Jim, Matt and I arrived at trout camp Saturday evening after a 3.25 hour drive. The additional drive time was due to a stop over in Oil City to pick up 400square feet of Owens Corning Ice/Water Guard Roof Membrane from our eventual metal roof supplier. Greg was nice enough to bring the rolls home with him and allow us to pick it up at his place after hours. Way after hours, around 10:15-ish if memory serves correctly. From there we took the 30 minute drive into camp. Our camp entry was marked with the usual ritual of unpacking and preparing the sleeping arrangements, unloading the tools, ladders and gear from the trailer and SUV into the "Thinker's Box" and situating things so that we could enjoy some grub (or breakfast as Matt liked to refer to it because of the past midnight hour). It was a cold night (mid 30 degrees) with an almost clear sky full of stars. Just outside the perimeter of camp, small scurries and rustling leaves could be heard. What was a bit unnerving and startling at first was the pack of coyotes that began howling, crying and whining off in the distance. It sounded like there were quite a few of them, with definitely some offspring in the mix as well. That had us on an elevated alertness level for a while.
Matt continued to prep the fire, burning almost all of the untreated dimensional lumber cut offs that were scattered about, and I put the burgers, hot dogs and buns on the propane grill. We'll need to acquire a replacement soon, the few months of elements (even while under a full sized cover) have frozen the burner temp. adjustment knobs internally and screwed with the gas delivery to the burner itself. I was able to fire up one side and cook, but it was slow going due to a reduced output. After we chowed down and have a few refreshments, it was time for lights out. We slept protected from the elements, but it was till cold, inside my neighbor's cabin.
Sunday morning began by following the lead and direction of my neighbor Matt. The goal was to install the roof on the "Thinker's Box". Matt and I took the high ground. We were supported by Jim on the lower level. Not having to climb up and down the step ladder, back and forth from the loft to the first floor, to make cuts was a real time and energy saver!
It took about an hour. In that time, we were able to block in the end of the roof rafters. When the OSB sheeting was installed over top of the rafters, the short end walls at the eaves aren't exposed to the outside. With a few tubes of caulk or liquid nails, we'll have a great seal at the inside eaves. We'll save that for next time!
Once all the rafter ends were blocked in, Matt and I moved to the next task- - installing the extensions that comprise the support arms for the eave overhang on the north and south end of the tool shed. We notched back two rafters and ran a 2"X4" through the notches extending 10.5" out from the face of the walls. The end of the 2"X4" 's were screwed to the vertical side of a third rafter in to complete the connection to skeletal frame. On the extension side, we butted a vertical length of 2"X4" to the horizontal protruding piece and screwed it together securely. Once the .60" OSB was installed on top, the extensions became strong enough to hang from and aren't likely to sag in my lifetime. I appreciate the abilities of Matt, because as we brainstormed the design together, the plan that we came up with seemed to work out extremely well and looks good too!
We ran into some issues with our borrowed generator. Thankfully it was half way through laying the roof decking in place. As we began work on the long side of the roof, Adam's homelite generator began to run really rough. I raced down from the loft to it to see if I could mess with the choke, because it sounded like it had begun to flood out or something...but, I wasn't quick enough. By the time I got close, it had turned off and could not be restarted. This reduced building efficiency to a snails pace. Cuts, thankfully there weren't a ton of them to do, had to be made using the electricity available at the neighbor's camp. Four trips back and forth completed the decking. Nailing, remember we were using pneumatic tools for this part, had to resume via hand tools. Matt and I cut the collated clipped head nails into singles and put in as many as we had time to do. Eventually, by hand, the roof was as finished as it could possibly be on this trip out. Another half hour to 45 minutes was spent getting the camouflage tarp up and over the roof and stapled into place.
The fascia board has not been installed, nor has the Owens-Corning Ice / Water Guard. These two tasks have been reserved for the next trip up as we simply ran out of time and daylight this time around. I guess I'll bring up the caulk gun and seal in the loft blocking on that trip as well...
