31 July 2014
Sean and Fred put up
the rafter tails and outlooks on the south side of the Garage / Kitchen. Perry worked on the plumb and level cuts for
the rafters on the north wall, spending time to get staging set up so that work
could be done safely. I put on a number
of joist hangers. Sean left late
morning. Forecast thunderstorm / rain came roaring in right after lunch. Perry went off to do an errand and I sent
Fred home. Perry got back as the rain
ended at two o’clock. He spent the rest
of the afternoon finishing the north wall rafter cuts while I cleaned up the
worksite and then put on more joist hangers.
30 July 2014
Fred put on the final piece of east wall sheathing, then he and I cut a
zillion rafter tails (5 foot long 2x8’s that run from the bottom purlin to the
subfascia). Sean and Ian installed those
on the east side of the house. While
they were doing that, Perry cut rafters on the south side of the Garage /
Kitchen and put on the subfascia. I fired
up the radial arm saw and cut 120 outlooks (2x4’s that run horizontally between
the subfascia and a ledger board attached to the wall sheathing; the soffits
will be attached to the outlooks). Sean
and Ian then put in the east side outlooks.
Sean left right after lunch; was he driven away by the mosquitoes, which
were getting annoying? Meanwhile, Fred was busy putting in more roof system
joist hangers. Unfortunately, he tried
to come down from the attic by stepping onto a tall ladder that was not as
stable as he thought. Though he lost
some skin off his forearms, fortunately he was not seriously injured in the
resulting fall. Immediately thereafter I
locked the barn door asked Ian to frame out the attic access hatch so
that we will, hereafter, have a much safer way to get in and out of the
under-roof area. At the end of the day
Fred and I put in the purlin mid-span blocking.
Went for a long swim after work and, first time ever, developed
incipient cramps in both thighs, fortunately when I was close enough to our
dock to return there without further use of my legs. Figured a few ounces of JWB would cure
whatever was ailing me… and it did!
Post Script: At 10 o’clock the BLSC mosquito control spray truck came
down the driveway and did it’s magic!
29 July 2014
Big crew today: Sean,
Ian, Fred, Perry, and I… plus perfect working weather means good progress
made. Perry, with some chainsaw help
from Ian (this is not fine furniture we’re building… obviously), cut the
rafters on the east side of the house to length, made the horizontal undercuts
(where the soffit will attach), then put on the sub-fascia 2x6. Sean, with
considerable help from Ian, installed permanent braces under the southwest hip
rafter, then cut a large chunk out of the middle of the hip where the woodstove
chimney will penetrate the roof. That
done, they put in the purlins missing from that part of the roof
structure. After a couple of go-rounds,
Sean and I figured out the design for two steel braces that he will have custom
built to secure the cut ends of the hip rafter to the chimney… while preserving
the required 2″ air-gap separation between the wooden hip and the chimney
masonry. Fred and I spent the day
installing exterior wall sheathing, finishing the north and south walls and
coming within one piece of finishing the east wall before the beer alarm went
off. After everyone had departed, and just
as I was headed down to the lake for a bit of aquatic exercise, the Goodro
Lumber truck showed up with a load of 2x8’s that will be used for rafter tails
between the bottommost purlin and the sub-fascia.
28 July 2014
Rain / thunderstorms
all day, so spent many hours blending Sean’s cost estimate spreadsheet into the
spreadsheet I’ve been using for years to keep track of Fern Lake construction
expenses. The upshot of that effort is
that I now will be able to compare expenditures against the budget for each line
item in the cost estimate to see if champagne or divorce papers and a one-way
ticket to Timbuktu will be needed when the house is complete.
27 July 2014
Assembled the 24 ton
Northstar log splitter. Marty and Ricky
Lapidus came up to help stand up the main beam and hydraulic ram (which the
assembly directions accurately said would take two people to do). We then took an abbreviated tour of the house
construction as one (of many) thunderstorms unleashed itself just as I was
getting rolling with my prepared remarks.
