Rafters for the shed roof over the porch and mudroom… wow, what a difference!

My team made tremendous progress while I was gone. Colin, working on his own for one week, cut rafters for all the shed roofs and prepped plywood and hardware. When Terry returned, the crew made quick work of raising the rafters and returns in place atop a temporary support structure. They also began to install sheathing on this 4-on-12 roof, which will eventually cover the remainder of the first floor (dining room and mudroom) as well as the wraparound porch.

A quick refresher: gable roof vs. shed roof.

Upon my return, we built up the layers of the shed roof basically the same way we did the gables. Over the 2-feet-on-center rafters we nailed 5/8-inch plywood sheathing. The roof line includes numerous tricky angles, including two hips (outside corners) and a valley (inside corner), so Terry and Carson took turns measuring the triangular corner shapes and Colin and I cut them with the circular saw. When we went to install each piece in place, it wasn’t always obvious how to get it there. Thankfully we can stand safely on the 4-on-12 pitch without cleats… but even so, many pieces required a ladder from below and one or two people standing at the stair landing to pass the plywood out.

The next layer was protective sheets: Ice & Water Shield at the most critical spots (along the eaves and up the valley) and mesh Roofer’s Choice everywhere else. And to top it off we got started on shingles, the same bold Boreal Green color as the Barn roof. We received shingle deliveries both Thursday and Friday, and distributed the awkward heavy bags evenly over the gable roofs where we already had cleats to hold them. I cut starter shingles for both the left edges and the right edges, and Terry and Turner began to nail them in place, row by row.

Progress on the shed roof, and bags of shingles on the gable roofs ready to go.

A look at the shed roof underside. Complex rafter configuration below the hip.

Speaking of the Barn roof… we finished it! I think Chris finished shingling the back side two weekends ago, then Terry and Carson draped three-tab shingles over the peak on Friday. They finished with the cupola. It came prefab but still required some modifications to hold the weathervane, which Colin is mighty proud of.

Yep, that’s a skier on the weathervane.