# Screenhouse in the woods



## jules4

This thread is a follow-up to my first thread on this site, Seeking advice on framing plan, in which I received a lot of help fixing up the plans for the screenhouse I’m building at my parent’s cottage. (Mom’s had to mostly give up walking due to nerve damage, so I’m building this for her so she can spend time out in the woods again like she used to.) 

Anyway, I’ve just returned from a two week stint at the cottage - unfortunately there’s no internet access, but I kept track of what I was up to on my laptop so I’ll try to get it all posted in the next day or two.


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## jules4

*Tuesday (July 20)*

Tuesday (July 20)

An outdoor fire place I actually built this spring to accompany the screenhouse. The fireplace is about 4 feet across, and built from two boulders (one for the back and a big flat one for the hearth) and a lot of dry-stacked stones. The rocks are all fitted into position so nothing is loose or wobbly (it was a lot of fun to do, like putting together a large jigsaw puzzle).










Batter-boards that were used to workout the orientation of the screenhouse and to guide the excavation of post holes (there were four strings connecting the horizontal arms, with the intersection of the lines marking the post locations).










Four 14 foot pressure treated 6x6s that were hauled out to the site today. 










Unfortunately, I couldn’t get ground contact rated posts around these parts (let alone PWF), so these posts are woefully under-treated for setting in the ground. To overcome this I’ve painted the ends with 3 coats of marine polyurethane (Interlux Brightside), which should buy me an extra decade or two. 

The nails you can see sticking out of three posts are there to provide some tooth for the concrete necklaces I’m going to pour around them.


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## jules4

Thursday (July 22)

Three of the posts are raised and braced in position - raising them was easy, but it took the better part of two days to get them plumb and square.










The pier I “poured” yesterday (I mixed it pretty dry so it was more “beaten-into-position” than “poured”). The avant-garde shape is due to the difficulty I had in setting stakes (to support the forms) around the rock rather than any sculptural aspirations on my part. 

The pier extends down the side of the rock about three feet below ground (the rock keeps going well beyond this).


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## jules4

Friday (July 23) 

Today I got the last post raised, plumb and sort-of square (more on this later). I also installed the side floor girts (outermost joists) to establish the floor line so I could mark the posts to height (each post will need to loose between 2-3 feet). 










Getting back to the “sort-of square” fourth post - those with sharp eyes probably noticed from the previous picture that the post on the pier is out of alignment. 

Even after shifting the right front post over as far as possible in its hole, and letting the left front post overhang the pier by a good inch, the front wall is still going to be an inch narrower than the back wall.










I place the blame for this screw-up squarely on the shoulders of the site-supervisor, who was asleep on the job, as usual: 










Of course, blame aside, there’s still the question of what to do about the out-of square framing. 

I must admit my first impulse was to ignore it. But then I thought about what my framing-idols loneframer or framerman would say about someone who left something out an inch in just 8 feet, and realized that I’d have to fix this or I’d never be able to read their posts again without hanging my head in shame. 

As soon as the ground dries up enough I’ll dig a larger hole for the right front post so I can get this fixed.


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## jules4

Sat/Sunday (July 24/25)

I was going to cut the posts to size with a chainsaw; however, modern tech being the faithless mistress it is, no amount of cleaning, lubbing or replacing of spark plugs could convince the darn thing to start. So, after wasting Saturday morning working on the chainsaw, I finally gave up and decided to use my great grand-father’s bucksaw instead. 

It took me over three hours to “fell” one post-top with the bucksaw while balancing precariously on a ladder. Great-grandpa was probably looking down at me laughing himself silly. After that ordeal I came to my senses and built a small platform to stand on while sawing the other rear post.










Once it _finally_ stopped raining on Sunday I got the other rear post cut in about 40 minutes (it would have taken even less time if the wood wasn’t so wet).


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## jules4

Monday (July 26) 

I spent most of Monday working up at the cottage, but I did spend a few hours at the screenhouse in the afternoon building a new, larger platform that extends the full width of the back (and a similar one across the front). This will make life much easier when it comes to installing rafters.


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## jules4

Tuesday (July 27)

I finally corrected the misalignment in the front posts. I dug a larger hole for the right front post so I could shift it over 2 inches, which allowed me to shift the left front post 1 inch further back onto its pier (so it’s now only overhanging by a fraction of an inch).










I also installed a triple 2x6 beam across the back posts, and cut one of the front posts down to size (only one post left to go - my shoulder is _really_ looking forward to the end of all this horizontal sawing).


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## jules4

Wednesday (July 28)

Cut the last post this morning (yay!) and installed the front rafter beam. Unfortunately, while installing the beam I discovered that all my previous efforts to ensure nice, square framing were thwarted by a twist in the upper third of the right front post. 

I tried shimming out the beam so that it would be square even though the top of the post wasn’t, but this emphasized the twist in the post and made the framing look really ugly. So, I compromised by slightly shimming the beam so that everything looked square even though it wasn’t. (This ultimately backfired when it came to sheathing the roof.) 



















I didn’t want to have to drag the ladder back and forth between the front and rear platforms, so I made this nifty little ladder out of some scraps. I think it has a lot more character than the aluminum ladder. (However, using live trees for uprights rather limits its portability.)










Around 6pm the site-supervisor (a.k.a. Gryphon) showed up wondering when we were going to break for dinner.










A gratuitous shot of the view I enjoyed all day.


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## jules4

Well the first week sure went by fast :jester:

I'll get the rest of the pictures posted tomorrow.


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## Willie T

Thank you, J. This is obviously going to be an enjoyable photo adventure for us. But a heck of a lot of work for you.

The fact that you are doing that whole project all by yourself is staggering. My hat is off to you.


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## jules4

Willie T said:


> Thank you, J. This is obviously going to be an enjoyable photo adventure for us. But a heck of a lot of work for you.
> 
> The fact that you are doing that whole project all by yourself is staggering. My hat is off to you.


Thanks Bill!

The only other construction I've done is building a fence (which was pretty easy) - raising an actual structure has turned out to involve a lot more work than I anticipated (but it's fun work, so it's all good).

Julia


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## jules4

Okay, now for the rest of the pictures of my two-week adventure.

Friday (July 30)

I spent all yesterday working at the cottage again, but got back to work on the screenhouse bright and early today.

I half-lapped the braces by sawing a bunch of parallel cuts in each member to be joined (to the desired depth of the half-lap) and then cleaning the wood out with a chisel. It’s not a perfect fit, but not bad for my first effort at joinery “in the field.” 

(The 5/4x6 behind the triple 2x6 beam is just there to bring the beam flush with the post, it's not actually needed structurally, so cutting half-way through for my laps is not a concern.)











I also installed the rafter girts that will support the fly rafters for the rake overhangs, and scribed the birdsmouths on the outermost common rafters. I had to scribe both outside rafters because, due to the slight angle of the front rafter beam, the front birdsmouths were somewhat offset (by about 3/4" it turned out).


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## jules4

Saturday (July 31)

Installed the short fly rafters that will support the floating rafters of the overhang, and added purlins running parallel to the fly rafters to provide lateral bracing. 

I have some “action” shots of the installation of the second purlin courtesy of mom (she came down this weekend to check on the progress of the project). 

Pre-setting the nails for the second purlin:



















“Knee bracing” one end of the purlin while nailing it in place: 










Random sheltie foolishness:


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## jules4

Sunday (Aug 1)

Sadly the construction will be coming to an end very soon since I have to leave tomorrow. It’s amazing how fast two weeks goes by when you’re working all the time. It’s also amazing how long it takes to build stuff - working the hours I did I seriously would have thought I could have the screenhouse completely finished inside of a week.

Anyway, I finished installing the rafters today. 

Knowing how far the front birdsmouths were offset on the outermost rafters, I had the bright idea that I didn’t need to scribe four remaining common rafters: I could just mark them out by progressively moving the front birdsmouth by 1/5 of the total offset. 

I’ll bet it would have worked great, too, except that I progressively moved the birdsmouths in the _wrong flippin' direction_. (Thankfully only two were so far off that they had to be recut.) I forgot to take pictures of this screw-up for everyone's amusement, but just picture large ugly gaps behind the 4 interior rafters where they meet the front beam.

Here’s some pictures of the roof with all the rafters installed (I didn't install the front fascia until I had most of the sheathing on, since it was easier to install from on top of the roof): 


















And a picture later on after I’d finished sheathing the roof (I used 5/8 T&G CDX) and laying the felt: 










Remember several posts back when I said that my solution to the problem of the twisted post would come back to bite me? 

My “solution” was to angle the front beam so that everything would “look” square (instead of setting so it actually was square, which would make the post look warped). Well here’s where pay-back occurred, because the roof deck _really was_ square: 










If I had power on site I’d have just taken a circular saw to the sheathing so that it “looked” square too, but I didn’t have time to trim this with a hand saw so I reluctantly left it.


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## jules4

Monday (Aug 2)

The roof _had_ to get finished before I left today, so I was back at work by 7 am.

By 9 am I had the felt trimmed and had installed the starter strip of roll-roofing and the drip edge (lessons learned this morning: galvanized drip edge is a b**ch to cut with a dull hacksaw). 










