Cleaning day.

This past week has been pretty rough.  The only nice day was Friday, and I broke everything at work so I ended up working until 2:30AM trying to fix it and had to go back in for an 8AM meeting, so Friday I came home and pretty much went to bed.  Saturday was stormy, so I did some inside chores I had been neglecting for the past week and fixed my sleep schedule.  Happy belated birthday Heather.

Today I needed to get something done, so I dragged myself out.  It was a gorgeous day.  Just as a quick update, I have been using the outdoor shower to let my bathroom dry out, since I noticed some of the silicone lost adhesion and consequently seal with the base of the toilet.  I would also like to make the lips around the edges a bit taller.  It certainly isn't always a pleasant shower, like today there was a pretty constant 10-15mph wind making it brisk even though I made the water warmer to compensate. 


Before I got to my primary objective today, I went and charged up my batteries.  The lawn mower surprisingly was still topped off.  I put the charger on it and it immediately said it was still full.  The car was a different story.  Neither has been run in weeks.  The car is blocked in, and the tractor is broken again (as you can see by the shin deep grass in the prior picture).  Unfortunately the mice have moved in it would appear.


It is all charged up now though.


My primary goal today was to get the dumpster filled.  I started with getting rid of the crap on the slab.  It looks like my cheapo sawhorses have seen better days.  I didn't use pressure treated wood though and it shows.  They were mostly built from scraps.


Apparently while I was clearing the slab, I got a sign that I need to go fishing.  It has been a really long time since I cleared that area of the slab, and the leaves that blow up there in the fall a couple of years ago have apparently decomposed.


The slab is clear now though.  It took a lot longer than I expected, there was a lot more crap there than I thought.  I ended up taking my snow shovel (since it was bigger) and just shoveling it into the dumpster.  Longer term, I will get rid of the generator (it doesn't run anyways), and I could put my patio furniture here, and move the grill. 


After that, I noticed it was already 4, so I got to work on the backyard behind the carport.  I found a few interesting things.  I found my old tin snips.  They don't work too good anymore.


I also found my not-square.


While I was clearing it, I got today's lesson on how to almost tip over a tractor.  I don't remember the soft spot extending that far back.


I also made a few friends.  There were actually three of them, but two of them slithered away before I could snap the picture.  I am not a snake expert, but I have seen the all-black ones before.


I also saw one of these.  I am not familiar with this one.  It was gray on top, a light orange (almost creamsicle) on the underside, with a light orange ring behind the head.


The back yard is cleaned up now though.  While I wouldn't drive the lawn tractor through it, all the crap is out of the way so I can go picking up the rocks and starting the smoothing.


The dumpster is almost completely full.  I am quite surprised how much crap was over there.


The dumpster is ready to be hauled away at this point, though I would like to get the tonneau cover from my truck in it first.  I am not sure I can lift it in by myself though, so I might have to grab a hand to get it in.  This will also allow me to get the car out so I can finally get it inspected.  It is a nice week coming up though. 

Roofing done before the storms.

It got hot very quickly on Sunday.  I wasn't sure if putting a little tape on the edge of the metal roofing would be adequate to prevent it from cutting the strap, but it was fine.  No strap damage, and the tape was still intact when I took it off.


Despite my displeasure of walking around on the roof, it is finished. 


Despite the fact that I lost my glasses getting on the roof.  Fortunately they didn't break.  I really need to get around to getting a new pair.


Despite putting it up with no glasses on though, I only had one miss.


After cooling off, I started hearing rumbles of thunder, so I bailed on doing more outdoor work.  My hammy's and glute's were very sore and tired, so I was extremely lazy, watching the lightning.

Roof up but not completed.

Friday I took off a little early.  I got the bottom layer of roofing installed.  Some of the pieces needed a hand to stay in place, but I got the bottom row of screws in all the pieces.  I know this is not typically how you would install roofing (more on that later).


I also moved the supports to add additional bracing.  They will be more effective this way. 


