The Playhouse - Roofing Complete

With the help of my friend Jeremy and my nephew Zac providing the shingles, the playhouse roofing is now done! The whole thing actually went up pretty well. I bought an aluminum drip edge for each side and then we over lapped the roofing paper (tar paper) before starting the shingles.

Since the sun was so hot on Saturday we started on the "shady" side of the playhouse. That did make it a bit more comfortable to work! I certainly did drink a lot of water that day though!

Considering neither of us have ever really done roofing before, I think we did a pretty decent job!

And the little bit of rain we got on Sunday shows that it all is working like it should!

Next up will be the trim around the roof I think... that or windows. I haven't decided yet!

The Playhouse - The Poor Abused Finger Chapter

as I've mentioned previously, a week after my left middle finger got tangled up with a nail gun, I found out I broke the same finger while loading some 3/4" OSB into the car... well I got my hands on the x-ray today!

so nothing was done this past weekend on the playhouse. I did get a few more wine bottle stoppers started though! hopefully another week or so and this finger will be good as new!

The Playhouse - On Hold

This past Thursday I found out I broke my finger last Sunday. The same finger that tried to tangle with the nail gun the week before! After my finger has been sore and swollen for 4 days I thought it would be a good idea to get it checked out. The x-rays were pretty gnarly! I want to see if i can get a copy at my follow up appointment in the morning.

So considering that it hurts like crazy to put any pressure on that finger, and i really don't want to do any further damage to it, progress on the playhouse is currently on hold. Hopefully in a week or to my finger will be back to normal and I can get back at it!

While my finger is healing, I think I may get back to working on some new wine bottle stoppers...

The Playhouse - Sheathing Done!

With all the framing finished up over the 4th of July weekend it was time to get to work on putting up the roof sheathing and also finishing the front and back walls. This past Thursday I got the first piece of sheathing added to the roof.

The following day I got the second piece of sheathing added to the roof.

This past Saturday it rained most of the day, so I had to find other things to do. Sunday, however, was gorgeous! I called my friend Jeremy and he agreed to come over and give me a hand in finishing up the rest of the roof sheathing.

with the roof sheathing done and still some daylight available, we decided to tackle finishing up the sheathing on the front and back walls.

I'm really happy with how the playhouse is coming together. My girls also seem very excited which makes it even more fun! Next up will be the shingles for the roof and working on fitting the windows.

The Playhouse - Framing Done!

After a couple of fairly intense days of working on the playhouse I was a little slow to get going yesterday. Once I did get going though, everything moved along pretty smoothly. I finished up both the front and back hanging rafters.

Front hanging rafters.

Rear hanging rafters.












With the hanging rafters complete, all that was left was to put up the permanent collar ties and frame up the peak section of the front and back walls.

Front view with all framing done.

Rear view with all framing done.












oh... and on a side note, becareful with nail guns! As I was finishing up the framing for the peak in the back wall, i had a nail come through the back of a 2x4 and stab my finger. If it had stopped bleeding on it's own, the trip to the ER would not have been needed... but that's where I ended up! My finger is a bit sore and now bandaged up. I'm curious to see how it looks tonight when the bandage comes off.

ouch! Thankfully the nail didn't come out the other side of my finger!

The Playhouse - Roof Rafters!

Today I worked on installing the roof rafters. I've never done anything like this before. I found does info online to help show me how to do it. It all seems to be coming together well enough.

It took a while, but I got them cut and installed one by one.

This view from from the back shows just how tall a 9 foot roof line really is! I added a couple of temporary plywood collar ties. I'm going to put up some permanent collar ties with 2x4s before I add the OSB to the roof.

The hardest part so far has been adding the rafters that overhang the front. I'm not going to explain how I did it... but you can tell I got them up there! ...and I didn't hurt myself!

Here's how it looks as of now.

I need to make another quick trip to Home Depot tomorrow, but then I should have the roof all framed up!

The Playhouse - 4 Walls Complete

I have some time off of work and I'm using that to work on the playhouse. Yesterday was a fairly productive day as I got all of the remaining shealthing cut and nailed to the walls. I also finished framing around the door and built the supports that will hold the ridge board in place as I start putting up the rafters.

This picture shows how I have added the wall plate (basically a layer of 2x4 that helps lock the walls together) and framed out the top six inches of the door. I was actually a little surprised how well that went together!

With the wall plate now installed, next up I needed to finish installing the sheathing on the walls.

 

A view through the right side window

A view through the left side window

Next on the list was to built the supports that will hold the ridge board in place while I install the rafters. Once the rafters are all in place, these supports will be removed. I also finished shealthing the front wall to match the other three walls.

And now I just need to get to work on the rafters...