The single best piece of advice I received regarding the use of double-coverage roll-roofing (or 19" selvage roofing) was to nail down all the courses first (starting at the bottom), and _then_ cement all the laps (starting at the top). 

I can’t imagine how much of this black goo I’d be covered with if I’d followed the manufacturers directions of cementing each course as it was laid: 










Roll-roofing finished except for the trimming. 










Unfortunately I had to leave at this point and couldn’t get the trimming done, I just hope the final section that was left overhanging the front doesn’t wind up getting torn off by the wind before I can get back down there to finish it up.


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## Willie T

It's looking great so far. See, you engineer types actually CAN do some great work! :yes:

I am just floored that you are doing all this not only by yourself, but also with no electricity.


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## jules4

Willie T said:


> It's looking great so far. See, you engineer types actually CAN do some great work! :yes:
> 
> I am just floored that you are doing all this not only by yourself, but also with no electricity.


Engineer types? Well, maybe by inclination, but I've never actually taken a course in it - I'm an arts type by profession :thumbup:

One up side to no power tools was I could actually listen to the water in the falls and the bird songs while working. (Would have traded both for a cordless circular saw though lol.)


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## jules4

I was lucky enough to be able to sneak away to the cottage for the previous two weeks to get more work done. I’ll post details over the next couple of days as I get the pics organized.

To review, here's where I left off in early August:












 Friday - Monday (Aug 27-30)
(I didn’t actually get around to taking any progress shots until Monday.)

I started work by dismantling the front and rear platforms I had previously built to provide roof access, and then installed 2x2 nailing strips on the outside of the front and rear floor girts (with spaces to allow air flow) to provide additional support for the balusters I’ll be adding.

Detail of the rear nailing strip:











Then I installed vertical 2x4's to define the window/door openings, a horizontal 2x4 railing support/siding girt, and the centre floor joist:




















I want the 2x6 I’m installing as a railing to be rock solid, since it will be used as a shelf/foot rest/counter-top/step-stool/etc., so I used Strong-Tie brackets to beef it up. 

On each side, where the railings will end mid-wall (i.e., not at a corner post), I used A35Z brackets which have bendable tabs at one end. Here’s a detailed pic of how I used these: what you see is the bracket installed to the 2x4 stud (one side of the bracket is sandwiched between the stud and the horizontal girt), with one tab (tab 1 in pic) bent down to support the railing.











Where the railings end at corner posts I used standard ‘L’ brackets (I added brackets mid-span as well since I had extra). 

Here’s a picture showing the ‘L’ brackets (taken after the railing and balusters were installed):











Finally, I installed the 2x4 balusters. Note that the balusters are nailed directly to the 2x2 nailing strips and the floor girts, as opposed to being nailed through the floor - I’m not nailing anything to the floor boards in order to make it easier to replace them (the floor will be untreated spruce, so replacement may be required at some point).

(You can also see from this picture that I’ve covered the floor girts with roofing felt - I’m going to do this with all the floor joists too. It’s probably a total waste of time and felt, since I’m using pressure treated lumber, but it can’t do any harm and I had lots of felt left over.)











The end result is a railing I can literally jump up and down on without it budging in the slightest. 

Props for this truly kick-ass railing design must go to WillieT (I'd originally planned to use a flimsy sistered 2x4 contraption).


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## gma2rjc

It's coming along nicely. What is the green stuff you put on the wood? 

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and when it's finished.


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## cocobolo

gma2rjc said:


> It's coming along nicely. What is the green stuff you put on the wood?
> 
> Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and when it's finished.


I think you'll find that when Jules comes back to tell you, that the green stuff is wood preservative.

Greetings from the right end of Canada Jules! Nice job so far...:thumbsup:


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## jules4

gma2rjc said:


> It's coming along nicely. What is the green stuff you put on the wood?
> 
> Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and when it's finished.


Cocobolo is right on the money - I put a liberal dose of end cut preservative on any "virgin" wood I exposed in my treated lumber (eg., notches and end cuts, nail holes left from temporary braces, etc.). 

I'm looking forward to seeing it finished too!


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## jules4

cocobolo said:


> Greetings from the right end of Canada Jules! Nice job so far...:thumbsup:


 Thanks! (And there can only be one right end, so you guys are clearly on the wrong end :001_tongue: )


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## jules4

Tuesday (Aug 31)

Finally got around to finishing my foundation today. I’d left the post-holes open so long I had to spend half an hour cleaning debris out of them before I could pour the concrete necklaces around the bottoms of the posts. 

I poured one and half bags worth of concrete into the bottom of each hole, pausing to tamp everything down a few times to remove air pockets. This made a nice 1 foot thick necklace around the base of each post, which should anchor things down nicely. 

Here’s a picture of a freshly poured necklace - although it doesn’t look it, the top of the concrete is actually about two feet below ground level (I’ll backfill the holes with soil once the concrete has had 24 hours to set up). 











As I’ve been constructing the framing I’ve been caulking the tops and sides of all joints with 100% silicone caulk (I leave the bottoms open for drainage just in case water does get in). I just so happens that I'd started a new tube of caulk when I did the railings and balusters yesterday, and today I noticed that this caulk was still just as gooey as when I’d applied it. 

Today I learned a valuable lesson about silicone - CHECK THE EXPIRY DATE ON SILICONE CAULK! 

Old silicone caulk won’t cure. Ever. 

So . . . I spent the rest of the day cleaning uncured silicone off the railings. I found the technique that worked best was to use plastic drywall knives (and random bits of wood) to scrape as much of the silicone off as I could, and then scrub things down with paint thinner.

Before cleaning:











After cleaning:











Of course now that I’ve finally gotten rid of all the silicone I'm going to have to caulk it all over again.


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## jules4

Wednesday (Sept 1)

It appears that there’s a good chance that hurricane Earl will make landfall here Friday night/early Saturday, so I’m going to have to get all the excess roll-roofing that’s hanging off the edges of the roof trimmed so the whole roof doesn’t wind up peeling off in the wind. 

It’s been hot and humid all week so I’ve been putting this task off: hanging out on baking hot asphalt does not appeal. Today’s no better, with an expected high of 33C (92F) and a heat index in the low 40s (105-110F), but with Earl closing in the roof needs to get done. (In case you're wondering, no, these are _not_ normal temperatures for Nova Scotia in September!)

In order to avoid the worst of the heat I headed up on the roof at 7am and, thankfully, managed to finish before the sun really started to beat down (it was still bloody hot though). I trimmed all the roofing flush with the drip edge, and made double-sure the roof edges and all the laps were cemented down, applying Black Gold patching compound as needed. To protect the Black Gold from UV damage I coated all exposed compound with roofing granules (obtained by rubbing scraps of roll-roofing together).











I also got the eavestrough installed (Earl is supposed to pack loads of rain).











And installed the rest of the floor joists (nothing to do with Earl).


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## DangerMouse

Wonderful read. Thanks!
I can't wait to see it done.
Beautiful view too.

DM


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> Thanks! (And there can only be one right end, so you guys are clearly on the wrong end :001_tongue: )


Nice try Jules, but we are at the right end and you are at the left end! It isn't that it's wrong, it's just that it's all that's left!


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## DangerMouse

South end ain't so bad either..... south of the soo....lol

DM


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## jules4

DangerMouse said:


> Wonderful read. Thanks!
> I can't wait to see it done.
> Beautiful view too.
> 
> DM


Thanks - I’m enjoying writing it too. 

It is a very beautiful site, and I must admit to occasionally choosing my pictures on the basis their aesthetic qualities rather than their functional merits. (E.g., I particularly liked the contrast in the picture I posted immediately before your first reply to this thread - I actually had several other pictures using a flash that showed the joists much more clearly, but they lacked charm.)


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## DangerMouse

If I did that in MY woods, all my view would be of is frogs eating mosquitos.... lol

DM


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## cocobolo

DangerMouse said:


> South end ain't so bad either..... south of the soo....lol
> 
> DM


The simple truth is DM that no matter where you go there is beauty to be found.

I remember when I arrived in Canada as a kid being completely in awe of the views as we were approaching Halifax by boat. I'm still very much in awe of the scenery all over this country.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> Thanks - I’m enjoying writing it too.
> 
> It is a very beautiful site, and I must admit to occasionally choosing my pictures on the basis their aesthetic qualities rather than their functional merits. (E.g., I particularly liked the contrast in the picture I posted immediately before your first reply to this thread - I actually had several other pictures using a flash that showed the joists much more clearly, but they lacked charm.)


I think we hear you about the flash problem Jules, natural light always seems to be warmer. Sometimes you can't avoid using a flash though, but you can often fix that bland look with your photo program.

The other trouble with a flash is that often only the closest part of the pic shows up well and the rest looks dark. I haven't got that one figured out yet.


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## jules4

Thursday (Sept 2)

I installed the solid floor blocking today. 

Solid blocking isn’t really necessary since the joists are plenty strong (I went with 16oc joist spacing instead of my originally planned 24oc, since I decided to use 1" spruce boards instead of 3/4" Douglas Fir ply), and the floor boards themselves would have limited the lateral deflection of the joists. 

