Upper roof framing

After over a year spent framing and reframing, we finally reached the very top of the roof. The upper sheathing was fastened with a thousand 12″ screws and large galvanized washers. I’m not gonna lie: buying the screws gave me a little sticker shock. Sometimes the housebuilding process involves grand ideas, excitement, and creativity. Sometimes it means getting up early so you can drive around bleary-eyed in the dark to an industrial supply store and somehow spend a thousand dollars on tubs of ordinary-looking black screws. But it’s all part of the process. Regardless, this is an exciting milestone: for the first time, the interior of the house is totally protected from the elements.

Roof designs are a big and interesting topic. Rather than try to cram everything about hot vs. cold roofs, ventilation, ice damming, etc. into a single post, I’ll address a few of these topics over the next few weeks. I’ll also include a diagram of the final akhouseproject roof assembly, which I believe does a good job balancing efficiency, cost, aesthetics and resilience in an Alaska climate.

Posted January 5, 2021.