Second story almost done

Martin needed to match the depth of the sheathing between the second and first stories. Martin had planned on building the wall on the second story that is needed to support the rafters, but ended up spending the day fiddling with sheathing. 

In the picture above Martin has matched the sheathing. In the picture below, still needs to match top and bottom sheathing.

 Walls are done and wrapped.

Second floor exteriors walls

The next section of the exterior second story walls were built.

 Then the sections of walls were sheathed and covered with house wrap

Finally both east and west sections were stood, fastened into place, and braced.

untarped

For about the past year, we have tarped and untarped an tigin nearly daily.  As we have been working, pulling off the old roof, enlarging the footprint, we have needed to keep the interior as dry as possible.

Finally we have a stretch of perfect Maine weather. Light breeze, lots of sunshine, low humidity, temperatures in the 70s (Fahrenheit), and most importantly no rain predicted for 4 days.

 Unfortunately, Martin has spent the last 3 weeks working on a renovation job which he was scrambling to finish up when the beautiful weather hit, so we missed a day of excellent weather to be able to work at an tigin.

 Each time we have gone to an tigin to add to it, we have had to take all of the tarps off, fold them, and put them somewhere safe so they wouldn't get damaged. At the end of each work day we have had to reverse the process. Pull out the tarps, make sure they were supported and covered everything, and secure them so the wind wouldn't tear them off.

 Finally, with the clear weather predicted, Martin decided we could untarp and leave an tigin exposed to the elements. Without having to retarp daily, we are saving valuable hours that can be spent building rather than protecting.

So this is how an tigin looks all naked.

We cleaned off the second story subfloor and snapped lines where walls were going to go. Martin took measurements and counted boards to make sure we had enough material.

work is happening, progress is being made

It's all my fault.  Martin has been steadily working on an tigin and taking pictures.  However, I haven't been keeping up with the blog.

For the past few years, as spring has rolled around, I've watched my colleagues (special education teachers) scramble to keep up with meetings, paperwork, continue teaching, get ready for next year, place a supply order, etc., while I have been able to sit back, be smug, and think that I had everything under control. My springs usually wound down rather than up. Well the joke is on me this year. I am swamped at work, barely keeping up with day to day responsibilities, not to mention all of the prep that needs to go into next year.

So, soon, I school will be done for the summer and I will be at Martin's side at an tigin and blogging more regularly.  (I also will be spending a good chunk of my summer getting ready for next school year...a teacher's work is never done.)

Recently Martin took on a renovation job for your auto mechanic. That too will be done soon.

Can't wait to dig the rest of the basement out by hand and pour that concrete.

a tangent

 This post is a small side trip away from an tigin and to New Gloucester.  I've lived in my house in New Gloucester for 8 years.  For many of those years I had a pair of nesting yellow-bellied sapsuckers who chose a tree near my bedroom window to nest in. Each spring I could count on waking up to screaming yellow-bellied sapsucker chicks wanting to be fed. I spent many contemplative hours watching the harried parents frantically flying back and forth getting food and feeding the chicks.  Because I usually visit my mother around the 4th of July, I missed watching the chicks fledge for most of the years that they nested in that tree.  However, one year I missed the 4th of July family picnic and was in New Gloucester to see the babies emerge.  The past few years, the yellow-bellied sap suckers have found a new spot to nest. Martin is planning on taking down the old tree that they used to nest in, so there is no possibility of their returning to it for a home.  In spite of not being closely connected to the chicks and their growth, I have enjoyed hearing the sap suckers call while I am out gardening and doing yard work.

This spring one of the yellow-bellied sapsuckers decided that Martin's trailer (I know it is ugly, but he got it for cheap and it has come in handy with hauling all of that junk out of an tigin) was a great place to peck. I've heard that woodpeckers peck in the spring to attract a mate.  One of the schools I used to work at had a woodpecker that used to regularly, in the spring, peck a metal lamp post for days on end. I have also heard that woodpeckers peck to establish their territory.  This yellow-bellied sapsucker decided that the sound of Martin's trailer was the one he wanted. We heard him one weekend and because of the way it sounded thought he was pecking on something metal. We got the binoculars out and checked the utility pole across the street, but then spotted it on the trailer.  The sound echoed magnificently.  The bird had positioned itself opposite a metal support post and since it was inside the trailer, the sound was naturally amplified.

We have woken up to the yellow-bellied sap sucker tapping out a tune every morning since.  More info on yellow-bellied sapsuckers

granite step

The original house had a granite step that we decided to reuse. Martin and I spent an afternoon wrestling the step into place in front of the front porch. Because the front yard isn't regraded yet, we hauled in sand, from the sand dune in the back yard, to raise it to the correct height and level it. Then we were worried that with run off from the roof, the sand would wash away. Martin and I hauled rocks from the rock pile in the back yard, left over from digging out the original kitchen foundation. We then placed the rocks around the granite slab we are using for a step, filled in gaps with more sand, and are hoping that everything is stable enough to last a while.

roofless

The old roof is gone, gone, gone.

Now we are relying completely on tarps to keep the water out. Since the tarps have been used for about a year and have been taken off and put on again and again, they are not keeping the water out as well as we would like.

The sooner we get the second floor walls up and the sooner we get a roof on, the better!