the roof

I’ve mentioned the roof arches a bunch of times, at least on Twitter, & people are like, ‘huh?’.

Above is a roof arch.

& here, in case that isn’t enough to visualize what I’m working on, is a roof arch in place.

A similarly shaped piece of plywood, this time attached to the top of the back wall of the tinker's wagon.

Each of those notches will hold a 2×4 rafter that will run the length of the tinker’s wagon. Those get covered in plywood, & then over that, for the next year or so, will go a heavily-stapled, heavy duty tarp.

… I know, I know, but roofing is SPENDY & other people have done the same thing & the tarp lasts a while if you do it right & well, we’ll see.

Anyway, getting the thing up there & fastened on my own was a bit of an adventure, but I had clamps & good balance & a LOT of motivation not to drop the thing.

Getting that first screw in was a real relief, gotta tell ya.

The view from inside the wagon -- there's a 2x2 clamped to the top of the back wall, & the roof arch piece is held in place with clamps, ready to be screwed in.

With that in place I could get the rest of the boards up on that wall, although I put down more housewrap first. Which was also an adventure!

The roof arch from the outside again, now mostly covered in sloppily-stapled housewrap.

How did I get high enough to get those top staples in? Why, only this:

(Mom, don’t look)

(Aunt Ann, don’t look)

There's a sturdy worktable sitting next to the wall of the tinker's wagon. Atop it is a folding stepstool. I didn't say any of this was a GOOD idea.

It’s still more stable than a ladder.

With that up I could add another board, once I’d trimmed it to fit around the window.

There's a new board on the back wall, above the big window & just reading the bottom of the housewrap. Also the housewrap has been stapled on much more neatly.

… & then the sun set.

Tomorrow, I’m hoping to finish the rest of that wall all the way to the top of the arch, & get at least a bit done on the back wall as well. There’s another arch for the back wall, & two more that’ll go on the 2x4s that go across the tinker’s wagon (they’re visible in the picture above).

I am getting SO CLOSE to having at least the outside done, & that’s good, cos sooner or later there’s gonna be weather.

For now, napping, & then walls.