However, because most of the walls of the screen house are open, and so don’t provide any bracing against lateral forces, finding other ways of protecting the structure from wracking is an ongoing concern. In this case, my (admittedly ad hoc) theory is that by adding tightly fitted, mid-span floor blocking, which has made it virtually impossible for the joists to deflect laterally with respect to each other, the whole floor will now function more like a moment frame (i.e., like a very wide box beam) and so provide some increased stability to the rest of the structure. 











I also started installing the floor boards - a very exciting moment, the screen house will finally start looking like a usable structure! 

I’ve actually been preparing the floor boards since last week, and the details of how I went about this might be useful to others who are contemplating such a project. Although the boards were technically kiln dried, they’d been rained on before I got them so the first thing I did was let them bake in the sun for four days to dry up (I could tell how dry they were by how much they’d twisted up - gotta love 2nd growth flat sawn spruce lol). Once dry, each board was soaked in a trough of clear wood preservative for 5 minutes. After this treatment they were baked in the sun for another 4 days.

Since I’m using cheap 1x6 T&G spruce boards, a good deal of surface prep was also required to deal with knot holes. Once the preservative was thoroughly dry I glued all the loose knots in place (using an exterior wood glue). In retrospect I obviously should have done this _prior_ to treating the boards with preservative, since being impregnated with paraffin wax is unlikely to improve glue-adhesion. So, as an added safeguard, I nailed a scrap of wood across the back of each loose knot so they won’t fall out even if the glue fails. There were also a couple of open knot holes which I filled with PC Woody epoxy (again, nailing on a backer strip).












Since the boards were notched to fit around the posts/balusters/studs, all these fresh cuts were soaked in more wood preservative before the boards were nailed down. I also put a bead of silicone caulk down each groove before driving the tongue home, so that water can’t get into this joint and rot the tongue out.

Due to their warped personalities, many of the boards had to be forced into place using temp braces, levers and/or feet, and then held down, kicking and screaming, until secured. As a result I’m quite proud of how tight the joints turned out.











Another picture showing the superfluous roofing felt I added to the blocking and joists:


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## DangerMouse

The boxing/blocking certainly won't hurt!

DM


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## jules4

cocobolo said:


> I think we hear you about the flash problem Jules, natural light always seems to be warmer. Sometimes you can't avoid using a flash though, but you can often fix that bland look with your photo program.
> 
> The other trouble with a flash is that often only the closest part of the pic shows up well and the rest looks dark. I haven't got that one figured out yet.


The biggest annoyance I have with flash - aside from it screwing the colours up - is that it flattens images by removing the changes in contrast that could otherwise provide clues to depth. I try to avoid editing photos though - I'm way too much of a perfectionist and will wind up spending hours on Photo Paint tweaking the histogram, fiddling with the tone curve, carefully removing glare . . . I can literally waste days working on a single picture.

I've found the best way to avoid having the rest of the image look too dark when attempting to brighten a nearby object is to adjust the white-balance rather than using a flash.


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## jules4

DangerMouse said:


> The boxing/blocking certainly won't hurt!
> 
> DM


This is essentially my operating principle when it comes to building:

Another coat of wood preservative? Can't hurt!

Felt over treated lumber? Can't hurt!

More blocking? Can't hurt!

Caulking all joints? Can't hurt! (Well, actually it does hurt a little when you have to scrape it all off and start again lol)


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## jules4

Friday (Sept 3)
Half of the floor boards are now installed!











I started running 6 mil poly underneath the floor today to act as a vapour barrier to lower the ambient humidity of the crawl space. This is also an unnecessary detail. I built the screen house at a local high point in the ground elevation, so water naturally runs away from it in all directions. Added to this the floor is a minimum of 13 inches off the ground (and often closer to 2 feet), and I’ll be leaving the sides of the crawl space open for ventilation (there’s usually a good breeze off the river). 

However, like roofing felt, poly is cheap so I figured why the heck not. (The logs and lumber weighing the poly down are only temporary - covering a vapour barrier in rotting soft-wood would obviously be counter-productive).











Hurricane Earl is expected to still be a category 1 storm when it arrives in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, so I spent the afternoon engaged in some final preparations for the storm, such as this make-shift down spout to divert water from the eavestrough away from the foundation. 











As of 7 pm everything is battened down as good as it can be:


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## Gary in WA

Wow! That is quite the accomplishment. 

I am little concerned about the distance of the side overhangs in relationship to how far back they set from bearing. Usually, it's 3 to 1 on a cantilever. Yours appear to be 1 back and 2+ out. Maybe adding an H-1 on the two center blocks/beam would help hold it's own in a heavy snow load. Use 2- 2.5's on the block above the beams running parallel on the cant. Possibly adding some on each block/rafter connection, if the forces are great enough there. Listing these for others, for their information.

rhttp://www.bgstructuralengineering.com/BGASCE7/BGASCE7008/BGASCE70803.htm

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...3GN1hr&sig=AHIEtbSIn44PkEXMJwhalpoLI0y_E8w56w
Codes figure double the snow load for tail overhangs and cantilevers, not sure on side cants though.


Nice job! 

Gary


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## jules4

Saturday (Sept 4)

Well, Earl was not as bad as had been feared here on the South Shore. Although it made landfall very close by, it had weakened considerably with sustained winds of only 120 kph (75 mph), so not much worse than a winter nor’easter. 

There were some heavy gusts, and loads of tropical rain, but it was moving fast so the whole business was over by the afternoon.

The screen house sustained no damage whatsoever - looked exactly the same as it had the evening before, expect for the channel the water had carved out leading away from my make-shift down spout. 


I spent the rest of the day employed in fitting diagonal braces in the back section of each side wall - they look good even if the frame didn't appear to need any added bracing in this particular dimension.











With regards to wracking, by throwing my weight around on the posts so as to trigger oscillations I’ve discovered that the structure won’t shift (straight) laterally in any direction; however, the roof can be made to rotate slightly with respect to the ground. 

I’m not sure what to do about this potential for rotational oscillation - but I suspect that preventing it would require the addition of some large, ugly, window-obscuring braces to the front and sides. Perhaps nothing even needs to be done about it, since no amount of encouragement can get the roof to rotated more than a degree or so, at which point it springs right back. I’d welcome your thoughts on this subject.


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## jules4

GBR in WA said:


> Wow! That is quite the accomplishment.
> 
> I am little concerned about the distance of the side overhangs in relationship to how far back they set from bearing. Usually, it's 3 to 1 on a cantilever. Yours appear to be 1 back and 2+ out. Maybe adding an H-1 on the two center blocks/beam would help hold it's own in a heavy snow load. Use 2- 2.5's on the block above the beams running parallel on the cant. Possibly adding some on each block/rafter connection, if the forces are great enough there.


You’re right, the blocks that support the fly rafters overhang their bearing points by about 2/3 of their length. 

Hopefully that will be okay, it does feel pretty solid. I can stand at any point on the roof without causing any detectable movement in the sheathing or rafters; this includes putting all my (not inconsiderable) weight at the edge of one of the front corners - which strikes me as the roofs weakest point. (Although, as previously mentioned, the entire roof as a unit can be made to rotate slightly about centre.)

It would be easy enough to add some fasteners to reinforce the connection between these blocks and the beams they bear on though, so I’ll take your advice about adding some ties here.


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## cocobolo

By the time you get finished with the wall structure, what do you think the chances are of rain getting at your floor?

I'm asking because I don't think we know yet what sort of screens you will be using. Thanks.


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## jules4

cocobolo said:


> By the time you get finished with the wall structure, what do you think the chances are of rain getting at your floor?
> 
> I'm asking because I don't think we know yet what sort of screens you will be using. Thanks.


I'd say the chances of rain getting on the floor are 100%. Not only are the windows going to be all screen, but the knee wall formed by the railings will be screened in too. However, it rains a lot less here than on the "wet" coast, so the floor will spend most of its time dry.

I also plan on coming up with way to winterize the place to limit the amount of snow and ice that get in. The only difficulty is it's got to be a system that mom can handle on her own - I'm thinking of making the screen panels removable so that they can be taken down, stuck into poly "bags", and then just put back up again.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> I'd say the chances of rain getting on the floor are 100%. Not only are the windows going to be all screen, but the knee wall formed by the railings will be screened in too. However, it rains a lot less here than on the "wet" coast, so the floor will spend most of its time dry.
> 
> I also plan on coming up with way to winterize the place to limit the amount of snow and ice that get in. The only difficulty is it's got to be a system that mom can handle on her own - I'm thinking of making the screen panels removable so that they can be taken down, stuck into poly "bags", and then just put back up again.


We certainly are notorious for getting rain here, that's for sure.

Where we are we average 37" a year. Mosquito Creek in North Vancouver is up around 140", and anything directly on the west coast - Tofino for example - enjoys (?) even more rain.

I wonder if something like a boat cover might work? The type that you fasten in place with the twist fasteners. The only thing about that would be you would need a way to get up to the top as well...maybe not such a good idea for your mum.

What about something you could hook on? A couple of hooks at the top and some sort of tie at the bottom?

Anyway, one of the reasons I was inquiring about the water getting at the deck was to see how it might be able to get _off_ the deck.

Your wood for the floor was kiln dried...which means that the wood cells are dead. You can still expect the wood to expand and contract, maybe not as much as non kiln dried wood.