The person who sold me the log splitter said that the hydraulic tank
held 3 gallons, so I bought a 5 gallon container. The assembly directions said the tank holds 8
gallons, so I made a mad dash to #1 Auto in Middlebury (who are open until
early afternoon on Sundays) and procured another 3 gallons. With 7 gallons poured in, the tank was
completely full. Hmmm… Started the splitter; ran fine for a few
minutes and then the engine died; restarted; same thing; restarted; same thing;
wouldn’t start; cursed fluently; didn’t help.
26 July 2014
Spent much of the day
cleaning / tidying the building site and making sure everything is protected
from the rain forecast for the next two days.
Put on all the rest of the joist hangers for the purlins that have been
installed. (Note: there are a few purlins that can’t be installed until the
chimney is built.) Perry came over late
afternoon and we spent a couple of hours playing around with creating a
triangular wood cap to go on top of the hip rafters so that the roof sheathing
will be supported where it goes around the corner at each hip.
25 July 2014
Octavia (or was is it Octavio?) has joined her/his brethren at Silver
Lake. Sean came by first thing to consult
with the carpenters vis รก vis the soffit construction details. Ian and Perry spent most of the day
purloining (sic). Fred and I spent most
of the day putting up additional exterior sheathing and, at the very end, the
joist hangers at the very peak of the roof.
Right after lunch Goodro’s delivered another two thousand dollars worth
of building materials… on one of their smaller trucks. I hereby attest that the lake temperature is
as perfect as it gets.
Post Script: Mouse #9 didn’t even
wait until full dark before taking the one-way trip to Silver Lake.
24 July 2014
Mouse #7 was captured
in the early hours and now resides with his kin at the Silver Lake parking
lot. Ian, Fred, Perry, and I continued
the Purlin Project, working in much cooler temperatures today compared
to earlier this week. Sean came by for his daily progress check and to offer
advice on Sun Room skylight sizes and positions. Then I went to Goodro’s to make the
obligatory daily procurement (more joist hangers, this time) and to order the
skylights. Mid-morning, while I was affixing
said hangers to purlins already installed by Ian and Perry, I glanced over and
noticed that the purlins across the attic didn’t seem to be parallel with each
other. That caused some considerable
head-scratching in Carpentersville.
Turned out that one of the purlins had somehow migrated from its assigned
position… with some disassembly and reassembly required. Called the Genie garage door opener help desk
and, after four tries following the technician’s detailed instructions (doing exactly
the same thing every time), the shed garage door finally decided to cooperate
with me again. Those electrons, they’re
a mystery! After lunch the crew and
Kubota helped me get the log splitter out of the Tacoma and safely ensconced in
the shed garage.
23 July 2014
Left Springfield
promptly at 0600, ahead of the worst of the Washington / Baltimore rush hour
traffic. However, comma, with I-495
closed (rumored to be so for several years), all the Philadelphia-bound traffic
had to squeeze up I-95 through Wilmington, so there was a major slowdown along
that stretch. In spite of that, made it
to Fern Lake in just over 9 hours, not having pushed very hard because of a new,
large (24 ton capacity), very heavy (560 pounds), disassembled, hydraulic log
splitter filling the bed of the Tacoma. Upon arrival, found Ian, Fred Cushman (another
Goose Creek carpenter), and Perry hard at work installing purlins and joist
hangers. Also found ample signs that
while I was away, the mice came out to play with Dolores… Just after the
carpentry crew left for the day a major thunderstorm came rolling though,
squelching plans to relieve driving stress and the 85° internal RV temperature
with some quality lake time.
22 July 2014
Ian and Perry began
installing the purlins between the jack and hip rafters, a more difficult
proposition because of the precise double compound cut needed to fit the hip
end of the purlin to the hip. To speed
up the process they established a cutting station up on the ceiling joist work
platform. By 3 o’clock the temperature
and humidity had sucked all the energy (and sense of fun) out of the two carpenters,
so they called it quits.