I would like to once again extend an enormous level of gratitude and a huge "THANK YOU!" to my neighbor Matt for assisting Jim and I in this endeavor. Without exaggeration, there is no way (NONE!) that the "Thinker's Box" would be at this level of completion without his help. Help isn't really the word I feel comfortable using either... What he has done for our camp is above and beyond what I would expect from anyone that volunteers to "lend a hand" to a friend. I don't wish to go on and on about this, but I am indebted to him and his time which I realize is extremely valuable. To be completely honest, I feel an extreme level of humbleness and a certain level of anxiety regarding what he has done for us thus far because I somehow feel we don't deserve it. I promise that I'll return the favor when the time(s) comes and the call is placed!
That's all for now...enjoy the movie!
Matt continued to prep the fire, burning almost all of the untreated dimensional lumber cut offs that were scattered about, and I put the burgers, hot dogs and buns on the propane grill. We'll need to acquire a replacement soon, the few months of elements (even while under a full sized cover) have frozen the burner temp. adjustment knobs internally and screwed with the gas delivery to the burner itself. I was able to fire up one side and cook, but it was slow going due to a reduced output. After we chowed down and have a few refreshments, it was time for lights out. We slept protected from the elements, but it was till cold, inside my neighbor's cabin.
Sunday morning began by following the lead and direction of my neighbor Matt. The goal was to install the roof on the "Thinker's Box". Matt and I took the high ground. We were supported by Jim on the lower level. Not having to climb up and down the step ladder, back and forth from the loft to the first floor, to make cuts was a real time and energy saver!
It took about an hour. In that time, we were able to block in the end of the roof rafters. When the OSB sheeting was installed over top of the rafters, the short end walls at the eaves aren't exposed to the outside. With a few tubes of caulk or liquid nails, we'll have a great seal at the inside eaves. We'll save that for next time!
Once all the rafter ends were blocked in, Matt and I moved to the next task- - installing the extensions that comprise the support arms for the eave overhang on the north and south end of the tool shed. We notched back two rafters and ran a 2"X4" through the notches extending 10.5" out from the face of the walls. The end of the 2"X4" 's were screwed to the vertical side of a third rafter in to complete the connection to skeletal frame. On the extension side, we butted a vertical length of 2"X4" to the horizontal protruding piece and screwed it together securely. Once the .60" OSB was installed on top, the extensions became strong enough to hang from and aren't likely to sag in my lifetime. I appreciate the abilities of Matt, because as we brainstormed the design together, the plan that we came up with seemed to work out extremely well and looks good too!
We ran into some issues with our borrowed generator. Thankfully it was half way through laying the roof decking in place. As we began work on the long side of the roof, Adam's homelite generator began to run really rough. I raced down from the loft to it to see if I could mess with the choke, because it sounded like it had begun to flood out or something...but, I wasn't quick enough. By the time I got close, it had turned off and could not be restarted. This reduced building efficiency to a snails pace. Cuts, thankfully there weren't a ton of them to do, had to be made using the electricity available at the neighbor's camp. Four trips back and forth completed the decking. Nailing, remember we were using pneumatic tools for this part, had to resume via hand tools. Matt and I cut the collated clipped head nails into singles and put in as many as we had time to do. Eventually, by hand, the roof was as finished as it could possibly be on this trip out. Another half hour to 45 minutes was spent getting the camouflage tarp up and over the roof and stapled into place.
So, what's in store for the next trip out?
The fascia board has not been installed, nor has the Owens-Corning Ice / Water Guard. These two tasks have been reserved for the next trip up as we simply ran out of time and daylight this time around. I guess I'll bring up the caulk gun and seal in the loft blocking on that trip as well...
I would like to once again extend an enormous level of gratitude and a huge "THANK YOU!" to my neighbor Matt for assisting Jim and I in this endeavor. Without exaggeration, there is no way (NONE!) that the "Thinker's Box" would be at this level of completion without his help. Help isn't really the word I feel comfortable using either... What he has done for our camp is above and beyond what I would expect from anyone that volunteers to "lend a hand" to a friend. I don't wish to go on and on about this, but I am indebted to him and his time which I realize is extremely valuable. To be completely honest, I feel an extreme level of humbleness and a certain level of anxiety regarding what he has done for us thus far because I somehow feel we don't deserve it. I promise that I'll return the favor when the time(s) comes and the call is placed!
That's all for now...enjoy the movie!