You may have done yourself a dis-service by adding silicone to the T & G.

Whatever water does get in there will now find it harder to get out. And inevitably, some will get in there. But with the wood treatment, it has a reasonable chance of lasting probably 20 years plus.

Incidentally, I like the fact that you have added felt to the top of your floor joist structure. I have been a fan of that idea for decades.

Dare I suggest that in future when you want to dry wood after you have soaked it in preservative, that you do it more slowly than baking it in the sun. While that will dry the wood eventually, so will the natural process of air drying. The outside of the wood (facing the sun) dries first, and puts the inner portion - which is still damp - under some pressure. At some point there is some stress in the board, which might lead to cracking.

I'm sure you have noticed that when a board is laying flat in the sun it will tend to curl up on the outer edges. This is because the top of the board is shrinking. Flip it over and the board will straighten out.

If you get a couple of stubborn boards which just don't want to co-operate, lay the two cupped sides together. After a day or two they should start to get flatter.


----------



## jules4

I actually haven't made any provisions for water getting off the floor other than by evaporation. I'd initially planned on sloping the floor, providing weep holes and the whole nine yards, but quickly realized that any water on the floor would stay put due to surface tension unless we got a truly massive deluge (combined with an unfavourable wind direction) or I really pitched the heck out of the floor. 

And stubborn doesn't began to describe some of the boards I dealt with - I had one that turned itself into an 's' shape lol. Luckily there wasn't much cracking to deal with - it's local Black Spruce, which prefers to twist and bend rather than crack, so I could afford to get pretty aggressive about forcing it into place.

It's unfortunate that I don't have a portable mill - there's some old Douglass Fir in my parent's woodlot that would have made stellar rift-sawn floor boards. It pains me to see dad using it for fire wood (though not quite as much at is pains me to see him burning ancient burled apple trunks).


----------



## cocobolo

OH NO!!! Can't you steal those burls before he does any more damage!!!


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## jules4

Well, the problem is they're kinda heavy.

And a little large.

On the bright side there doesn't appear to be any shortage of old burled apples on the property, so if I ever do get my hands on a saw mill . . .


----------



## jules4

Sunday - Tuesday (Sept 5-7)

Okay, so by the end of Tuesday I had the flooring almost done (there’s just one piece to be fitted in at the very back).











And I also had all the toe boards installed (one is missing due to my having sawn it too short - you know what they say, it’s easier to saw more off . . . ).












Detail showing how the toe boards are raised above the level of the floor (to make it easier to replace floor boards in the future). I stapled a ‘V’ of screen to the underside of each toe board before installing it to keep bugs from flying in through this gap.


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## cocobolo

Boy, you haven't missed a trick have you? Who woulda thunk about putting screen there. Great idea.


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## jules4

I forget who I stole that screen idea from - probably someone from contractor talk. I've ruthlessly stalked the good folks on that site in order to acquire their trade secrets :shifty:.


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## Willie T

You are quite a woman, J! And one heck of a great daughter.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> I forget who I stole that screen idea from - probably someone from contractor talk. I've ruthlessly stalked the good folks on that site in order to acquire their trade secrets :shifty:.


Well, that's the way it's done! Keep on snooping! :thumbsup:


----------



## jules4

Wednesday-Thursday (Sept 8-9)

Due to the limited board sizes available here, I wound up needing to rip quite a few of the trim boards I’ll be using, so I decided to prepare the trim up at the cottage where I have the luxury of a power saw. If the trim winds up not fitting perfectly due to being prepared off-site, oh well, that’s what caulk is for right? 

I got all the trim pieces cut out, sanded with 80 grit to take off any mill glaze, and started painting the first batch. Painting will be pretty tedious - I’m painting all six sides, and each piece will get two coats of Ben Moore exterior oil primer, which requires 12 hours or more between coats (this means it actually takes two days to do one coat, since I have to wait at least 12 hours before flipping the boards and doing the other side). After that I’ll hit the boards with two coats of Ben Moore premium exterior latex. I’ve started by doing several of the larger pieces of trim since by the time I manage to get back here again it may be too cold to cure paint outside.

I’ll spare you pictures of the paint drying on the trim - it’s about as interesting as watching . . . well, you get the idea. 

Here’s a nice picture of one half of a 1x6 that I ripped at 15° for drip edge though (the other half is an identical piece of drip edge). Note the lovely notch also ripped at 15°, on what will be the underside of the drip edge, to shed water - a thing of beauty I tell you. 











I also finally got around to fixing a lingering problem with the roof. In previous pictures you may have noticed that the ends of my roof sheathing are just butted up against each other in space - they don’t line up with my rafters like they should (they were originally supposed to, but I wound up increasing the width of the roof by a few inches which threw everything off).

As a second-best to situating the butt joints on the rafters, I installed solid blocking between the rafters half-way up each butt joint (there are only 4 such joints, on alternating sides, but I put matching blocks on the non-jointed sides because it looked better that way).


----------



## jules4

Willie T said:


> You are quite a woman, J! And one heck of a great daughter.


Mom didn't actually believe that I'd actually manage it when I first proposed building this for her last fall lol. She's pretty excited about it now though - I just hope I can get it finished this fall so she can enjoy it next spring.


----------



## jules4

Friday (Sept 10)

Today I installed window headers - I decided to add these so that all the main screen panels will be square, so that I can use common aluminum screen rail to put the panels together.











And we now have a fully operational down spout - too late for Earl, but there’ll be other hurricanes. (This instillation is only temporary, I'll eventually have to take it down in order to put up the trim.)











I also started adding blocking strips to make all the framing around the door and windows come out flush.




















And I started to add 2x2 nailing blocks for attaching siding around the back (the trim will cover the posts, and the studs on the side walls, so I can’t nail the siding to them directly).


----------



## cocobolo

Jules...to say the least, _YOU ARE BLOWING ME AWAY!! :thumbup:_


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## Willie T

Hey! What's with the easy chair!?!?! Ain't no sittin' down on the job this late in the season. :wink: :thumbsup:

Seriously.... have you slept out there yet?


----------



## jules4

*Last update post - as of now you guys are fully caught up on my progress.*

 Saturday (Sept 11)

Saturday was a short work day due to having to head back to town, but I did manage to get a few things done, such as putting felt on the outside corners of all the posts so as to provide a path for water to escape should any happen to make it in behind trim.

I also finished painting the first batch of trim this morning - luckily the weather has been very cooperative, despite the temperature having gone back down to more seasonal values (so not much curing goes on at night). I didn’t have enough time to hang the trim before leaving, but you can see two pieces of it sitting on the railing of the screen house (there’s wax paper under it to keep the soft paint from attaching to the railing). It was very frustrating to have to leave without hanging that trim now that it’s all ready to go.

The colour mom choose for the trim is Ben Moore’s “rapture” - it’s dark, and very, _very_ red. I expect to have to put on at least another top coat or two once the trim is hung in order to even out the colour.











I also got a set of stairs assembled (you can see them sitting upside down on the rock to the right). I was going to build a ramp, but mom decided she’d rather have shallow stairs for now. I can always replace them with a ramp later.


----------



## jules4

Willie T said:


> Hey! What's with the easy chair!?!?! Ain't no sittin' down on the job this late in the season. :wink: :thumbsup:
> 
> Seriously.... have you slept out there yet?


:tt2:

Mom was impatient to start enjoying the screen house - she started using it pretty much the minute I had half a floor down. (So perhaps she doesn't really need screens lol)


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## cocobolo

Who could blame her? Pretty darn nice setting.

Jules, I don't know if this works on your computer, but the º sign...option key plus 0. That's a zero not an OH.


----------



## BigJim

Wow, I am totally impressed to say the least. That is a tough job but by yourself and no electricity is just amazing. Way way back when I was much younger I built a free standing carport by myself and it was a trick.

Your mom must be awfully proud of you and just knowing she will treasure her time there is just wonderful. We can't wait to see what you do next. Fantastic job!!!

My stars is all of Canada as beautiful as what we have had the privilege to see in this forum?

Just a quick question and maybe a suggestion. Would your mom use the porch in cool weather when the wind is blowing a little? If so maybe you could make lexan windows that would block the colder wind and could be removed when the weather got warmer. Just a thought. 

Thank you for allowing us to share your project.


----------



## jules4

cocobolo said:


> Who could blame her? Pretty darn nice setting.
> 
> Jules, I don't know if this works on your computer, but the º sign...option key plus 0. That's a zero not an OH.


That's a neat trick - I don't appear to have an option key though. (I tried ctrl, alt, and that window key that's between them, but none of those worked.)


----------



## jules4

*Q*



jiju1943 said:


> Wow, I am totally impressed to say the least. That is a tough job but by yourself and no electricity is just amazing. Way way back when I was much younger I built a free standing carport by myself and it was a trick.
> 
> Your mom must be awfully proud of you and just knowing she will treasure her time there is just wonderful. We can't wait to see what you do next. Fantastic job!!!
> 
> My stars is all of Canada as beautiful as what we have had the privilege to see in this forum?
> 
> Just a quick question and maybe a suggestion. Would your mom use the porch in cool weather when the wind is blowing a little? If so maybe you could make lexan windows that would block the colder wind and could be removed when the weather got warmer. Just a thought.
> 
> Thank you for allowing us to share your project.


