Al and Robins 20x30 1 1/2 near Lake Eufaula, OK

[Don_P]

Skip the purlins they do less than absolutely nothing if you have a solid deck. Use the foam closure strips over the top and under the bottom of the sheets, you do not want moist air flowing under the sheets at night, condensing and sweating. That mistake gets repeated over and over again. Depending on how ,ahem, retentive you are buttoncaps can telegraph through thinner metals with a little bump, purlins do with rows of edges showing quite often, and dents where someone misstepped. My preference for those situations is felt and roofing nails but the catch 22 is that the felt won't last nearly as long. I've seen some folks run red rosin paper vertically over the wrap and buttonkaps as they lay each sheet. You'd have to be pretty picky but we all fixate on different things.

[ajbremer]

Monday Night - July 9th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

Finally finished the back side today, at least the large sheets. Now I just have to get up
there from the inside and do the narrow sheets that will leave a small vent gap. Next
comes the underlayment.

[ajbremer]

Wednesday Afternoon - July 11th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

Finished up to the top with the roof sheathing.



I also left a gap where the osb stops, for the vent. It's a little crooked here and there and not perfectly centered but after the metal ridge vent cap is on it won't be seen. I won't tell anybody it's crooked...cept you guys!
(1 more pic coming soon)

[suburbancowboy]

I wish we had a way to do a dance on the roof.  To me it is a bigger deal than getting the floor done.    I remember when I got the roof on last year when it was raining twice a week I slept much better and relaxed a little.  It also means when it is to hot to work out side you can just work inside.

[Don_P]

Nail an evergreen bough to the peak at one end, raise a toast and have a traditional topping out ceremony. Well done 

[ajbremer]

Thanks Don_P and suburbancowboy!

I'd never heard the term 'topping out' so I googled it and found out. Here's the definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topping_out

It was kind of fun straddling the top of the house like this:



I was be'in funny here:

[ajbremer]

Thursday Afternoon - July 12th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

I didn't know it but a guy at work told me about a plastic skirting panel manufacturing place that is right in my closest town, it's called, Reil Rock. They make 36" x 57" panels that have that river rock look.

I told the woman there that I had a 20 x 30 countryplan place and she said "...a country what?" No...kidd'in. She said I would need 20 panels. She priced the whole thing at $450.00 and that included 4 vents and an entry way. I think it would look pretty cool with the log siding.

Remember, my place is about 4' off the ground and this stuff would attach (screw) to the metal bracing. Better yet, it would be nice to frame the stuff onto pressure treated 2x's or even 1x's.

Here's a pic of a panel of the stuff:

[ajbremer]

Friday Afternoon - July 13th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

Been up there on top of the roof a lot this morning and this afternoon.

Yesterday I tried to straddle the top and roll out the felt up there while I held it with the top of my foot while unrolling it. I put the first nail in while lining up the edge and then unrolled it about 3 feet and put another nail in, then another 3 feet and...it was crooked. So I rolled it back up, tore out the nails and decided to just put one nail in at the corner and that way it can pivot while I unroll a bunch of it and swivel it to make it straight. Well, I was unrolling it (with only that one nail at the corner edge holding it) and when I got just over the half way point the felt ripped out of the nail and slide down the roof. (Yes, I'm using the #30 cheap felt and not the Titanium stuff, I got impatient and didn't want to travel and/or wait to buy it so I bought what was available - 2 rolls of #30).

After that I decided the best way to go about it is to just put up a bunch of roof brackets and boards and unroll it while on the roof and not straddling the top. I also purchased some large eye wood screws and screwed them in on each end at the very top of the roof. Then I tied 3 strands of rope and cord between and in them. I also bought a 30' long 20,000 lb capacity tow ribbon and put it around the top rope. I'll use that to hold onto and wrap around.

The only thing I don't have and wish I did have was that safety harness. I have one lined up to get early next week. I'm getting the impression and now believe that putting the felt on is actually a harder job than putting on the roof sheathing osb!

I got a another load of wood so right after I'm done with the felt, I'm going to frame the gable ends in and put the osb on the outside of that framing. Other than all that, all is well.