21 July 2014
Sean stopped by to
check on progress, then left Ian and Perry to continue installing purlins. By the end of a hot and humid day, they had
put in the five lowest purlin courses between all the king common and jack
rafters, those being relatively easy because both ends of each purlin are
square cut.
18 July 2014
Ian and Perry put on the
north-south collar ties and then bolted everything together. After that, they began installing the purlins
– 2x10’s that run parallel to the exterior walls between and flush to the tops
of the rafters. The purlins transfer
roof load horizontally to the rafters, which transfer the load to the exterior
walls, which transfer the load vertically to the house foundation. As usual, Wikipedia has a good explanation
(and pictures) to make this more understandable. The reason we’re using a huge rafter and
purlin system for the roof structure is because the architect-who-should-be-fired
didn’t include in the house design any vertically stacked interior walls that
could be used for load bearing. Besides
which, Sean needed a challenge…
17 July 2014
Sean (until he left
mid-afternoon), Ian, and Perry finished installing all of the rest of the jack
rafters, then put on the east-west collar ties (horizontal beams that run
between the king common rafters to keep the load on those rafters from shoving
the tops of the walls outward). Take
notes – there will be a test on this later…
16 July 2014
The Goose Creek crew and
Perry continued building the roof structure, putting up all of the rest of the
hip rafters. Those guys are strong! Then, to cool down after that arduous
exercise, they started installing the jack rafters, getting 3 of the 12 cut,
hoisted into position, and screwed into place.
15 July 2014
The Goose Creek crew
(Sean, Ian, Luther, and Ty) and Perry continued building the roof structure,
putting up the doublers for the king common rafters, then hoisting into place
two of the eight 1¾″ x 18″ x 40 feet LVL hip rafters… which weigh 360 pounds
apiece. Does workman’s comp insurance
cover hernias? With each of those rafters
costing over $300, Sean did all the cutting himself. The daily 3 o’clock thunderstorm finally put
the kibosh on the fun and games. First
thing in the morning, I went off to Martin’s Hardware in Middlebury, which also
houses a Radio Shack, and procured another Cannon Powershot camera. Shortly
after I got back to Fern Lake, Ron “Bugger” Warner from Goodro’s arrived with a
dozen donuts from a local bakery… a token of appreciation for the megabucks
Goose Creek and I are spending at the lumber yard this summer. With Dolores tucked in for a week-long nap
(the slide-out continuing to function perfectly), the dogs and I hit the road
headed south at 9:30. In a new
land-snail record, took us 10½ hours to get to Springfield, with a first stop
at the Vermont DMV in Rutland to turn in the paperwork and plates from the
Ranger sale, several stops to batten down the tarp securing the gipsy-caravan
load in the rear of the Tacoma, a couple of stops to dewater the dogs, assorted
slowdowns due to rain “showers” that reminded me of the downpours we used to
get in Samoa (i.e., step outside for two seconds and be wetter than if you’d
dived into the ocean), and major rush hour delays in Philadelphia and
Wilmington, DE.
14 July 2014
A full crew today:
Sean, Ian, Luther, Ty, Perry, and some guy, trying to help out, who managed to
hit himself twice on the end of his left hand pointer finger with a
hammer. Alfred Bordeau arrived at 10, as
promised, with many, many hundred dollar bills which I was pleased to accept in
trade for the title and key to the Ranger.
Ian and Perry spent much of the day putting sheathing on the west
wall. Sean, Luther, and Ty started work
on the roof structure, first putting a bunch of roof sheathing on top of the
ceiling joists to serve as a work platform, then erecting scaffolding on top of
that so that they could look over the trees at the lake. The work area properly prepared, they installed
a short LVL beam across the northwest corner of the garage directly under the
exact center of the roof, then erected a 10 foot tall 4x4 post on top of that beam. Our massive (27¾″ long) ridge beam then was attached to the top of
the post. After lunch it was all hands on deck to
manhandle a couple of the LVL king common rafters up onto the work platform,
hoist them into position, and then attach them to the ridge beam and wall top
plate. Unfortunately a heavy rain shower
came rolling in at 3 o’clock, making further work aloft too treacherous to
continue. After the crew was gone, I
went to take the end-of-day picture and found that the camera has finally
seized up completely. VERY frustrated
(and with a throbbing finger to put icing on the cake) the dogs and I cooled
off in the lake for awhile, then I loaded the Tacoma with a LARGE volume of
“stuff” destined for Virginia.