Thanks!

Why, yes, all of Canada is that beautiful - expect for that boring middle area from Quebec to Alberta. :whistling2:

I love the idea of adding lexan windows, but for now that's way out of budget - a possible future upgrade though.


----------



## cocobolo

Sorry, I guess you must have a PC then.

There must be some way you can get the º sign, I'm pretty sure.


----------



## jules4

cocobolo said:


> Sorry, I guess you must have a PC then.
> 
> There must be some way you can get the º sign, I'm pretty sure.


Yup, PC. I'm pretty sure I could get just by entering its asci code though (assuming I ever bothered to look that up, which I probably won't lol).


----------



## Willie T

The ascii codes for degree (ALT+ 0176, 0237, or 248) often won't work with xml authors of most forums.
If it is important to you, and you are on a newer operating system composing with MS Word 2007, you can go to the toolbar, select the <INSERT> tab, SYMBOLS / MORE SYMBOLS / SUPERSCRIPTS & SUBSCRIPTS, and you should find the DEGREE Symbol about 6 or 8 rows down on that chart. (should be in the center of the 7th row from the top)

Once you have done that, you should find any symbols you've selected right there in the first dropdown box from now on..... thus eliminating a couple of the steps listed above.


Of course, on this particular forum, we are fortunate..............................

All you have to do here is, while holding down the ALT key, (using only the number pad on the right of your keyboard) type in 0176. Then release the ALT key.

************************

Yes, I know many of you know how to enter ascii codes, but this explanation was for those experiencing it for the first time.


----------



## BigJim

Willie T said:


> The asci codes for degree (ALT+ 0176, 0237, or 248) often won't work with xml authors of most forums.
> If it is important to you, and you are on a newer operating system composing with MS Word 2007, you can go to the toolbar, select <INSERT> tab, SYMBOLS / MORE SYMBOLS / SUPERSCRIPTS & SUBSCRIPTS, and you should find the DEGREE Symbol about 6 or 8 rows down on that chart. (should be in the center of the 7th row from the top)
> 
> Once you have done that, you should find any symbols you've selected right there in the first dropdown box from now on..... thus eliminating a couple of the steps listed above.
> 
> 
> Of course, on this particular forum, we are fortunate..............................
> 
> All you have to do here is, while holding down the ALT key, (using only the number pad on the right of your keyboard) type in 0176. Then release the ALT key.


 My stars, where in the world do you learn all of that stuff? I haven't even scratched the surface with computers yet.


----------



## Willie T

jiju1943 said:


> My stars, where in the world do you learn all of that stuff? I haven't even scratched the surface with computers yet.


Got my first computer in '83, so I've had some time for a few things to soak in.

The ascii codes are fun.... thousands of neat symbols you can just drop into your text anytime. Actually, the letters you are seeing appearing on your screen are each a separate asci code number sequence........ the keyboard just makes it easier for us nowdays.

Google *ascii codes*, and it will open up a whole new world of fun things to type in your posts.

To tell you the truth, I have to go to the MS Word <INSERT> menu all the time. It is next to impossible for any normal human to remember all those code numbers................. although in my younger days, I had about 50 of them memorized.


----------



## BigJim

jules4 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Why, yes, all of Canada is that beautiful - expect for that boring middle area from Quebec to Alberta. :whistling2:
> 
> I love the idea of adding lexan windows, but for now that's way out of budget - a possible future upgrade though.


The more I see and learn about Canada the better I like it. It is just beautiful up ya'lls way.


----------



## Willie T

Sad to say, I've never been there.


----------



## BigJim

Willie T said:


> Got my first computer in '83, so I've had some time for a few things to soak in.
> 
> The asci codes are fun.... thousands of neat symbols you can just drop into your text anytime. Actually, the letters you are seeing appearing on your screen are each a separate asci code number sequence........ the keyboard just makes it easier for us nowdays.
> 
> Google *asci codes*, and it will open up a whole new world of fun things to type in your posts.
> 
> To tell you the truth, I have to go to the MS Word <INSERT> menu all the time. It is next to impossible for any normal human to remember all those code numbers................. although in my younger days, I had about 50 of them memorized.


Willie, I did a google on the code and I will be studying that for a while. I am just now smart enough to grasp all of that, Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## Willie T

jiju1943 said:


> Willie, I did a google on the code and I will be studying that for a while. I am just now smart enough to grasp all of that, Thanks for the heads up.


 When you get the hang of it, try checking out how to COMBINE ASCII characters. Some will stack right on top of others. That's cool.


----------



## cocobolo

Willie T said:


> The ascii codes for degree (ALT+ 0176, 0237, or 248) often won't work with xml authors of most forums.
> If it is important to you, and you are on a newer operating system composing with MS Word 2007, you can go to the toolbar, select the <INSERT> tab, SYMBOLS / MORE SYMBOLS / SUPERSCRIPTS & SUBSCRIPTS, and you should find the DEGREE Symbol about 6 or 8 rows down on that chart. (should be in the center of the 7th row from the top)
> 
> Once you have done that, you should find any symbols you've selected right there in the first dropdown box from now on..... thus eliminating a couple of the steps listed above.
> 
> 
> Of course, on this particular forum, we are fortunate..............................
> 
> All you have to do here is, while holding down the ALT key, (using only the number pad on the right of your keyboard) type in 0176. Then release the ALT key.
> 
> ************************
> 
> Yes, I know many of you know how to enter ascii codes, but this explanation was for those experiencing it for the first time.


Good heavens Willie...you are an absolute goldmine of information! :thumbup:


----------



## Willie T

cocobolo said:


> Good heavens Willie...you are an absolute goldmine of information! :thumbup:


Perhaps one of the few advantages of being old. That, and the free senior soda at Taco Bell.


----------



## cocobolo

Willie T said:


> Perhaps one of the few advantages of being old. That, and the free senior soda at Taco Bell.


Hmmmm...I wonder if they have the same deal up here in Canada, I'll have to check it out!


----------



## BigJim

Willie T said:


> Perhaps one of the few advantages of being old. That, and the free senior soda at Taco Bell.


Well for crying out loud, now we find out the soda is free for us ole folks.

In this quote 
Originally Posted by *jiju1943*  
_Willie, I did a google on the code and I will be studying that for a while. I am just *now* smart enough to grasp all of that, Thanks for the heads up.

_
I meant to say NOT instead of now.


----------



## jules4

Willie T said:


> All you have to do here is, while holding down the ALT key, (using only the number pad on the right of your keyboard) type in 0176. Then release the ALT key.


 °
°°°
Sweet.


----------



## cocobolo

Oh no! Now we're going to have row's of ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº's!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


----------



## BigJim

cocobolo said:


> Oh no! Now we're going to have row's of ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº's!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


I tried it and it worked for me also. I was trying all kind of codes, I have a new toy now.:yes:


----------



## jules4

I just realized I have no real idea how I should construct the door sill or attach the stairs. 

I've attached a picture of what I came up with this morning - what do you think? 

Is the flashing a good idea, or will that just trap water against the floor (considering water on the floor could wick under the flashing from the back)?

Edit: To clarify the drawing, the threshold will be ripped to 3" wide.

Edit 2: I've added a second image showing the sill with a bevelled nosing - I think this is a better design than the 1st image.


----------



## DangerMouse

Of course, you COULD just use 'character map' to get the degree sign °, ½ sign, £ sign, etc.
It should be in Start/programs/accessories/system tools. If not, search C: for charmap.exe

DM


----------



## jules4

Hmm - I should probably cap the floor boards with a nosing that bevels down to the outer edge of the skirt board to get rid of that horizontal surface.


----------



## jules4

DangerMouse said:


> Of course, you COULD just use 'character map' to get the degree sign °, ½ sign, £ sign, etc.
> It should be in Start/programs/accessories/system tools. If not, search C: for charmap.exe
> 
> DM


I dunno , that seems so pedestrian compared to typing in secret code :jester:


----------



## cocobolo

....aaaaahhh you guys run rings (ºººººº) around me with all this magic computer stuff.

OK, on the question at hand, Jules it looks like in your drawing (something _else_ I can't do) is that the bottom of your door butts up against the inside taper of the sill. OK, I know you will remove that anyway.

You could cut yourself a sill from the 2 x 6 like so.

First, have the door come over the top of the sill. Where the outside face of the door reaches - likely about 1 1/2" +- from the inside edge of the sill - mark a line.

From there, add your 15º (there it is again) taper to the sill which you can have run beyond the outside of any floor member. 

If you add the "thing of beauty" drip edge on the bottom side, you should be OK.

But I have to wonder with all the water which may blow inside if it will make that much difference. It will certainly look nice.

I think I might be inclined to use yellow cedar for that as it would last a lot longer than any spruce. I expect you will treat the spruce anyway, but spruce isn't the strongest wood on the planet and might wear somewhat.

Your other option might be to buy some sort of woman made product (forget this man made stuff, it never seems to last) which is resistant to the elements.


