Roof – The big Finale

It seems like long time ago since we covered the first part of the roof with Bryan together with Bryan. That was in late April, and we still fondly remember the heroic assistance. As Bryan boards the seaplane back to Vancouver, the following parts of the roof are completely finished: bathrooms, bedrooms, dormers, and a little more than one-sixth of the main house. So there is still some work to be done. But even two people can do the roofing solidly.

Cabin Plan

To make sure we understand each other, I'll briefly point out the layout of the cabin again, or rather show it in the form of a graphic. As you can see below, our cabin consists of three parts: Main house in the middle, a bedroom on the right (the thing with the bed in it) and a bathroom on the left (the thing with the toilet in it). The dormers are in the main house and - if you still want to go by the furniture pictured - are above the couch.

Bedroom and bathroom (which is missing from the drawing above because we spontaneously and permanently deviate from the plan) are each covered with a roof that rises two feett over a length of 12 feet. With the dormers - instead of one, we just built two because we can - the roof rises 4 feet over 12 feet. The roof of the main house is very steep, rising 16 feet over a length of 12 feet.

The Scaffolding – A Arama in two Acts

Before we can wow the neighborhood by nailing down the remaining shingles, some preparation is required. First, the remaining fascia boards need to be attached. The gable of the wall to which said fascia boards need to be attached to hovers just under 22 feet above the ground. Thanks to the three stacked scaffolds on top of each other, I can just about reach the center standing on my tiptoes. We added the three scaffolds to our cabin's household quite a while ago. They have already provided us with various services and will of course be used again here.

Together we build the first scaffold. Easy! Then comes the second one on top. Easy as well, but already pretty wobbly. And finally, the third scaffold has to be lifted into the air. One and two are easy, as I said, but it doesn't take long before Rico is sitting on the third platform, drenched in sweat and - I quote freely - "fearing for his life. And yes, it really is an indecently shaky affair, especially when the scaffolding is not or not yet fixed.

But how, or rather where, do you fix this jello in the form of three scaffolds when the only available place is the one where you want to mount the actual building material - said fascia boards. This is no task for Rico, who himself says, "I'm not afraid of heights, but of falling." Fortunately, I myself have no problem with that and jump in heroically. However, that doesn't reduce Rico's stress or sweat levels. The reason: I can keep my balance much better when standing than when sitting. Therefore, I stand on the aforementioned Jell-O and mount the horizontal auxiliary board that can be seen in the picture. The upper framework is fixed to this with a clamp. Oh yes, I also quickly mount the fascia boards.   

The Tender Melting of the Roof Shingles

After the fascia boards have been professionally installed, Rico ventures onto the roof, ready to wield the nail gun. Spring, by the way, is very kind to us. Bright sunshine and temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius do not fail to have an effect on the black roof shingles and especially the layer of bitumen attached to them.

Wir verwenden auf unserem Dach Highlander®-Dachschindeln der Marke Malarkey. Die bestehen aus einer Kombination mehrerer Materialien, die speziell für Haltbarkeit und Leistung entwickelt wurden. Auch sind diese Schindeln für Amateure wie uns total super, da sie einen sehr grossen Nagelstreifen haben.

On the top of each shingle strip and on the back of the nail strip runs a "glue strip". By overlapping the shingles, these two adhesive strips of bitumen are bonded together, and sunlight and heat do their part to make the roof tight. The "adhesive strips" thus help keep the shingles in place while preventing water or other elements from penetrating.

However, considering the temperatures mentioned above, the activation of the adhesive strips takes place as if by itself. The black shingles become incredibly hot and the bitumen melts and sometimes sticks even in places where it should not stick. But what can you do, the roof must be covered. Soon, the sweet sound of the nail gun is in harmony with the rumbling of the compressor.