13 July 2014
Chree left at 10:30 en
route Arlington, MA to babysit Devin for a week while Alex is in Hawaii on
“business” and Katy settles into her new position as Director of Administrative
Services for the Cardiac Surgery Division at Mass General Hospital. Realized that the revised window sizes for
the two Guest Bedrooms (that Ian and Perry framed in on Friday) were
incorrect. Those windows have to meet
the Residential Building Code requirements for emergency egress, which means
using wide casements vice regular casements… a difference of 8½″ in overall
window width. So spent several hours undoing
Ian and Perry’s work (when they put framing together, they apparently mean for
it to stay together) and rebuilding the window rough openings to the
correct size. Then I split up a bunch of
scrap lumber into fire-starting kindling… until it started raining at 2:30. Shed garage door opener decided to stop
working for some reason that I can’t figure out… even after stooping to reading
the instruction manual.
12 July 2014
Spent most of the day
employing my superior Type A cleaning skills all around the house construction
site, with help from Chree.
Uninstalled six gusset plates that were not needed on the east and west
walls, then reinstalled them where they were needed on the north wall. Corrected a half dozen oopsies where Wild
Bill Hickok and his pneumatic nail gun weren’t quite as studly as they might
have been when putting on the Zip System sheathing. Enjoyed a delightful hour in the lake with
the dogs mid-afternoon. Water
temperature is 80°. Chree and I took
Hopea Kanootti and a large cake across the lake to Mark and Karen Evans’ annual
Fern Lake Happy Hour Party.
11 July 2014
Ian and Perry spent
the day installing extra studs where the common roof rafters will bear on the
exterior walls, as much of the roof load will be transferred to the foundation
at those points. Sure am glad I got that
degree in civil engineering government / public administration back in
my younger days… They also reframed the
two Guest Bedroom windows so that their centers are aligned with the centers of
the Main Level windows directly above them. (This was one of Sean’s design
change recommendations.) Those two
bedroom windows still will be plenty large, but now the west wall of the house
will be more aesthetically pleasing.
Then Ian and Perry put in all the Lower Level west wall fire blocking to
stiffen up (i.e., make stronger) that load-bearing wall. Finally, the dynamic duo put on the first
course of west wall sheathing.
Meanwhile, Chree and I were enjoying a perfect day at the Shelburne
Museum. We got back to Fern Lake after 5
to find Perry still on the premises, but with the engine of his truck
running. Somewhat later, while grilling hot
dogs over the campfire dressed only in my bathing suit and loafers (now there’s
a sight not for the faint of heart), two gentlemen stopped by and, after a
lengthy test drive, bought the Ranger.
10 July 2014
Sean, Ian, and Perry
spent the morning finishing the Garage interior wall sheathing and putting the
bottom course of sheathing on the east and south exterior walls. Ian and Perry carried on that task in the
afternoon. I helped by installing gusset
plates and one of the 4x4 posts that we decided to use to strengthen the
corners where the hip rafters will bear on the walls. Sean, Chree, and I left at noon… headed to
Goodro’s, but on different missions.
Chree and I met with Tim Comes to get a price on the ThermaTru® front
entry door and sidelights we had finally agreed on. MAJOR sticker shock! So then we spent some time finding an
affordable entry door that we both could live with. That done, we drove up to Burlington, Chree
to spend some time visiting with Alverta while I installed a new bath fan and
light in the condo we own. Opened the
box with the new fan/light and discovered an empty plastic bag instead of
several key components. More on that
later… once my blood pressure gets back closer to normal. On the way back south we picked up our Hearthstone
Castleton woodstove at The Chimney Sweep and safely transported all 450 pounds
of it to the shed garage at Fern Lake.