----------



## jules4

cocobolo said:


> OK, on the question at hand, Jules it looks like in your drawing (something _else_ I can't do)


 I'd never done it myself before this summer, but SketchUp has proved an invaluable aid in designing the screenhouse - it's a fabulous tool for discovering problems with a design (and much easier to edit than a scale model). 

If you use the tutorials it's actually really easy to learn to use too, and it's available for free!


> You could cut yourself a sill from the 2 x 6 like so.
> 
> First, have the door come over the top of the sill. Where the outside face of the door reaches - likely about 1 1/2" +- from the inside edge of the sill - mark a line.
> 
> From there, add your 15º (there it is again) taper to the sill which you can have run beyond the outside of any floor member.


I hadn't though of exending the threshold beyond the floor - that's a good idea, I could rabbit it so that functioned as the nosing too. 



> If you add the "thing of beauty" drip edge on the bottom side, you should be OK.


Unfortunately there isn't room for it with the stair treads.



> I think I might be inclined to use yellow cedar for that as it would last a lot longer than any spruce. I expect you will treat the spruce anyway, but spruce isn't the strongest wood on the planet and might wear somewhat.


Spoken like someone who can't step out the door without tripping over old growth ceder logs. :glare:

The only ceder I can get locally is Eastern Ceder, and even that I'd have to special order (and would probably be all sapwood anyway). So crappy black spruce it is! I'll just make sure the threshold isn't to hard to remove for replacement when it gets worn.



> Your other option might be to buy some sort of woman made product (forget this man made stuff, it never seems to last) which is resistant to the elements.


lol


----------



## jules4

Okay - employing Cocobolo's suggestions I've put together Sill Variation 3 (in G major). I think this looks pretty good.


----------



## DangerMouse

Are you sure? It sounds like F# to me!

DM


----------



## BigJim

I am a little thick so please bear with me, what are the 1/4 inch strips for where you nail the stringers to the band?


----------



## Willie T

DangerMouse said:


> Are you sure? It sounds like F# to me!
> 
> DM


She's cheatin' with a capo. You can never tell where she is.


----------



## cocobolo

I dunno you guys, if she says it's G major....

That looks OK Jules.

Are you anywhere near any boatbuilding outfits...not the fiberglass kind, the real wood kind.

Someone there might well have some yellow or red cedar you could get. It's not like you need a huge piece.

And FWIW you can always glue up (epoxy preferred for outside) more than one piece if you can't find something big enough.


----------



## jules4

DangerMouse said:


> Are you sure? It sounds like F# to me!
> 
> DM


My model may require a little tunning . . . :blush: 



jiju1943 said:


> I am a little thick so please bear with me, what are the 1/4 inch strips for where you nail the stringers to the band?


 The 1/4 inch strips are there because _I’m_ a little thick.

I put them in to make a gap between the skirt board and the top stair tread (to shed water) - until you asked about them it hadn’t occurred to me that I could just offset the tread on the stringers by 1/4" and achieve exactly the same effect.


----------



## jules4

cocobolo said:


> Are you anywhere near any boatbuilding outfits...not the fiberglass kind, the real wood kind.
> 
> Someone there might well have some yellow or red cedar you could get. It's not like you need a huge piece.
> 
> And FWIW you can always glue up (epoxy preferred for outside) more than one piece if you can't find something big enough.


I'm sure there must be people doing stuff with yellow ceder in Halifax (where I live) - but sadly I don't know any of them. The only boat builders I know are on the South Shore and build nothing but Cape Islanders (fibreglass). 

I do have access to some old chunks of unfinished red oak that have been sitting in the attic for 70+ years - that would certainly wear a lot harder than spruce. I'm just not sure that it would be worth the effort involved in converting an oak 4x10 into a 1x6. The stuff is ridiculously hard - much, much harder than the red oak you can get at the lumber yard nowadays (not sure why that is - is it just because it's so old and dry? Or would it's being old growth make that much of a difference in hardness?).


----------



## cocobolo

The oak you have is harder for _both_ reasons. Most of the harder woods, and even some soft woods - like hemlock and Douglas fir for example - get very noticeably harder with age.

How about some Douglas fir? That's a moderately resistant wood, easy to work when it's new, takes paint or stain well and not expensive.

I'm sure whatever you use is going to look excellent, just like everything else you have done there.


----------



## BigJim

jules4 said:


> My model may require a little tunning . . . :blush:
> 
> The 1/4 inch strips are there because _I’m_ a little thick.
> 
> I put them in to make a gap between the skirt board and the top stair tread (to shed water) - until you asked about them it hadn’t occurred to me that I could just offset the tread on the stringers by 1/4" and achieve exactly the same effect.


I see your thinking now, thanks for explaining.


----------



## ehoez

i love what i see.


----------



## jules4

ehoez said:


> i love what i see.


Thanks!


----------



## jules4

I managed to sneak down to the cottage over Thanksgiving weekend to do a bit more work. 

First, I installed the trim that I'd previously finished painting - the skirt boards and trim for the sides of the posts. Lots more trim to go obviously (I got two coats of primer on the next batch of trim, but still need to do two finish coats before I can put it up).

Due to the troublesome nature of red paint, I'll need to go over everything with at least one or two top coats to even out the colour, but that will have to wait until next spring. (I am hoping to get the rest of the trim installed this fall though.) 

These pictures were taken after I'd caulked all the nail holes and seams (except the bottom seams - those stay open) and had spot primed and painted: 




















Next on the to-do list was installing the extra rafter-ties that Gary (with his preternaturally sharp eyesight) noticed were needed to stabilize the 3:1 cantilever of the fly-rafter blocks.

For the front block I nailed the tie (the silver one on the right, _not_ the one painted black) to the block and to the side of the rafter girt, then bent the tie 90° around the end of the rafter girt (I’m sure this compromised its strength, but it’s got to be better than having nothing there).











I made the ties for the two middle blocks all pretty-like by painting them black first (since they’ll be more visible):











Finally here’s a picture of my temporary stairs - as you can see, a local rock gave me some issues, resulting in a hurriedly cobbled together “floating stringer.” I’m going to have to work out a better (i.e., more solid) way of navigating a stringer around the rock while still supporting the edge of the upper steps.


----------



## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> I managed to sneak down to the cottage over Thanksgiving weekend to do a bit more work.
> 
> First, I installed the trim that I'd previously finished painting - the skirt boards and trim for the sides of the posts. Lots more trim to go obviously (I got two coats of primer on the next batch of trim, but still need to do two finish coats before I can put it up).
> 
> Due to the troublesome nature of red paint, I'll need to go over everything with at least one or two top coats to even out the colour, but that will have to wait until next spring. (I am hoping to get the rest of the trim installed this fall though.)
> 
> These pictures were taken after I'd caulked all the nail holes and seams (except the bottom seams - those stay open) and had spot primed and painted:
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> Next on the to-do list was installing the extra rafter-ties that Gary (with his preternaturally sharp eyesight) noticed were needed to stabilize 3:1 cantilever of the fly-rafter blocks.
> 
> For the front block I nailed the tie (the silver one on the right, _not_ the one painted black) to the block and to the side of the rafter girt, then bent the tie 90° around the end of the rafter girt (I’m sure this compromised its strength, but it’s got to be better than having nothing there).
> 
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> I made the ties for the two middle blocks all pretty-like by painting them black first (since they’ll be more visible):
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> Finally here’s a picture of my temporary stairs - as you can see, a local rock gave me some issues, resulting in a hurriedly cobbled together “floating stringer.” I’m going to have to work out a better (i.e., more solid) way of navigating a stringer around the rock while still supporting the edge of the upper steps.


I see you had some nice weather back your way over the Thanksgiving weekend...at least judging by the sunshine in your pics. :thumbsup:

Perhaps you could put a small concrete footing under the bottom of the stringer to give it some stability. 

Alternatively, you could always shift the big rock...dynamite??? :laughing:


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## BigJim

jiju1943 said:


> I see your thinking now, thanks for explaining.


This was a poor choice of words that could be very misleading. I should have said "I understand what you are saying now", I'm sorry if I sounded like a smart butt, I didn't mean too.

You have done a fantastic job, it looks great.


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## jules4

cocobolo said:


> I see you had some nice weather back your way over the Thanksgiving weekend...at least judging by the sunshine in your pics. :thumbsup:
> 
> Perhaps you could put a small concrete footing under the bottom of the stringer to give it some stability.
> 
> Alternatively, you could always shift the big rock...dynamite??? :laughing:


It was beautiful weather - nice temps too, it actually stayed above 10° all three nights.

You and my dad clearly share the same sense of humour - his first comment when I showed him was, "Well why didn't you just move the rock?"


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## jules4

jiju1943 said:


> This was a poor choice of words that could be very misleading. I should have said "I understand what you are saying now", I'm sorry if I sounded like a smart butt, I didn't mean too.
> 
> You have done a fantastic job, it looks great.


Thanks! And I didn't take it that way at all - but I spend a lot of time around smart butts so I'm probably immune. :icon_cheesygrin:


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## jules4

Screen door (re)construction

Rather than making a new screen door for the screen house out of new flat-sawn wood, 

I decided to rebuild an old (partly rotted) 4-panel screen door since it was made with nice, old-growth rift-sawn spruce, which is much better wood than what I could get now.

