The Loft

The loft is fully installed! This is one of the more unorthodox elements of the cottage--it is constructed from glue lam beams, and it's turned out to be pretty tricky. The glue lams attach to the walls on angle iron. After Joe installed the first couple of beams, he noticed a significant amount of deflection (i.e., the beams were flexing, a LOT, about 2-3"). Glue lams are supposed to be installed edge-on, and our loft is using them as planks, which caused the deflection on the longest spans. Initially, Joe thought this would be a deal breaker, but then he figured he could dowel them together and use a strong adhesive to create what is effectively a single slab of glue lam. And it worked! The other wrinkle is that glue-lams come with a chamfer, which Joe and his helper had to remove by ripping all of the beams through a table saw. We will also have to have the entire thing sanded down and finished, and install some sort of tile/metal/other barrier above the shower to prevent the steam and moisture from rotting the floor.

Not sure if I would endorse this approach again knowing what I know now, but the end result looks really cool.

The first few beams after installation, when the deflection issue first came to light

Another view of the first few beams

This is what the glue lams look like edge-on (these have had their chamfer removed)

The completed loft! The black material over the windows is the exterior moisture barrier, which Joe put up in anticipation of the big storm we got over the weekend.

View from the loft, looking out the front door

Looking at the south saddlebag (above the kitchen)

Looking at the north saddlebag (above bathroom)

Below the loft, looking towards the bathroom from the dining area

Roof, Part 5

The roof is finished! A few days after the sheathing was complete, Dave and his crew (from Ascent Roofing) installed the roof over two days. They did a great job. I particularly like the trapezoidal pattern in the shingles. They also installed our skylight, so we have our first window!

The roofers laying down the tar paper

Paper is done

The finished roof

View of the south side--the roofers also installed our skylight

Interior view of the installed skylight

Interior Plumbing, Part 1

Paul from Stalwart Plumbing came back to the cottage this week and put in the first bits of interior plumbing.

Stacked washer/dryer will be here

Bathroom--sink on left, toilet on right

Kitchen sink will be here

Interior Wall Framing Begins!

With the roof sheathed, Joe moved on to putting in the first of the interior walls. These two form the walls of the bathroom, and the 'roof' of the bathroom will be the glue-lam loft floor.

Roof, Part 4

Last week Joe finished all of the framing, then he and his helper Tony sheathed the entire roof and put on the facia boards. The actual roof is sheathed with OSB, and the eaves are sheathed with bead board.

The next day it rained over an inch!

Joe placing some OSB

All finished!

Really starting to feel like a real dwelling

Bead board on the eaves

Roof, Part 3

The roof framing is nearly complete--blocking is just about finished, as well as the outriggers for the eaves. Joe has completely finished the sheathing, and it looks like the roof itself should be going on soonish, though we have no firm date yet.

Roof framing nearly complete--outriggers on west end of house, blocking in between rafters

Another view of the blocking

View of the outriggers from inside

Blocking on the south walls

Roof, Part 2

Joe and his crew are moving right along on construction, and we now have a complete set of rafters! We are really starting to get a sense of what the whole thing will 'feel' like when it's finished.

We have rafters! Those are 2x6s, which just continues the feeling of super-duper burliness in our 'little big house'. Also, note the general cloudiness in all of these pictures--it finally cooled off and we got a big dose of marine air. Very refreshing during what's been an incredibly hot and dry summer here.

The sheething is yet to be cut to the roof angle but I expect that will happen soon

Each of those rafters has a pretty complex bird's mouth cut where it attaches to the double top plate, and the bit that the eaves will attach to is about 1/2 as thick