up our lane on an 80 foot long semi with a crane folded up behind the cab. The driver secured the truck with outriggers, and unfolded the crane. He then carefully set our three crates of metal onto the ground.

Here is the metal for the roof. Do you see the color it will be? (Look at the third crate in the back.) It is cut to the correct length, but Frank will need to cut the angles.

Friday morning Frank and I left with our suitcase. We went to Pittsburgh International Airport to pick up our son Franklyn, an architect from Austin, TX. Since Franklyn wanted to see his grandparents, who are 93 and 94 years old, we drove on to Kidron, OH, to see my mom and my older brother and sister and their spouses. My uncle and a niece also showed up while we were there.

Saturday we returned to Greene County. The men went straight to work and removed the tarps. They are spent, having been of service through multiple rain and snow storms and lots of wind. NO MORE TARPS! Then they began working on the corner roof rafters. We're ready! Let the rest of the crew for Operation Roof come!

SOME MORE THINGS

APRIL 5, 2010

Frank started this week with a trip to Uniontown to get a wide--25 inch--attic ladder. It was the closest place to get one. This he installed because it was getting hard to get to the Lookout. I took the rest of the tar paper off the floor.

Frank worked on the ledger for the roof. It is the wide board which will be used to attach the roof. Notice it about a foot below the Lookout window. He also made a standing platform for the tractor. It will be used to work on the roof.

On Thursday Frank went to Somerset to purchase metal studs for the chimney chase. Again this was the closest place he could get them. By Friday the chase was all the way to the top, and he began to flatten the log outside the door to the car port. This is needed so he can attach a post to attach the car port to the house. I sorted and carried wood scraps out of the house. Some were thrown out, and some were stacked and covered for future possible use. I also began picking up sticks from around the house. Pick up sticks includes cutting off or pulling out roots, small trees, and wild roses. Then carting everything off to a slash pile.

We decided not to put up the tarps, since the weather looked like everything would go north of us. We had a short shower this morning. I took the shop vac and sucked water on all three floors. Frank (again) re-engineered the tarps and put them up. Everything else we will be doing this week will be outside the house. We are getting ready for Operation Roof next week.