The old door was originally fully screened, but I want to put solid panels in the bottom so I needed to cut a groove to hold the panels. 
In the process of accomplishing this I've finally mastered the use of the Stanley 45 combination plane (although I wimped out and did a simple rabbit rather than a dado).


On the subject of Stanely's, I've also attached a picture of my pride and joy - a Bailey #4 that I restored this summer (pictured next to it's unrestored brethren, to give you an idea of the state it was in). You can hardly even tell that there's a bad break in the tote.

I used West System Epoxy mixed with walnut wood flour (I didn't have any rosewood flour) to repair the tote, and more-or-less followed this guys technique for cleaning it up: http://www.majorpanic.com/handplane_restor1.htm.

After just a few months of plane-ownership, I honestly have no idea how ever managed to get by without one.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> Screen door (re)construction
> 
> Rather than making a new screen door for the screen house out of new flat-sawn wood,
> 
> I decided to rebuild an old (partly rotted) 4-panel screen door since it was made with nice, old-growth rift-sawn spruce, which is much better wood than what I could get now.
> 
> The old door was originally fully screened, but I want to put solid panels in the bottom so I needed to cut a groove to hold the panels.
> In the process of accomplishing this I've finally mastered the use of the Stanley 45 combination plane (although I wimped out and did a simple rabbit rather than a dado).
> 
> 
> On the subject of Stanely's, I've also attached a picture of my pride and joy - a Bailey #4 that I restored this summer (pictured next to it's unrestored brethren, to give you an idea of the state it was in). You can hardly even tell that there's a bad break in the tote.
> 
> I used West System Epoxy mixed with walnut wood flour (I didn't have any rosewood flour) to repair the tote, and more-or-less followed this guys technique for cleaning it up: http://www.majorpanic.com/handplane_restor1.htm.
> 
> After just a few months of plane-ownership, I honestly have no idea how ever managed to get by without one.


It's a real crime to let a good plane even get close to a state of disrepair like that...but a hearty "well done" on the cleaned up version. At least it is obviously now in the hands of someone who cares.

Great job. :thumbup:


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## BigJim

jules4 said:


> Screen door (re)construction
> 
> Rather than making a new screen door for the screen house out of new flat-sawn wood,
> 
> I decided to rebuild an old (partly rotted) 4-panel screen door since it was made with nice, old-growth rift-sawn spruce, which is much better wood than what I could get now.
> 
> The old door was originally fully screened, but I want to put solid panels in the bottom so I needed to cut a groove to hold the panels.
> In the process of accomplishing this I've finally mastered the use of the Stanley 45 combination plane (although I wimped out and did a simple rabbit rather than a dado).
> 
> 
> On the subject of Stanely's, I've also attached a picture of my pride and joy - a Bailey #4 that I restored this summer (pictured next to it's unrestored brethren, to give you an idea of the state it was in). You can hardly even tell that there's a bad break in the tote.
> 
> I used West System Epoxy mixed with walnut wood flour (I didn't have any rosewood flour) to repair the tote, and more-or-less followed this guys technique for cleaning it up: http://www.majorpanic.com/handplane_restor1.htm.
> 
> After just a few months of plane-ownership, I honestly have no idea how ever managed to get by without one.


That is a lot of difference, that looks great.:yes:


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## jules4

Time to finally get around to posting my last update of the year for this project. 

I snuck down for a week and half at the end of November and managed to get all the major stuff finished before the cottage was closed up on December 6.

 Sat-Sun (Nov 27-28)
I’d previously planed the screen stop into the profile I wanted (top and side stops are finished with a simple round over, the bottom stop is bevelled to shed water), so it was just a matter of cutting it to size and installing it. 










When installing I coped the joints so they would stay tight (tighter than mitres anyway). 











 Mon-Tues (Nov 29-30)
I started installing the screen rail on Monday (first day I brought the camera out with me too, which is why you see screen rail installed in the right-hand window in the previous pics).

I used flanged screen rail for all the windows. The place I ordered it from offered a colour choice of white (yuck) - I would have preferred brown, but oh well. 

I was originally going to use storm window clips to hold all the screens in place so they’d be removable, but the upper windows were too large for the screenrail to support without adding bracing. So, I wound up drilling holes in the flange and screwing the rail for the upper windows to the stops.










Cutting 44 pieces of screen rail for the knee-wall windows for the SECOND time, after failing to subtract the length of the corner segments the first time around: :wallbash:










I also shimmed the door in place so I could install the hinges and spring latch. I picked up the idea of using playing cards to shim doors (among many other brilliant ideas) from Basswood over on our sister site Contractor Talk, I highly recommend checking out his thread card tricks for carpenters. Check out the published articles on his website too - guy's a genius with wood: Basswood Architectural Carpentry











Wed-Fri (Dec 1-3)
Since it rained almost every day I put up a tarp to allow me to install the siding in relative comfort: 










Finished siding - the gaps at the top are because I left off the top-most pieces of siding to be installed after the trim on the rafter girts/beams is put up in the spring. (I installed my drip edge over the skirt board prior to siding.)










Got the door installed too - it’s starting to look like a real building now!










Part two of this update to follow . . .


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## jules4

Sat-Sun (Dec 4-5)
Finished knee-wall windows installed with storm-window clips:




















To make sure the screen in the large upper windows didn’t have any sags/waves in it, I used small scraps of spline to anchor the corners while rolling as Thurman describes here: https://www.diychatroom.com/posts/445232/.

Thurman’s advice worked a treat - I installed the screens in gale-force winds, yet they still came out perfectly straight and tight. I’ve put together a little pictorial of the screen rolling process which might come in handy for someone else needing to install large screens in place:

Start by using a 12" scrap of spline to anchor both sides of the upper left corner: 









Cut a piece of spline long enough to (more than) go all the way around the window. Pull the screen straight across (use one line of the screen material as a guide) the top of the window to the upper right corner. Start rolling your permanent spline from the right to the left (start rolling from the middle of your piece of spline so the join between the two ends will occur on the bottom of the window).



















Note: I had a lot of problems with the spline roller slicing up the screen - the best solution I was able to come up with was to angle the roller slightly to the outside so that it just cut into the excess screen (would love to know how to avoid these cuts altogether - the cold weather may have had something to do with it, I expect the spline would be a lot softer in the summer and so easier to roll). 










When you reach the upper left corner pull out the temp spline and roll the permanent spline in its place (keep some tension on the outside edge of the screen as your roll to keep the screen straight - if it veers off at any point pull the spline up and re-roll it straight).










Pull the screen straight down to the lower left corner and anchor that corner with the temp spline, then roll your permanent spline down the left side (removing the temp spline when you hit the corner).



















The top and left side of the screen are now held tight, the bottom and right side are still loose - as you can see from this picture, the screen is still pretty wavy at this point:










Continued next post . . .


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## jules4

. . . continued from previous post

On the right side of the window, pull the screen straight down to the lower right corner and secure this corner with the temp spline, then roll the permanent spline from the upper right corner to the lower right corner.










With three sides attached (and straight) the screen should be nice and flat now with no waves or sags. Roll one end of spline from the lower right corner to the left, and the other end of spline from the lower left corner to the right, trimming one (or both) ends so that they butt tightly against each other in the spline groove.



















I’ve pressed my hand against the screen in one of the front windows to show how nice and taunt the screen is using this method.











Mon (Dec 6)
Spent Monday tarping the screen house for the winter to keep the rain and snow out.










The water no longer looks very inviting - BRRR!









Now I just have to wait for spring so I can finish the trim and various interior details.

*drums fingers impatiently while glaring at snow outside*


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## cocobolo

Jules....that's awesome!

The instructions for installing the screens must be good, because even I can understand them! :thumbsup:

So I suppose this means we don't get to see your bikini clad body in the river now does it? :whistling2:

We finally got a few hours of sun out this way today, but now the wind is up again and the cloud is coming in. I haven't bothered to stick my little toe in the ocean out here, but I don't imagine that it's any too warm! :no:


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## jules4

We've seen the sun for all of one day in the last four weeks - mostly it's rained, and rained, and rained some more, then a little snow, then several more days of rain . . . (Inland areas got quite a bit more snow.) I'm starting to think the weather has gotten confused about which coast this is.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> We've seen the sun for all of one day in the last four weeks - mostly it's rained, and rained, and rained some more, then a little snow, then several more days of rain . . . (Inland areas got quite a bit more snow.) I'm starting to think the weather has gotten confused about which coast this is.


No kidding...sounds like what we have experienced out this way as well.

Lots of flooding on Vancouver Island and record snowfalls up in the mountains.

The weather gods (or goddesses, the ones with the curves) must be really P.O.'d for some reason!


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## gma2rjc

It's looking great Jules! You're really making a lot of progress.



> Cutting 44 pieces of screen rail for the knee-wall windows for the SECOND time, after failing to subtract the length of the corner segments the first time around: :wallbash:


Anyone could make that mistake. At least you didn't cut them too short the first time.


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## cocobolo

gma2rjc said:


> It's looking great Jules! You're really making a lot of progress.
> 
> 
> Anyone could make that mistake. At least you didn't cut them too short the first time.


