Build journal – Where did spring go?!

Holy Crap, it was cold out there today! So what kind of work did we do on the garage? Why. screwing and nailing, of course – the kind of work that requires at least one bare hand to hold the screw or nail. We got a fair bit of work done, but man my fingers were frozen! Vent grid is now attached to the front of the garage, and other than two screws, this was all me :-) Girl Power!

Once Brian puts the trim around the garage door openings, we can start shingling this side of the garage. Meanwhile, we’re still working on the north end. I officially can no longer reach high enough from one level of scaffolding, so I’m going to have to try to suck it up and climb up two levels. *GULP*

Some progress shots from  few days ago – see, I really AM up on the scaffolding!

 

I’m really wondering why we’re building such a freakin’ tall garage…. and we’ll need to do this all again for the house and then for Brian’s workshop. GAK!

Build journal – It’s a pass!

The garage passed the inspection – WOOT! Now it’s full steam ahead with installing the trim and siding. We’re going for minimal maintenance, so all the trim is all PVC and the siding is cedar shingles.

I’m not entirely sure why we put up the scaffolding first, seeing as we have to work from the ground up. But here it is 25, feet of scaffolding going up…

Brian added some detail to the corner trim to give it some interest. The holes will be filled with little plugs.

Brian made the window trim too so we could have the exact design we wanted.

We selected 2nd clear shingles, which have some knots. First row of cedar shingle. The knots add some character and interest. First row of cedar shingles in progress…

 

First row done! And it only took an hour :-O

 

And the second row, which pretty much covered up the entire first row!

And the third row, which is kind of the second row.

Up to the windows.

Our friends Kim and Bono came out to help…

Good job team!

 

Lots done, but still s much more to do! I think we’ll be shingling for the next 17 years!

Build journal – Inspection day!

Just when I finally got all caught up with our garage build, I got delinquent about blogging about our progress. Bad me!

Thanks to the continued decent winter weather, we’ve been able to keep moving along with the build. And now we’re at the point where we’re ready for the inspection – YAY! If the garage passes the inspection today, then we’ll be able to move onto installing the cedar shingle siding and metal roof.

Before the inspection could happen, we had to put on the Ventgrid and install the door and windows The two garage doors haven’t been installed yet, but they aren’t required for the inspection.

Ventgrid is basically a plastic grid that goes on top of the wrapping to create an air gap between the shingles and the structure. This allows any moisture that may get in behind the shingles to evaporate, rather than sit there and potentially cause rot. It’s pretty easy to install – a power drill and screws and you’re good to go :-) Except it was kind of cold, and my fingers turned into little icicles! I keep trying to thaw them out by sitting in my hands in the car with the heated seats turned on.

Source

The windows were actually quite easy to install as well. Although I had my doubts that Brian would be able to heave the biggest one up the ladder! But he did… here they come!

I was inside the garage to help guide the windows in place and screw them into place temporarily so Brian could do the adjustments to get the square and level.

 

This view is why we went with a big window instead of the small window in the original plan :-)

 

The windows on the north wall are over the stairwell, so I had to make a little platform to reach them – my levitation skills are a bit lacking ;-)

 

Now bring on the inspector!