[UK4X4]

Not sure wether your trying to do this using the whole roll or just what you need for that one run
Spend the time and set out your foot stays to work off of

Safety first !

Then think of using a full width batten as your anchor to be removed later
Stretch out the whole width and batten the other end then go back
And neatly stretch and nail as required

Enjoy !

[Redoverfarm]

Al the felt will not last long if the wind would happen to catch a loose edge.  You might consider using 1X scraps and tack them down on the seams.  Felt also has a tendency to curl up and buckle once it is heated up(sun) and cools off.  I would not wait that long before putting the metal on the roof.

[Don_P]

I usually put 2 or 3 nails in the top corner, unroll 20 or 30 feet of felt if the wind allows, lap line over line on the felt and use buttonkaps at ~6" spacing on that lower edge and buttonkaps over each rafter down the center of the sheet (that locates the rafters for the roofers and their roof jacks later) If the wind exposure is bad I'll either strip the seams or string them with masons twine wrapped around under the caps and pulled taught as I drive them, very slow going. I haven't done any of that since the synthetics arrived.

[ajbremer]

Friday Night - July 13th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

Quick comment: I got my builders risk home insurance today. They asked me if I was going to do a metal roof and then they asked me what gauge it'll be. I told them 26 gauge and they said good because there's a discount on that. Come to find out, the discount is $175.00 a year! I thought, "Wow!".

If I chose shingles, I would have to pay the purchase price for them and then $175 every year there after for not going metal. But, because I'm going with metal, the insurance will pay for the roof in 6 to 8 years. I thought that was pretty cool.

[MountainDon]

Wow!  What a good deal. I think that's a better deal than what we got when we re-roofed from std shingles to metal (26 ga). We got what amounts to 10% off the total premium. That's about $50 a year at present. (in our case the old shingles had to be removed to ontain the metal roof discount.)

State Farm

[Don_P]

I'm going to sidetrack for a minute. Those skirting panels cost $22.50/ea. I've seen similar things done to skirt later, there are some additional costs involved there. The piers cost money. A Permanent wood foundation starts looking pretty good costwise and not far from block.

The cracking around the piers is saying that the fill soil has lost the moisture that was presnt when you filled them and the soil surrounding the piers is no longer tight and providing lateral resistance. There's the reason I disregard the soil as a bracing element.

Now to a harness. If you have some webbing, center it and wrap it around your waist and tie with an overhand knot wrapped 2 times and pulled snug. Drop the two ends between your legs and wrap them around your legs. Tuck the free end behind the part that dropped down and tie it off with a double half hitch. Repeat for the other leg. Hook your locking ring around the double overhand and hook the prussic to your safety rope and the locking carabiner. The safety rope should also pass thru the carabiner, around you and back thru the biner. You're now tied in two ways and adjustable.

[Redoverfarm]

Al without sounding critical of your choice of building materials you might want to reconsider the plastic rock panels.  I have seen these used in different applications.  On each they still look like fake plastic rocks.  Their main purpose I believe was for Mobil Home skirting.  That portion of your build is not critical now and I believe their are other choices out there which will compliment the craftsmanship that you have put into your build thus far.  They do make rock panels that are far better than those.  There is a multitude of materials that you could use in their place which will compliment your hard work.  Yes it is cheap but don't fall prey to the cost gobblin.

What Don is describing is very similar to the "Swiss Army Seat" that I used several years ago when I was repelling.  Simple but effective.

http://www.modernforces.com/article_swiss_seat.htm

[CjAl]

i am with redoverfarm.


btw, what insurance co are you using?

[ajbremer]

Thank you Don, redoverfarm, and CjAl:

Your right redoverfarm, I will investigate other choices when the time comes - after my siding is on. Very good info once again Don_P, I'll have to sit down and concentrate on how you've explained that webbing harness. I will also have to learn to tie some knots...I don't get too far past tying my shoes.

[ajbremer]

Sunday Morning - July 15th, 2012 Mid-Oklahoma

Got the first row of felt up at the top on the south side. I started at the top and am going down so that I won't leave roof jack holes and have to walk around on the felt as I go. I just made sure that I didn't staple or plastic cap nail the last lower 6" so that I can slip pieces of the next row under them and then staple them.