I also picked up a outdoor shower thing because it was cheap and I was curious how well they work.  In addition, it gives me a better idea of water consumption for showering.  This sack holds 5 gallons, it wasn't completely full when I started, and still had a gallon or so left in it when I was done.  It wasn't a nice shower, but it was adequate.  If I cut my hair (it is part way down my back now) I could cut the water consumption even more from the approximately 3 gallons this took.  That is good data to have when it comes to sizing tanks in the camper.  My biggest gripe was that I didn't have a good way to hang it 10 feet in the air in the back yard (so I am not visible from the road).  This post was 8' and it wasn't tall enough. 


Fortunately the rain that wasn't supposed to happen on Friday missed to the north.


After that I went and did my weekly shopping.  I got to see a pretty sunset on the way into town.  These were the best pictures I got, my phone doesn't do sunsets well, especially while driving. 




This morning things weren't as nice as they were supposed to be (Partly cloudy my behind).  Fortunately I was proactive and put the chop saw under the roofing that was installed.


I decided not to climb up the roof in this.  Given that I am in general terrified of walking on a roof (kind of an odd thing I know given my propensity to build) I elected not to try to walk on wet metal.  For the record, I am not terrified of heights, I can walk around the ravine at Watkin's Glen for example without any issue right up to the very edge, and that is a much further drop than the 7' off the short side of the roof. 




When the rain continued to get heavier I packed it in for a while.  As a result, I didn't get the roof completed today.


Seeing the red, I went out and put some extra protection on the saw. 


Just in the nick of time too. 


At least the lower portion of the roof did its job.


A little bit after lunch, I went out and took a look and everything had dried off, so I went and worked on the roof a bit.  I rigged up a helper to get on the roof, so I am not pushing sideways on the step ladder trying to get on the roof.  It would really suck for the ladder to fall over and then I am stuck on the roof.


Part of the reason I don't like walking on roofs.  Even on the furring strip where there is extra support, I bent part of the roofing.  This was the only case of damage though, normally metal roofing is plenty strong to hold.  Either that or I am too fat...


I got all the screws put in for the bottom row of metal sheets and took a break.  It was really hot up on a dark green roof in the sunlight.  It looks good from underneath though.


After taking a break I put the top row on.  I put them on from the top where it was much easier.  They are all on, though they aren't all screwed in, I ran out of time and I stopped when I started to feel dew in the air.




Unfortunately the way I installed them was not the "correct" way.  I installed them this way because of time and because I was doing it alone.  Ideally, you would complete each piece before doing the next.  Installing the metal that way alone more than doubles (possibly more than triples) how long it takes to install it though.  However, you don't end up with this issue.


A more zoomed in version with a red line highlighting the issue.  Because I put the panels on on the edge first, the panels weren't completely flattened.  The panels flatten as you screw them in going across.  That is why you normally do one panel completely before putting the next one on, it ensures every panel is flat and flush.  What happened here is the bottom of the panels were fixed, but the metal still had a little natural curl in it.  so the panels eventually twisted a little.  This problem was compounded by the fact that I did the top the same way, but the top didn't naturally curl the same as the bottom, so the ridges in the middle don't line up perfectly.  It isn't right, but it shouldn't cause problems with snow shedding though.  It will just make the rest of the screwing in a lot more painful, there are a few places more screws will be necessary to minimize having parts of the roof bowed up.


I had hoped to finish the roof today, and spend tomorrow picking up the remaining trash in the yards so I can get rid of the dumpster.  The dumpster is really starting to stink, and it is preventing me from getting the car out and inspected, but I will have to finish the roofing tomorrow.  It is unfortunately supposed to be even hotter tomorrow though, so it will suck.

Roofing has begun.

I snuck out a little early yesterday and came home to a glare.


At least my clock was illuminated.


I installed a handful of cross braces. These are just to keep it from flopping over while I am crawling around on the roof.


I then started to dry-fit (a lesson learned from the shed where the panels don't all sit nicely) some of the metal.  I got the bottom row of panels plopped up on the roof.  Everything fit together nicely.


Things weren't horribly crooked on the back where I started.  I lined up the marks in the panels to the rafters (the straight ones, the end rafter is warped), not all the furring strips were perfect length.


Things still looked decent when I got to the front.


