Thankful for good weather and hard work!

So it was Thanksgiving long weekend, which for most people meant three days off work and lots of turkey!  For those of us building Monster Garage, it meant three days of hard work and eating fast food.  Our task this weekend was getting all the roofing plywood on the roof trusses, to get the roof ready for shingling.  But first, we had to get the sheets of plywood onto the roof.  We had tried two different methods last week, both equally scarring.  This time, we tried a neat gadget Rob had bought last year, in anticipation of drywalling at the cabin:  a drywall lifter!  Just put the sheets of plywood on the device, crank the handle, and up she goes.  Sort of reminded me of an medieval catapult!

Rob assembling the contraption

 

A man actually reading instructions!



The drywall lift in action

But this worked for only two sheets before we threw in the towel. The technique was rather precarious and way too awkward doing the lift onto the device and doing the lift onto the roof. So we then changed to the tried the true method--tying a rope onto each sheet and me lifting at the bottom and Rob pulling from the roof. OMG. We had to also lower pieces of plywood, as some pieces needed cutting to fit within the trusses.  Up and down, up and down.  Cutting, cutting, nailing, nailing.

And we also met a roofing contractor at the garage, to get a quote for him to shingle the roof.  The price was very reasonable and they could do it during the week.  Done!  That is a relief, as winter is knocking at the garage door (well, if we had it delivered and installed...) and we are running out of time.  And then we got the south side roof installed by the end of Saturday.

South side roof installed

And we even had time to go get more plywood from Home Depot, which we just stowed in the back of the truck--and because we didn't want to unload 20 sheets of plywood, we just backed the truck into the garage overnight--the first vehicle to christen the garage!

We were so tired we went to bed by 9:00 p.m.!  And then with so much sleep, we were up by 6:30 a.m., just waiting to get out there.  But I made Rob wait until at least 8:30 a.m. to turn on the air compressor for the nailing gun--don't want to wake the neighbourhoods too early.  So Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday. Up and down with plywood and lots of cutting and nailing. Monday morning involved a bit more cutting and nailing, and then a run to Rona for more plywood and getting them to cut the small pieces for the gap at the peak of the roof, and the boards for the gap along the walls. But by the time we got home, the wind was gusting up to 50k an hour, so I didn't want Rob going up on the roof in that. Plus we had been invited by friends to go over and watch the Rider game--which was soooooooo tempting. Thus, we stopped work for the day--yay!

North side of the roof

So this weekend we WILL finish the roofing and fill in the gaps along the sides.  Then we can call the building inspector, get approved, and then get the shingling done.  So that we can be thankful for!