Friday, July 24, 2009

Galva - what?!

As you can see we've gotten most of the sheathing done (OSB on the outside of the building). We've been cutting and storing stuff inside, out of the rain (our county is in an extreme drought but we finally got a little rain!). With all the holes we've got quite a nice breeze through most days and ... best of all, shade. It's been over 100 degrees a lot lately. My studio will be in the back - where you can see the 3 windows on the back wall. My studio will be 16x18 feet. The rest is a garage/wood shop for my husband.



Here is an overview of our progress. Today we started putting metal on the roof. We are using Galvalume, which is Aluminum-Zinc alloy coated sheet steel. It is a little more expensive than regular aluminum, but lasts a lot longer and doesn't turn as gray as fast.



Here is a stack of the Galvalume. It is difficult to move because it's relatively delicate (can't be bent or dented) so we end up moving one or two at a time. Today we pre-drilled a bunch of holes on each and then put up about 3/4 of one side of the roof.



My husband finally got brave enough to bring the camera up to the top and shoot this picture of all we've done so far. It was hard to get all the sheets perfectly square, and we kept having the adjust them.



The only sad thing is you won't be able to see our beautiful roof from the street, as the gable is pointing the wrong way. But, we are thinking about putting metal on the house as well, to match the garage/studio and for the energy savings.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Back to it

We're finally getting back to the studio after a break for, among other things, putting together 40 frames!! Just in case we're ever exposed to hurricane force winds, here I am putting on hurricane ties with a nifty little pneumatic nailer thingie.



Next we're sheathing all the walls with OSB. Here's my handsome man with the oh so heavy nail gun - so heavy my arm muscles cramp just looking at this picture.



Here's a whole wall done. So far we've just got the long side walls completed - the gable ends will be more complicated, and we're waiting on more wood.



Next we cut out the holes for the windows and doors with a saws-all.



This is the side closest to the house, with the two doors - one for my studio and one for the garage/wood shop.

Here you can see the fancy framing on the front of the building ...
... and my husband is particularly proud of this boxed soffit return. : )
Next we'll get the metal for the roof up, and sheath the rest of the building.