Starting More Shingles

Well I had to get back up on that roof to hang some shingles, and boy did I have some shingles to hang. I created a diverted valley in the roof, and have to tie in to the existing shingles for the new front porch roof. Get started! You might notice a slight color difference between the new and old shingles, it's the only way to show progress

Forming the new valley

All tied in with the porch roof

I still seem confused

Starting to get the ridge cap up

No clue how to make this watertight

Getting started on the other side - this is where I fell in June

Getting the sides together

Turning the corner

Almost there!

Not quite as confused - I hope this works!

Only one pack to go

And it's done!

So I ended up covering both entire faces with new shingles. if this still leaks, I don't know what else to do.

Spoiler alert: We had the first real storm tonight and it did leak. I got one drop. Like the inside corner felt dry, everything else felt dry, but when I turned the flashlight up to the porch ceiling, there was one f*$%&$*g drop. ONE. ugh. Maybe I'll just paint the valley in flex seal. advice appreciated in the comments.

Bedroom upgrade

Because our house was built before insulation was invented, we have no insulation in the exterior walls. So one room at a time, we rip down the plaster, fix the electrical, hang some insulation, then drywall over it. Well now it's time to rip up our youngest daughters bedroom.

This is going to be a makeup table, and the electrical feed to the porch

no plaster there (well, except for the corners)

ok I snuck this one in. We had to replace the microwave and installing that was a huge pain in the ass

Now with more drywall!

Still have some gaps in the corners

She had some very specific requirements for her room remodel. This is my princess. She rules all things girly and has to take all of the time for makeup, hair, and nails. Even has a dang youtube channel about it. So she wanted a makeup corner with lights installed around a huge mirror, and she wanted me to custom build a desk with tons of drawers for storage.

So I started the electrical with one new outlet that can feed up to the other stuff, and outside to the front porch stuff. Ended up with about 10 items on that circuit, so pulled a clean breaker there. Then I went above the level of the expected desk height for a double gang box. I put a light-up switch in there going to a couple of fixture single-gang boxes, and an outlet that includes 2 USB ports. That means she can plug in stuff both below and above the desk and plug the chargers directly into the USB's.

So far here we're just showing drywall. Guess what else she wants?

Mud, tape, and sanding done

Got all of the stuff taped up so we can paint

Trying the paint sprayer inside

She wanted it pink!

Everything turned out pink

even me

This is insane. She wanted it pink, she got it pink. Mission accomplished. I don't think I'm going to try using the sprayer inside again. Even I got covered in pink. Everything was covered in pink. I did get some on the ceiling, the fan, even the floor after we put down protective covering.

Next time we install trim, lights, furniture, etc. And as a finishing touch, she wants me to install some floating shelves so I'll get to figure out how to build those.

Back on the roof

After I fell off of the roof I said I was going to hire out a roofing company to come finish the job for me. yeah, maybe I should have actually followed through with it. I did get a nearby roofing company to come over and collect info for an estimate but they never actually sent back the price or scheduled the install. So, I already had some materials anyway, once my leg felt like it could sustain the angle of the roof for some degree of time I just got up there to start framing.

Outline for the new frame

That's where the rain gets in

Got the rest of the framing up

I look happier than I felt, being on the roof in July

Sheeting!

I should have framed the roof like this to begin with

Got the felt paper down

The framing came together pretty clean. The sheeting came in really clean! I was kind of surprised it turned out that straight. The one board was only green because I pulled it from the top of the stack from Lowe's, it had some other paint on it. All looks the same after the paper goes down.

I got really slack about taking pictures after this, but up next is the never ending demand of shingles!

Calling it done!

It took me 11 months, over 8000 lbs of concrete, 116 concrete blocks, 1300 bricks, pressure treated floor framing, tongue and groove flooring, about 80 2x6's for the roof framing, and now I'm calling it done. I had to do a test brick bench in the backyard and a test roof in the driveway just to get ready. This is one of the largest and certainly one of the longest projects I've ever done. Plus, usually Kelley helps me out on most of these things with the house, but this one was all me. Kelley helped me paint some but this was really my design, my digging, and my woodworking. I am very pleased with the way this came together. And I took lots of pictures.

Before pictures are from 6/10/2018. This tiny concrete stoop was falling apart. The stone path was getting breaks in the concrete and weeds growing through it. The beds outlined with those azaleas were not supposed to be pruned like that, and it's a poor landscape design. That handrail made it impossible to load a couch into the living room. Not functional or attractive.

8/6/2018 I started digging

Fast forward from August 2018 to July 2019 and we get this

amazing!

The last weekend of work, I finished painting the ceiling blue and installed the ceiling fans. Then all that was really left was painting. I touched up the handrail walls, then put a final thick coat of floor paint down. Once it dried everything was ready for furnishing.

How many colors can you put into one porch? White trim, red (brown) cedar, sky blue ceiling, red brick, dark gray walls, pink front door, light gray floor, and brown (red) stairs with gray concrete. Some designer is going nuts over that. it's too much!

Full porch, standard view. Note the rain chains on the gutters

not every house can pull off a pink front door

Floor is painted

Fans are installed

Left side walls, column, and roof

Finished ceiling with fans

The stairs are 8' wide, solid brick & concrete

This is a tough seating space

Right half of the front. This is going to be a great space to landscape

Right walls, from the shed side

This is going to be an easy space for seating

We really love how well this turned out. It adds an amazing amount of curb appeal to the house. Done is kind of a strong word at this point. There is still a hole in the roof where I was clearing out framing before I fell, I'm going to hire out someone to finish that off for me. There is decorating. We want to put a porch swing on the far side but they are having a very difficult time finding one. I might have to build the right front porch swing. There is landscaping - the fun part. Now I get to rebuild the entire front yard!

Happy people on a happy porch

We did get a couch for the strange side