Sagebrush & Solar

As with all of our projects, it’s been a journey. Money, research, and labor. We’re very thankful to Building Plan Choices Lauren and Keith for choosing the most simplistic roofline option posed to us by our architect.

As it turns out, it’s not as simple as getting the roof sheathing on, throwing down some water and ice barrier and tacking on some shingles.

Roof sheathing, check. Kind of. A lot of it had to be re-nailed, so that ate some time.

Then we had to paint the fascia (aka trim), as it’s a lot easier to do before you lay the drip edge. Then we laid the drip edge. The drip edge is the piece that helps keep water away from the fascia and underneath the roof. We miscalculated our fascia amount, so we also had to get some more and install and paint that.

Next was the ice and water barrier, which does what it sounds like. It helps prevent leaks.

In order to create a tight seal with the shingles, we have to drill our penetrations for vents and pipes prior to laying shingle (rather than drilling through laid shingle).

Once those things were done, we were finally able to nail down the first shingle.

We are very thankful for help. Keith’s friend, Cam, flew in from Portland to help out for a few days — and we’ve definitely put him to work. Our friend Curtis has also come out several times — low and behold, three pairs of hands makes it go a lot quicker.

Keith has spent all of his off time working on it. However, it was a massive project: and we were simply out of time. Keith had a packed work week that led straight into out-of-state drill.

We contacted a local roofing company who agreed to finish the job for us. On the plus side, when he came out to give us an estimate, he said he was initially worried to see the type of workmanship the homeowner had done — but was pleasantly surprised. He told Keith it was done how his crew would have done it, which is a massive compliment.

They came out and knocked it out in two days.

What’s next? When Keith gets back, we have the month of August until my dad leaves (for his real job). The focus will be on window installation, electric or plumbing, and potentially siding. We have several overtime shifts we picked up to offset the roof hire cost and to hire out for other things, so it’s going to be a busy month. September will bring siding, septic, solar and water tank preparation. The goal is to finish our outside stuff before cold weather hits — we can do interior stuff once we are dried in.

So, when are we going to be done and ready to move in? No idea. Hopefully by April, when our lease is up.