Not sure if it is a good thing or not, but apparently the panels from Home Depot are a lot more slippery.  I got the roofing at Ace for the shed, and even on twice the pitch (the shed is running 6/12, this is only 3/12) they never slid off the roof when I was installing them, which was good because of the way I installed them.  These ones slid themselves off if left unsupervised.


I also poked around a little at work the last couple of days, and have settled on this for a rear blade.  It is reasonably well reviewed.  There were a few complaints that you can't add weight to it to make it bite better, but most of the reviews seemed positive.  I don't want to go larger than 6ft for my tractor either. 
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-grader-blade-6-ft?cm_vc=-10005

Mostly sunny they said...

Yesterday was supposed to be mostly sunny.  That was a lie.  I drove home in the rain, and we got enough wind in Sullivan that it blew my tarp off the wood and my tools (which was held down with cinder blocks and a bucket of nails).  So I spent a lot of the evening drying things off.


I also left my windows open last night (we got down into the 40s), and woke up with my feet (which are right next to the big window) being a little chilly.  This is a little unusual for August.


I started poking around at the corner braces, what lengths I will need, and settled on 16" for the short wall, and 32" for the tall wall. These are for preventing any twisting in the wind.  Not strictly speaking necessary (especially once I have installed the back wall), but I have spare 2x4 so I see no reason not to add them. 

I had hoped to start laying metal down yesterday, but I will start it tonight.  The good news is that it appears that the rain all weekend is now just Sunday afternoon, so even if it isn't done tomorrow, the structure won't get drenched again. 

Ready for roofing.

I made a Home Depot run yesterday, and got the missing furring strips and screws.  I even had time to install them when I got home.  The far wall is now complete.  And I completed it with no screw ups.


I also got the rest of the furring strips installed.  The roof is now ready for metal.

Drizzly, but out of materials.

Today wasn't as nice as promised.  I got drizzled on a half dozen or so times.  While it wasn't a major inconvenience (no actual rain), every time it started to drizzle I would go and put all my tools away, and it would break the flow of work.  Otherwise though, it didn't reach 70 today, so it was nice working temperatures, even if it was kind of humid.

Today's project was mostly siding.  The siding I got from Lowe's was thinner than I thought (it is 33 gauge, not 31 like the stuff at Home Depot, but it was in stock and slightly cheaper).  Because of how thin it was, the first thing I did was to see if I could cut it with my jig saw, or if the blade would just annihilate the piece.  It did surprisingly well.  Apparently it is hard to operate my phone with gloves on...


It did bend really easily though, if it wasn't flat when you set it down, bad things happened.


I did the tall wall first, which was a mistake (more on that later).  I missed a couple of times, and there were a few instances like this where it slid as I was putting the screw in.  If I am being honest, it is easier to put up T1-11 by yourself than it is metal siding, even if the metal is a whole lot lighter.  T1-11 lines up easier and isn't floppy.


The tall wall is complete though.


This is what it looks like from the inside.


The shorter wall needed some coercion to untwist itself.  Another good use for the drum, and I tossed the wheel weights on top because they were right there.


The shorter wall looks done from the inside.


I ran out of screws as I put the top layer on though, so I will have to get another bag.  I thought 250 would be enough, it appears that I was wrong.  It is hard to tell in this picture, but the shorter wall is perfect, no misses and no mis-alignment errors, so this wall has no mistakes in it (unless I make some when I finish putting the last screws in).  You may notice that both walls don't go all the way to top, that is for the plexi-glass to allow light inside.


It wasn't sunny today, but I can already picture the glare and reflection coming through the front door.  This may get painted sooner rather than later.


It wasn't quite dark at that point though, so I finished installing all the furring strips that I have.  I still need to make another Home Depot run to get a few more.  It is coming along though, and while the structure still sways a tiny bit in the left-right direction in this picture (the only rigidness in that axis is the hurricane ties), it felt solid enough that I would be willing to walk on the roof to get that installed.  I might install a few joist to stud stud pieces to solidify that so that building the back wall becomes a lot less important.  It should be enclosed this week though.


I got drizzled on enough today that I covered everything anyways.  It isn't supposed to rain, but it wasn't supposed to drizzle today either.