I bought one of those Arrow hammer staplers and a box of 5000 staples from Lowe's and that's what I'm using to initially put down my #30 felt. That stapler cost $31.95 and the box of staples were $9.95.

One thing I realized and please tell me if I'm wrong, the felt (underlayment) is meant to be a vapor barrier and not something that is going to totally seal the roof from water. I noticed that if I hammered those staples a little to hard, they would puncture the felt to the wood. Also, you just bend that cheap #15 or #30 felt a little too much and it'll crack and break. Yes, I would have felt a lot better if I waited and traveled to pick up that good titanium felt but finances and time were an issue.

Also, as I think I've said before - at first I was locked into the thought of rolling out the felt and trying to lay it out all in one piece and that didn't work with just me doing it by myself. So I cut 6' to 8' lengths on the ground and then brought them up and laid each one out onto the chalk line that I snapped at the bottom. I overlapped them 4" to 6".

I've got the first row up there done using staples. After church this morning I'm going to start again but I'm going to go up there and redo the parts where I think the wind can catch, I'll use plastic cap nails there, then I'll start into the next roll.

[CjAl]

al you can run a piece across the peak and tack it on both.sides. it will keep rain out of your house, just remember to cut it out to open up your ridge vent when you do the roofing

the felt will keep out any water that gets behind your metal so its kind of as important as the roofing althout you hope to not get water under the metal. plus metal sweats

[ajbremer]

Oh, thanks for that CjAl. I'm going to try to get the metal asap but I first have to frame the gable ends.

[CjAl]

i had felt only on my shed for a month. it rained a lot and the lower edges were curling up but it was still holding water out. on the ends i cut it long and folded it over the edges and stapled it off just to help keep the water out untill i got the metal on then i trimmed it back

[ajbremer]

I was at Lowe's today (lately, what day wasn't I at Lowe's) and saw their skylights. The particular one that I was interested in was the 2' x 4' fixed model. I seemed pretty reasonable for only $183.00. The opening fits right between two 2' rafters.

Many times when I talk to people and ask them about skylights many people say they leak. Would this be hard to install in my 12/12 pitch metal roof? Do I first put the metal on and then later cut the hole and install the skylight or is it best to install the skylight while the felt is on and then install the metal roof and work around the skylight?



Price tag:



Here's a link to the products video (very good explainations):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVwGQhcFcBQ

[MountainDon]

Velux makes some good skylights. They are nice for the light they admit, but they are also a huge "heat loss/gain hole" in the insulation, no matter how good they are. It's a balancing act.

Velux also has some special flashing for installation on metal roofs. We have some, I like them. Mostly.

Never any leaks. 20+ years and counting with a re-roof and reflash a half dozen or so years ago.

[Redoverfarm]

I put two in an addition I build some 10-12 years ago.  No leaks (  on wood).  Not real sure of the manufacturer but they have gas filled insulated glass and during the winter on heavy snow periods there will be as much as 18"-24" sitting over them for extended periods of time.  Not to mention that one is almost directly above my wood stove.  They are insulated the best that I have seen.  They are on a shingle roof.

If you get any make sure that you get the flashing kit for metal roofs.  I don't know how many horror stories I have heard from people about skylights and metal roofs.  But I imagine that they were just using a shingle flashing and cases of chaulking.

To answer your question about "when".  The skylights should be installed at the time of the metal installation.  That way you can work the flashing in with the metal roofing.  I believe that if you attempt to install now you will have to flash and them remove the flash when your metal is installed.  What you can do in preparation if you decide to install them for sure is to frame out (header the rafters) for the rough opening. The width should be around 22-1/2" ID.  You can drill corner holes as markers later for the cut out position which will be OK covered with Tar paper. That will take the guess work out of where they actually go. Then later chaulk line the demensions from hole to hole and use a circular saw to remove your OSB for the skylight.

[Redoverfarm]

I went back through my paperwork and they were "Pella's".