Week 13: Faster than a Speeding Bullet.......a House!

The house as it looked on the morning of truss day.  It had rained hard the night before.  All fingers were crossed that today would be a dry day.



Upstairs, Ross continued a mopping up operation that had begun in the wee hours of the morning.



The trusses are due any minute.  While we were waiting, the crew held a safety meeting.  Dave emphasized safety techniques for the rooftop operations that the trusses would require.   In this photo, from left to right, Daniel, Dave, the BB, Casey, and Mike.

Another view of the safety meeting.  In this view, left to right, Daniel, Ross, Dave, the BB, and Mike.



Jake joined the meeting.



Susan and the girls arrived early to be sure that they would be on time to see the trusses.  In this photo, Maya and Zoe photograph the BP, who was photographing Maya and Zoe.  Maya's camera is real--a recent birthday present.  Zoe's camera is real to her.



Tim, a subcontractor brought on board for the truss operation, joins Mike in setting up the scaffolding that the crew will walk on as they move the trusses into place.

Susan, Maya, and Zoe climbed up the ladder to visit with us in the dining room while we waited for the truck with the trusses.



Sue and the girls and the BB are joined by Andy Rodrigues, his son Isaac (in the hard hat), and his son Ian, being held by a neighbor, Laura, who filled in on this day for the Rodrigues's nanny, who was down with food poisoning.  Laura's daughter, Larkin, sits between Laura and Andy.  We had assembled an impressive gallery for the truss operation, and everyone excitedly waited for the show to begin.  This was also trash collection day, and every time a garbage or recycling truck came by, everyone ran to the street thinking it was the trusses.



Dave shows Isaac, Zoe, Larkin, and Maya some of the tools of the trade.

Still waiting for the trusses.



Mike joins us as we continue to wait for the trusses.



By this time, the adults were getting annoyed that the trusses were late.  The kids seemed not to mind as Laura led them on a raspberry picking adventure.



Full of raspberries, the kids next enjoyed a game of "Mr. Fox," led by former kindergarten teacher, Susan.  In this photo, Larkin is Mr. Fox, and the other kids are getting ready to run so that they don't become the fox's lunch.



By 12:30, the trusses arrived, but the gallery had left because small kids need lunch and naps.  Too bad, but there will be many other big trucks before our remodel is over.



Before unloading the trusses, the truss crane lifted a package of plywood sheets up to the second story of the house.  After the trusses are installed, these plywood sheets will form the foundation of the roof.



Ditto



Ditto.  Tim helps muscle the plywood package into a safe spot.



There are two sizes of trusses.  The shorter trusses are for the addition, the longer trusses for the main part of the house.  The truck unloaded the shorter trusses first.



Lifting the short trusses into a standing position on the top of the wall plates.  The crew then tacked 2x4s onto the trusses to hold them in place.

Sue and the girls couldn't resist returning, and were able to see most of the truss operation.  As shown in the background of this photo, Maya enjoyed the whole process.  Zoe, on the other hand, was still in a nap mode.



Daniel, Dave, and Casey, all wearing safety gear, await the main house trusses.



The main house truss package comes off the truck upside down, so it needs, first, to be dropped to the ground, where it can be lifted tothe house in an upright position



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The main house trusses are on the way.



Ditto

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Daniel tacks 2x4 braces on the truss stack to hold it in place.

Mike and Tim have carried the first main house truss to the front of the house and laid it on its side.  We are told that each truss weighs about 70 lbs., so two crew members can comfortably carry it, although footing at these heights can be tricky.  In this photo, Mike is nailing sheets of plywood to the front face of this first truss.



The first truss, now fully clad in plywood, is lifted into place by Mike and Tim.



It's a house!



Mike and Tim carry truss #4 into place.  The trusses are spaced 2' apart.  It is amazing how quickly the crew had the trusses in place.



Ditto



All of the main house trusses are now in place.



Tim and Daniel are cladding the rear-most truss in plywood.



This photo was taken moments before the start of the installation of trusses on the addition.



The BB watches the first truss on the addition slide into place.



2x4s projecting from the ends of the roof gables begin the framing of the front eaves.  Around the entire perimeter of the house, the eaves will project 2 1/2 feet.



Mike and Tim begin nailing fascia boards to the projected eaves on the east side of the house.



Ditto.  In this photo, Tim is using one of the miracle tools of the construction industry, a nailing gun, operated by compressed air.



In this photo, Mike uses one of the oldest tools of the construction industry to drive a final nail into this fascia board.



The first fascia board to be attached to the projecting gable on the front of the house.



In this photo, Mike lifts a 4x8 sheet of plywood up through the trusses and begins to install the layer of sub roofing plywood on top of the roof.



This photo, taken moments before our departure from Bellingham for a 10-day visit to California, shows the first couple of plywood sections lying on the roof.



Before we left, we visited with our neighbor, Mary.  In this photo, the BB shows Mary the view from her future office.



While it appears that the BB is conversing with the ghosts of projects past, in actuality, they are the safety suits worn by the crew members who demolished the lead-laden ceiling in the living room and adjacent space that will be added to the living room.



This is either Jake or Ross (the safety suits conceal the true identity) working on demolition of the living room and adjacent space ceilings.  Thick plastic seals these rooms from the rest of the house.



Our ceilings in bags.  Seems to be the story of this old house!



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After an interval of time has safely cleared the air of all lead dust, Chris, Maya, and Zoe check out the exposed rafters of the living room and adjacent space.  This photo and all remaining photos in this week's blog were taken by Susan.  We left for California on Thursday morning, and Susan took on the photo chores for the balance of the week.  Thanks, Sue!



Zoe and Maya standing at the bottom of what will become the stairs to the second floor.  They are looking up at their Mom, who has climbed up the ladder.



This photo and the one following begin to show the feeling of the inside of the house with the roof fully clad in plywood.  We no longer look up and stare at open sky; instead, we walk around rooms.  It's a house!



Ditto.



The tubular skylights have arrived.  All together, there will be 8 skylights--4 tubular (installed by the roofers) 2 rectangular skylights that are being recycled from the original house and will be installed by BBB just prior to installation of the roof shingles, and then 2 new rectangular skylights, one over BB's office and one over BP's office, which will be installed by BBB after the roof shingles are on.



Sue took this photo of one of the new rectangular skylights awaiting installation.



At the end of the week, this is the rear of the house showing the fascia boards and trim on the rear gable fully installed.



At the end of the week, the roofers had gotten tar paper down on the plywood, so if it rains over the week-end, we've got some protection.  Helping ensure that the tar paper stays in place, the yellow rectangles in the photo are the bundles of  asphalt-fiberglass composition shingles that will be installed at the beginning of next week.



A close-up showing the tar paper and shingle bundles and also showing the finished fascia board and trim on the front of the house.  Note the four grooves cut into the bottom edges of the fascia boards.  The knee braces shown in the following photo will fit into those grooves.



6x6 cedar knee braces, primed with white paint, ready for installation next week.  We'll be in Berkeley and Davis next week, so next week's blog will be shorter than most.  However, we know that Susan will be taking some pictures, and there may be some pictures contributed by others, so we know we'll have something to show you.  Stay tuned.