Yesterday the carpenters came out of the woodwork! (This is a good thing, by the way. Wouldn't be so good if it were carpenter ants, but carpenters coming out of the woodwork is magically good!)
I had just pulled out all the tools we’d need to sheath my roof and I was untarpping the house (for the last time!) and waiting for Kenny to show up when Tony and Aline arrived. They’ve stopped by a few times now to check on my progress and they’ve helped with My Vardo Rafter Raising and Making Ends Meet, too. I hadn’t heard anything from them about helping yesterday. So I hollered out “Hey, did you guys come by for a status update?”
“Nope, we’re here to help!” Tony said.
“And we brought snacks!” said Aline.
Now THAT, my friends, was music to my ears. I was thrilled!
(And what’s better? These people. These people are going to be my neighbors! More on that to come…)
So we got to work. We pulled out the sheets of ½” plywood and checked them to determine right side up (the side with fewer holes to fill!) We’d already put the first sheet up during the Tiny House Mixer, which you can read about in Sidestepping with Siding. So we measured for the second sheet and cut it with a circular saw. We were just about to put it up when Kenny arrived. Together we hefted the plywood onto the roof and marked our rafter lines with a chalk line. Then we fastened the sheathing to the rafters with 4” GRK fasteners (one of my new favorite tools!) When my co-workers Evan and Jesse showed up, we really hit our stride. Kenny has worked in commercial roofing, Jesse is a carpenter, Evan does rigging on the side, and Tony and Aline built a tiny house. This was the perfect crew to have helping me sheathe my vardo roof!
We took a break for fish tacos and horcata at Super Burrito Express, one of my favorite St. John’s lunch spots. And then we went back to work, finishing the insulation at the ends of the skylight box and getting the last of the sheathing up. In the evening Kenny and Tony put the first coat of Cat 5 from the Prosoco R-Guard system on the roof. I’ll do another layer first thing Friday morning.
After a quiet weekend Sidestepping with Siding, it was such a productive day! Tony and Aline even managed to do the touch ups with Fast Flash in my window openings and get My Kitchen Windows cleaned up. Now that my windows and ROs are prepped and my roof is weatherized, I’m ready for Tiny House Window Installation on Friday!
I haven’t been sleeping well because I’ve been anxious about not being dried in. But last night, I slept like a rock all night long.
Hip, hip, hooray! Three cheers for my amazing Tiny House Helpers! I have a roof!