Nice having a forklift on site…
9 July 2014
Ian continued
installing the fire blocking while Perry started putting on the steel strapping
(that ties the top and bottom of the walls together) and I put on a few more
gusset plates. Sean came mid-morning and
left again fairly soon to go spend more of our money at Goodro’s. Ian and Perry, with final checking by Sean
when he returned, pushed and pulled the building structure so that all the
walls were perfectly plumb and square.
At noon I took Dolores down to Green Mountain Garage for her annual
physical and to have the grounding wire for the main cabin door stairs
repaired. Chree took the dogs up to the
Robert Frost interpretive trail at the Breadloaf Conference Center in Ripton. After their lunch, Sean, Ian, and Perry
started putting on sheathing to stabilize the house walls in advance of
building the (very heavy) roof structure.
Sean sketched the roof / soffit / door / window header detail in full
scale on the back of a piece of Advantech, so that Chree and I could visualize
and argue about the size of the roof overhang.
After a quick mediation phone call to Matt Sargent at Efficiency
Vermont, we’ll be using a 24″ overhang, just as Chree wants. In the evening,
Chree and I went to a quite interesting presentation on loons held at the
Salisbury church.
8 July 2014
Ian and Perry finished
the ceiling joist mid-span blocking. Two
Goodro Lumber trucks pulled in mid-morning (mightily impressing Chree with Troy
and Brad’s driving expertise) with a load of roofing materials… the check for
which will pay a semester’s tuition… at an Ivy League college. The main structural components for the roof
(18” LVL beams) are massive, which they have to be as just the hip rafters
(spanning 40 feet) have to be capable of supporting over 14 tons of
weight. Sean arrived with a trailer-
load of scaffolding, plus steel strapping and gusset plates that will
contribute to keeping the house firmly attached to the concrete foundation in
hurricane force winds. After discussion,
decided to have fire blocking installed between all the exterior wall studs…
not to prevent the spread of fire, but to stiffen the studs so they can better
support the 65 pounds/square foot design roof load. Ian and Perry got started
on putting in the fire blocking while Chree and I headed for Middlebury. The technician at Champlain Valley Equipment
showed me where someone in the past had made a half-baked repair where the fuel
line comes out of the fuel tank, which is where Mr. Jonsered now is leaking
fuel. Cost of repair was going to be
more than the saw is worth, so there will be a quiet (immediate family only)
funeral forthcoming. Next stop was the
Lincoln Peak winery, where we drowned our sorrow tasted their offerings…
and didn’t buy any wine. Then we went to
Scrubs Villa, formerly a mansion in Salisbury that Perry recommended as worth
touring, now a nursing home that no longer offers tours. Mores the pity, as what little we saw of the
building would have been well worth a more extensive exploration. Got back to
Fern Lake mid afternoon. Chree and I
began putting on the gusset plates while Ian and Perry continued installing
fire blocking. Most of the bruising on
Chree’s fingers should be gone in a week or two… a hammer not being one of her
favorite tools. Dinner with Lynne and
Perry down at Marty and Merry’s… a delightful evening, as always.
7 July 2014
Ian and Perry came
back to work at their usual hour. Perry
began putting mid-span blocking between the ceiling joists while Ian and I
finished the joist hangar installation task.
Sean, as befits his exalted position as master carpenter-in-charge and
boss-about-town, arrived somewhat later. After consultations about house design
changes and other decisions Chree and I have made that affect construction,
Sean began putting on the hurricane ties that will keep the ceiling (and
ultimately the roof) from parting company with the rest of the house in a good
New England nor’easter. Sean departed on
other business at noon, towing my trailer.
After lunch, and between rain showers, Ian and Perry almost finished the
mid-span blocking, deciding to call it quits at beer-thirty. Chree and I attended the Lake Dunmore / Fern
Lake Association annual meeting in the evening.