It wasn't a mistake, she was just checking the lengths again, that's all.

Are you done for the winter now Jules?


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## jules4

Yup - the cottage is closed up for the winter, so I won't be able to get back down until April or May. 

I do have 10 pieces of finicky wooden lattice to assemble over the winter though to keep me entertained (I'm going to mount lattice in the upper corners of the big windows Chinese-style).


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> Yup - the cottage is closed up for the winter, so I won't be able to get back down until April or May.
> 
> I do have 10 pieces of finicky wooden lattice to assemble over the winter though to keep me entertained (I'm going to mount lattice in the upper corners of the big windows Chinese-style).


When you say Chinese style...are you referring to the style in their typical outdoor garden buildings? If so, they always made every panel different, no two the same.

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens in Vancouver have such buildings. The panels really are quite exquisite.


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## jules4

No, I'm not doing full lattice screens - I'm just making decorative corners of the sort you often see on porches or covered walkways. 

I love lattice, but I suck at making it, so I try to keep the pieces relatively small so that it doesn't take me too long to fill in all the imperfections afterwords.


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## cocobolo

jules4 said:


> No, I'm not doing full lattice screens - I'm just making decorative corners of the sort you often see on porches or covered walkways.
> 
> I love lattice, but I suck at making it, so I try to keep the pieces relatively small so that it doesn't take me too long to fill in all the imperfections afterwords.


Imperfections? Oh, sure. :no:


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## jules4

In April and May I only managed to spend two weekends down at my parent’s cottage, so I didn’t accomplish a heck of a lot. However, I was down for two weeks at the end of June so I finally managed to make some picture-worthy progress.



Without further ado, here’s what she currently looks like:










I don’t think I mentioned this before, but Mom’s been studying Mandarin for several years and is quite the sinophile, culturally speaking (she’s not particularly enamoured with the government). 

I was too chicken to attempt traditional Chinese timber-framing, but mom wanted the place to have a Chinese feel so in addition to the red trim I also wanted to add a few Chinese-esque details. 

One of the hallmarks of Chinese architecture is the use of _dǒu gǒng_ (斗拱): interlocking wooden brackets that support the roof framing, like so:










So I made a set of falsies to attach to the front of the screenhouse that are supported by the roof, rather than supporting it. (Only one falsie is installed here, the other is still being fitted.)











I also used some actual _dǒu gǒng_ to support a built-in shelf:




















Naturally there must be red lanterns (I carved these out of an old douglas fir branch):











Finally, any self-respecting Chinese garden structure requires a proper name, so the screenhouse shall hencefroth be known as _wàng jiāng zhāi_ (望江斋), or “river viewing study/(retreat).”


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## jules4

Some additional (non-Chinese) details includes a nifty drop-down table. The load is born by the legs, not the hinges, so it can support a lot of weight (I can’t take credit for the design, I got the idea from pictures I saw posted somewhere).











And a removable doggie door (not pictured is a vinyl rain-cover that Velcros onto the door frame).




















Doggie door helpfully modelled by Gryphon:


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## jules4

Last but not least, I threw together a small outhouse for times when the cottage seems a _little_ too far away (not finished painting it yet). 




















This will be a humanure outhouse, meaning no pit (and no smell, honest) – just a bucket and some lovely partly decayed old sawdust (courtesy of the mill across the river). For more info on humanure checkout Humanure Headquarters.

The End.


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## gma2rjc

Jules, this is truly impressive!!! You've done so much to it. Your mother must be proud of you and thrilled with all of the unique details... Gryphon looks pretty happy too. Thanks so much for showing us. You do awesome work!

Have a happy Canada Day weekend!


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## cocobolo

Hi Jules:

Well, you've outdone yourself this time. Fantastic job.

I see your mum has the same fondness for the Chinese traditional method of supporting the roof as I do. The Japanese also do the same, and there are a number of older Japanese temples which have survived with these amazing roofs.

Love the name you have picked out and the beautiful carving you did to go with it. Just an excellent job...congratulations!

And as Barb says...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!


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## jules4

Thanks guys - I hope you had a great Canada day too!

I agree Keith, those Asian style roofs are gorgeous, but the complexity is a bit intimidating. (I'll bet you've built one haven't you :laughing. And thanks for the complement on the carving, your carving work is beautiful so I'm super pleased mine measures up :thumbup:


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## cocobolo

Jules, I have never had the pleasure of building one of those roofs in the traditional manner.

There is a book out on the subject - probably a few I guess really, but one in particular by a fellow Asby-Brown I think the name is. I could well have that name wrong. He covers all the details of the Japanese version of that construction. I can dig up the name if you like...I think I have it in my library somewhere.

And don't kid yourself, your carving more than measures up, it's beautiful. :thumbup:


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## jules4

*THE END*

I’ve finally installed the lattice panels I was fighting with last winter, and the screen house is officially complete! :clap:

As public service, I’d also like to give everyone a heads up on the best hammock chairs ever made: Jim’s Hammock Chairs. I bought one for mom for her birthday, and my god it’s fantastic - I want one in every room of my house.

Thanks to everyone who offered their advice and/or support in this thread - you guys are awesome!


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## kwikfishron

Jules4, I’ve got to say that from your first post and your SU drawings to now I’ve gone from skeptic to admirer. 

I truly appreciate your attention to detail. After all it’s the little details that sets one project off from the rest, and all of this for Mom, good job. :thumbsup:


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## BigJim

You are an amazing young lady, your project for your Mom turned out fantastic, I for one really do appreciate you allowing us to share it with you. By the way, I love the chair also, it does look comfortable.


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## cocobolo

Jules, the lattice looks fantastic...and mum looks pretty pleased with her hammock chair. :thumbup:


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## Gary in WA

Nice work! Glad we could help. Thank you for the feed-back, a rarity.

Gary


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## cocobolo

We know this was just a practice run...what's the next awesome project we can look forward to seeing from you? :icon_biggrin::excl:


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## jsmith48

i love the outdoor fireplace you created. how long did this whole project take you all together?!


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## jules4

Thanks all!




cocobolo said:


> We know this was just a practice run...what's the next awesome project we can look forward to seeing from you? :icon_biggrin::excl:


If I start another awesome project you guys will be the first to know. My current project is a rather un-awesome attempt to remove some of the concrete from my grandmother's backyard here in Tampa, FL 

BTW, you all should watch out for that WillyT character, anyone who voluntarily chooses to work in construction in this open-air sauna has to be seriously unhinged :laughing:




jsmith48 said:


> i love the outdoor fireplace you created. how long did this whole project take you all together?!


The fireplace works really well too - the boulders hold heat for hours, and the tall sides and back allow it to hold a massive load of wood if you want to generate a deep bed of coals for cooking. 

I honestly couldn't tell you how long the whole project took, I know it amounted to at least 6 weeks of 12+ hour days, but there were a lot of partial days too. I can tell you that it definitely took _a lot _longer than the two weeks I'd initially thought it would take :whistling2:

(Don't let the length of time it took me but you off doing something like this though - I didn't have any power available so was using all hand tools, it would have gone _way_ faster with power tools.)


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## Oh-Fudge

Jules, I just came across your post and I am speechless. I can't comprehend that you did this alone and without power tools yet! All I can say is you are my kind of woman. I hope you enjoy many years in your beautiful screenhouse!


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## jules4

Oh-Fudge said:


> Jules, I just came across your post and I am speechless. I can't comprehend that you did this alone and without power tools yet! All I can say is you are my kind of woman. I hope you enjoy many years in your beautiful screenhouse!


Thanks - I have trouble comprehending it too; I've actually had to re-read this thread once or twice just to convince myself that I built all that :clap:


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## Knucklez

very nicely done, thx for the share and loads of detail. i'm starting a new appreciation of the out doors and your pictures are inspiring to me. can't wait to see your next project 

ps. WhoooT Canada!


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## kwikfishron

Knucklez said:


> very nicely done, thx for the share and loads of detail. i'm starting a new appreciation of the out doors and your pictures are inspiring to me. can't wait to see your next project
> 
> ps. WhoooT Canada!


Although she hasn't logged in for a year and a half this is one of my favorite PS threads, thanks for the Bump. :thumbsup:


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## Willie T

Her grandmother lives (lived?) just across the bridge from me. I had hoped to meet her sometime when she visited.


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## jules4

Thanks guys!

I was very happy to see the email notification for this thread pop up - I loved this project! The screenhouse is still going strong and much beloved by mom - she's had drop-shades made for the windows so it's even possible to escape from wind and rain now. 

Unfortunately I finally found work in my actual profession a year and half ago and that's put the kibosh on my DIY enterprises - stupid real job . 



Willie T said:


> Her grandmother lives (lived?) just across the bridge from me. I had hoped to meet her sometime when she visited.


Willie, I'd love to meet you dude! I'll be in Tampa to see grams this August (12th -27th) - PM me your number and I'll give you a call when I get there. :thumbup:


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## Amateuralex

Thanks for bumping this, it was before i joined so I missed it. Lots of fun to read, very cool!


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## handyman_squire

I know this thread is quite old but great work. I see your from Nova Scotia I live in New Brunswick. Just wondering that stuff you put on the posts does it really work and where did you get it?


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