"Paradise Road"......first house on the right

Dirtyrat said:

So are you going to be doing it all yourself 100% or getting some helpers in there to help finish it up?

Click to expand...

I dunno.......when can you be here

I'll be farming out the drywall and hopefully the pole building garage once I get a footer and retaining wall in on one side. I will be having some help (mostly design and guidance) from a friend on the HVAC . My son-in-law helps whenever he's off work.......he helped me on the roof yesterday afternoon after it warmed up, and his Dad has helped me all summer and will be back soon from a three week trip south to visit their other son and his family.

Tons of impressive work you are doing Snake Farm. I get nervous standing on a foot stool so I am in awe that you can work up in the air. I'd like to see that roof in action. Very few metal roofs around here but I'd consider it after my shingles wear out (again).

Love the cabin in the woods.

Snake Farm said:

I dunno.......when can you be here

I'll be farming out the drywall and hopefully the pole building garage once I get a footer and retaining wall in on one side. I will be having some help (mostly design and guidance) from a friend on the HVAC . My son-in-law helps whenever he's off work.......he helped me on the roof yesterday afternoon after it warmed up, and his Dad has helped me all summer and will be back soon from a three week trip south to visit their other son and his family.

Click to expand...

It is just crazy how much you are doing yourself! I would agree on the outsource of the drywall, the guys that do drywall are so dang fast at it!

Did someone say Drywaller

When I started we got 6 cents a square foot ($2.75 per 12' sheet) 24 years ago. Two years ago the subs got 22 cents a square foot ($10.56 per 12' sheet)

wow buddy!! coming along well. Wish the work I was doing on my house was going that quick. So where do you find roof material like that?? Never seen that before.

Gee, it's been three weeks again since I've updated this build........seems I'm not as excited to post about it when I'm struggling

bob w said:

Tons of impressive work you are doing Snake Farm. I get nervous standing on a foot stool so I am in awe that you can work up in the air. I'd like to see that roof in action. Very few metal roofs around here but I'd consider it after my shingles wear out (again).

Love the cabin in the woods.

Click to expand...

The metal roofs have really gotten popular here in the last 6 or 8 years....a lot to do with cost vs. shingles and the color choices that are out there now I think. As for working up high I'm no where near as productive in the air as I was 20 years ago.

GJunktionMike said:

Did someone say Drywaller

When I started we got 6 cents a square foot ($2.75 per 12' sheet) 24 years ago. Two years ago the subs got 22 cents a square foot ($10.56 per 12' sheet)

Click to expand...

Wow, 22 cents is CHEAP! I'll be paying 50-55 cents per square foot for hanging and finishing on this job! Of course there are several factors that drive up the price on this job, like nine and ten foot ceilings, smooth ceilings, can lights (142 in this case) and I'm hiring the be$t guy around.
One thing I've noticed watching HGTV is that some drywallers talk about different levels of finishing. Some shows I've watched the walls get some wet tape and one quick coat of mud. The guy I use prefills, wet tapes and then proceeds with whatever it takes to hide all joints and fasteners.......round here if a joint or fastener shows you fix it or you don't get paid.

Neverdone said:

wow buddy!! coming along well. Wish the work I was doing on my house was going that quick. So where do you find roof material like that?? Never seen that before.

Click to expand...

Thanks man. I imagine the standing seam roofing is available most everywhere but most folks probably don't use it because of price. There are lots of metal roofs in my area but I'd say 98% if them are the three foot wide ribbed metal with exposed fasteners like's on the garage at your new place. This standing seam is individual 16" wide panels and costs more per linear foot than the 36" wide ribbed stuff making it more than twice as much per square foot. However it is the look we are after with this house and I like that all the fasteners are hidden.......the main problem I'm starting to see with metal roofs around here are the rubber washers on the screws deteriorating and in some cases the screws themselves rusting off so we shouldn't be having that problem.

Well, I better get to work and see what I can accomplish today. I'll try to get back in here tonight and bring you guys up to date on my meager progress of the last three weeks.

You won't be sorry for using a metal roof. 22 years ago I built my little log house out in my paradise and used the cheapest corrugated panels I could find. They are just now showing a little "patina"...
Just the other day, I finished rocking up my chimney the way I wanted. I used a heatalater stand alone prefab unit for a fireplace and the pipe work has been doing the trick for all those years without anything around it.
I know what you mean about not being as productive up high. My buddy and I went from the firebox up to the roof line in 3 days. The last 4 foot of rock took us 4 days above the roof. Jeesh! 27 feet to the ridge and 31 feet to the top of the chimney.

You're doing a helluva job SN
X2 on the metal roof ^^^^
This one's 108 years old
V V V V

smallfoot said:

...........I know what you mean about not being as productive up high. My buddy and I went from the firebox up to the roof line in 3 days. The last 4 foot of rock took us 4 days above the roof. Jeesh! 27 feet to the ridge and 31 feet to the top of the chimney.

Click to expand...

That's a cool cabin man........wild looking chimney too!