6 July 2014
Chree and I spent the
morning trimming branches off trees between the house and the lake to open up
our view a bit more. I would have clear-cut
the hillside and Chree would have left everything as it was, so some major
compromises were necessary. Hope the “compromising”
didn’t disturb the neighbors. After
lunch we gathered together all the “scrap” Blueboard and sawed it into the widths
needed to insulate the blind pockets in the exterior walls (which are created
when framing corners or where an interior wall will attach to an exterior
wall). The sawing process made an unholy
mess out of (1) the cellar, (2) the sawyers, and (3) our formerly black, now
blue spotted, doggie. Swim call soon
rectified messes 2 and 3. Perry brought
us some garlic scapes yesterday, so we grilled them (alongside some
heart-attack-special burgers) for dinner.
Think garlic-flavored curly fries.
Stumps still smoldering…
5 July 2014
Temperature fell like
a stone last night as the front pushed through… had to turn on Dolores’ furnace
this morning to entice Chree out of bed.
Went down to Charlestown, NH for the annual Tarrio Family get-together at
Chree’s sister Anne’s place. Back to
Fern Lake in time for a leisurely paddle around and about in Hopea
Kanootti. Stumps are still smoldering…
4 July 2014
One match set the huge
brush / stump pile ablaze, even after a good rain last night. By noon all that was left were the remains of
six stumps, smoldering away… probably for days.
Lake felt especially good after sweating profusely all morning. Went to the Salisbury Church annual ice cream
social for a “lunch” of pie and ice cream… LOTS of pie and ice cream.
3 July 2014
Ian & Perry made
further progress with the ceiling joists.
Rumor has it that Sean was here
to help for part of the day… Chree and I
left after breakfast to meet Dennis Senesac at his Ryan Plumbing and Heating
office in Vergennes, then journey with him up to The Granite Works in
Burlington to window shop for plumbing fixtures. Amazingly (and those who know us well will
realize just how amazing this is), Chree and I immediately agreed on the Kohler
line of fixtures to put in the house and didn’t blow the budget to smithereens
in making that choice. After lunch with
Alverta at her apartment, we went to the Chimney Sweep emporium, distributor of
Hearthstone woodstoves. After looking at our options, we left a deposit for
their Castleton model. Got back to Fern Lake at 3:45 to find the construction
crew gone. Immediately thereafter spent
a delightful hour in the lake with the dogs.
In the evening, Chree and I went over to the Salisbury Church for the
annual concert given by the Camp Point CounterPoint faculty. Incredible virtuosity, as always! Midway through the fourth movement of the
Mozart piece, Ricky Nicklaw (Leicester Fire Warden) called to give permission
for us to burn brush and stumps this weekend.
2 July 2014
Another sweltering
day. Ian & Perry continued putting
up ceiling joists until the typical summer afternoon thunderstorm put a halt to
that endeavor… shortly after Sean arrived to check on progress. I took the Ranger down to Green Mountain
Garage to have the wheel bearing replaced and the state safety inspection
sticker affixed to the windshield. Tom,
our man from Orkin Pest Control, arrived late afternoon (just as the T-storm
was getting going) to deal with the onslaught of carpenter ants that, once
again, are devouring the woodshed… and have been seen of late inside
Dolores. Spent the evening hours redesigning
the house chimney and surrounding walls to eliminate the need for a cricket.
1 July 2014
A very hot and humid
day! Sean, Ian, and Perry started work
on putting up the Main Level ceiling joists, which, in the heat, was not nearly
as much fun as it could have been. Chree
and I ran errands in Brandon, then spent some time with Tim Comes at Goodro’s,
designing the French doors for the Sun Room, getting ideas for the main entry
door, and narrowing down possibilities for the Sun Room skylights. We got back to Fern Lake just as the guys
were finishing lunch. After our own lunch, we went down to the lake with the
dogs to pull out of the water all the trees and branches that the beaver put
there on Sunday. A tough job, but
someone had to do it!
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