Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A Skin of Plywood Sheathing

If the frame of a house is its bones, than the plywood sheathing is its skin.  And if I took the analogy any further than I'd have to admit that the cedar siding must be clothing, and having not even ordered it yet, our house stands naked.  But soon we'll put some underwear on it - house wrap.
As usual my family has been a huge help.  Paul does man work with Steve whenever my muscles are insufficient, and lots of other times too, even Ashley and Rachel help out.  The Bush fam below.


Rachel, Paul, and Ashley Bush

Cutting holes for the windows was sort of annoying.  I mean, we spent all that time measuring and cutting out sheets of plywood, only to have to saw out big blotches right after we got it screwed in place.  It just felt sort of... counterproductive, though I know it was anything but.  Though I will give the windows credit where credit is due.  At least they have four corners, nice square corners, unlike the wheel wells which were something of a challenge to cut around.  In case you hadn't noticed, I really hate dealing with those wheel wells.  Somewhere there is a white hair to prove their hassle, but I bet it's on Steve's head and not mine.
In addition to the sheathing we put on the central roof beam.  It's precariously placed in the picture below, but the roof rafters are soon to follow.




Monday, April 4, 2011

Rain, rain, go away...

They say April showers bring May flowers, but whoever 'they' are they haven't been watching the weather channel.  Unlike last year, where Lake Lanier dried into a puddle, this year we seem to be having the opposite of a drought.  Continual rain started in March, filling the cracks (a standard 1/8 " between plywood) of our newly minted subfloor with water.  Much to our chagrin a small drip started, leaking from who-knows-where to the ground beneath our trailer.  And that was with a sheet of plastic covering the whole thing!  I sincerely wish water weren't so slippery, it really is the biggest pain.  After we built the frame we had to upgrade from a sheet of clear plastic (which obviously didn't do much) to a gigantic tarp, which I'm sure the neighbors aren't a fan of.  Admittedly, it's an eyesore.  But if all goes well the roof will be on in no time at all.