Old Iron said:

You're doing a helluva job SN
X2 on the metal roof ^^^^
This one's 108 years old
V V V V

Click to expand...

Thanks OI, nice patina on that thar roof man I'll never live to see this one look like that.

Snake Farm said:

and I'm hiring the be$t guy around.

Click to expand...

I may need a plan ticket .22 for is just for hanging labor, Finisher got .20 to .30 depending on corner bead and texture.

I get a kick out of watching the home improvement shows to, how not to do things.

Well, after that warm day that we threw the easy panels on the front of the house we got hit by another dose of Winter



I guess I need to come to the realization that it IS winter and this is to be expected.

Even when it's cold I've been sweating........sweating some copper that is







....been roughing in the water lines, once everything is in place and tested the hot lines will get insulated and some more strapping added.

A week or so ago we got three or four pretty days in a row and we got busy on the low pitch side roof.........



Here's the beginning of the bottom hem that wraps around the dripedge....



Once the panel is fastened into place it gets crimped.......



Some side wall flashing.......



And some more roofing.......



More to come........

This little side roof took three times as long as the whole front of the main house will take! Valleys and hips are time consuming especially with this standing seam.....



The bottom gets hemmed over an offset cleat along the valley line and the hip and ridge caps slide over a z-closure moulding......





Makes a pretty clean job with the hidden fasteners........



Back to winter for the last few days so I've been working on lighting layout....did a mock up of the kitchen to locate the can lights and pendants there......



The saw horses and lumber represent the island, strings and lumber mark the edge of the counters and those funny looking cardboard things represent the pendants over the island bar........





Playing around with can light placement.......



And "Daddy Mac" working on can light installation........



So, we've been jumping around quite a bit but we are making progress. The high today was 33 degrees but the weather forecast is calling for upper 50's and partly cloudy tomorrow so we'll be jumping back on the roof again. Although there is a chance of showers on Friday and Saturday the temps are supposed to push to near 70 so maybe I'll make some progress on the roof this weekend........wish me luck.

PS If I ever get the roof finished we have three of these bayonet lightning rods with white milk glass balls to go on the top........

Looks like you're still having fun.
I put a metal roof on our house 33 years ago and have never had any issues.
I don't think you can go wrong in that direction.
I really enjoy your house building project.
Where's your little buddy/inspecter?

I-R-POPS said:

.......Where's your little buddy/inspecter?

Click to expand...

He's been a little under the weather with an ear and sinus infection but he's getting better. I snapped these pics of him at lunch yesterday.....

Rearranging some pots and pans.......



And working on some stereo equipment.......



He's a busy guy.

I love the metal roof. Looks great.

Snake Farm said:

... wish me luck.

Click to expand...

Luck! Great job!

.

More luck....
[P

Well guys, contrary to any rumors you may have heard I have not given up on the "Paradise Road" project.........likewise any rumors of the project being finished are also untrue. But it's not for lack of working on it, in fact I had three 70+ hour weeks in a row last month!

Last time I updated this thread I was asking for some luck on the roof. Well a couple days later we got lucky with the weather and had about three days that were 70 degrees. During that time we got the roof finished except for one 9" X 20' strip on one back gable overhang and the ridge cap and lightning rods.....looks like those might have to wait till spring.

Then between Christmas and New Year I get a call from my drywall guy saying his schedule is getting overloaded and he needs to start in a couple weeks or it will be a couple months.....so the push was on to finish rough plumbing, rough wiring and insulation, hence the 70-80 hour weeks.

Managed to get things ready and on 1-13-14 this was the scene...



Cut a hole in Gunner's bedroom wall........





And in comes the first sheets.....



Next day the first sheet goes up.....



And so begins the next chapter in the book...

Snake Farm said:

The "smell" thing doesn't sound silly at all, I've always enjoyed the different smells of building.....from excavating to painting and carpet. I believe you could blindfold me and take me into a house under construction and I could tell you what stage you were in. I used to joke about doing a scratch-n-sniff book on home building........probably leave out "porta john pumping day" though

Click to expand...

........smells like Marlboros and drywall glue



More to come.......

Everything looks awesome! Drywall time means you are on the home stretch!
I can't imagine building a whole house, crazy amount of work to get it done in a respectable amount of time!

While the guys were working upstairs...



.....I was busting butt downstairs to stay ahead of them. Still had all the rough wiring and insulation to do there, plus the final inspection......



......and yes, he climbed up there on his own

A couple days later the last of the board was delivered.....



And the hanging commenced downstairs. I managed to start my wiring and insulating on one end and as they moved downstairs they pushed me through the house and into the basement On a side note as I was cleaning up my mess I counted wire spools and noticed I have passed the two mile mark including low voltage and media cable......and I still have the basement and attic to go!

This piece created some excitement......



.....It only had one can light in it..... most had two or three and I saw a couple with as many as 5

Here they are closing in on the last of the hanging......






Meanwhile the upstairs is finished and sanded out and I commence to cleaning up.......



More to come