Screenhouse in the woods

Willie T

It's looking great so far. See, you engineer types actually CAN do some great work!

I am just floored that you are doing all this not only by yourself, but also with no electricity.

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Willie T

jules4

Engineer types? Well, maybe by inclination, but I've never actually taken a course in it - I'm an arts type by profession

One up side to no power tools was I could actually listen to the water in the falls and the bird songs while working. (Would have traded both for a cordless circular saw though lol.)

jules4

I was lucky enough to be able to sneak away to the cottage for the previous two weeks to get more work done. I’ll post details over the next couple of days as I get the pics organized.

To review, here's where I left off in early August:





Friday - Monday (Aug 27-30)
(I didn’t actually get around to taking any progress shots until Monday.)

I started work by dismantling the front and rear platforms I had previously built to provide roof access, and then installed 2x2 nailing strips on the outside of the front and rear floor girts (with spaces to allow air flow) to provide additional support for the balusters I’ll be adding.

Detail of the rear nailing strip:




Then I installed vertical 2x4's to define the window/door openings, a horizontal 2x4 railing support/siding girt, and the centre floor joist:






I want the 2x6 I’m installing as a railing to be rock solid, since it will be used as a shelf/foot rest/counter-top/step-stool/etc., so I used Strong-Tie brackets to beef it up.

On each side, where the railings will end mid-wall (i.e., not at a corner post), I used A35Z brackets which have bendable tabs at one end. Here’s a detailed pic of how I used these: what you see is the bracket installed to the 2x4 stud (one side of the bracket is sandwiched between the stud and the horizontal girt), with one tab (tab 1 in pic) bent down to support the railing.




Where the railings end at corner posts I used standard ‘L’ brackets (I added brackets mid-span as well since I had extra).

Here’s a picture showing the ‘L’ brackets (taken after the railing and balusters were installed):




Finally, I installed the 2x4 balusters. Note that the balusters are nailed directly to the 2x2 nailing strips and the floor girts, as opposed to being nailed through the floor - I’m not nailing anything to the floor boards in order to make it easier to replace them (the floor will be untreated spruce, so replacement may be required at some point).

(You can also see from this picture that I’ve covered the floor girts with roofing felt - I’m going to do this with all the floor joists too. It’s probably a total waste of time and felt, since I’m using pressure treated lumber, but it can’t do any harm and I had lots of felt left over.)




The end result is a railing I can literally jump up and down on without it budging in the slightest.

Props for this truly kick-ass railing design must go to WillieT (I'd originally planned to use a flimsy sistered 2x4 contraption).

gma2rjc

It's coming along nicely. What is the green stuff you put on the wood?

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and when it's finished.

cocobolo

I think you'll find that when Jules comes back to tell you, that the green stuff is wood preservative.

Greetings from the right end of Canada Jules! Nice job so far...

jules4

Cocobolo is right on the money - I put a liberal dose of end cut preservative on any "virgin" wood I exposed in my treated lumber (eg., notches and end cuts, nail holes left from temporary braces, etc.).

I'm looking forward to seeing it finished too! :D

jules4

Thanks! (And there can only be one right end, so you guys are clearly on the wrong end )

jules4

Tuesday (Aug 31)

Finally got around to finishing my foundation today. I’d left the post-holes open so long I had to spend half an hour cleaning debris out of them before I could pour the concrete necklaces around the bottoms of the posts.

I poured one and half bags worth of concrete into the bottom of each hole, pausing to tamp everything down a few times to remove air pockets. This made a nice 1 foot thick necklace around the base of each post, which should anchor things down nicely.

Here’s a picture of a freshly poured necklace - although it doesn’t look it, the top of the concrete is actually about two feet below ground level (I’ll backfill the holes with soil once the concrete has had 24 hours to set up).




As I’ve been constructing the framing I’ve been caulking the tops and sides of all joints with 100% silicone caulk (I leave the bottoms open for drainage just in case water does get in). I just so happens that I'd started a new tube of caulk when I did the railings and balusters yesterday, and today I noticed that this caulk was still just as gooey as when I’d applied it.

Today I learned a valuable lesson about silicone - CHECK THE EXPIRY DATE ON SILICONE CAULK!

Old silicone caulk won’t cure. Ever.

So . . . I spent the rest of the day cleaning uncured silicone off the railings. I found the technique that worked best was to use plastic drywall knives (and random bits of wood) to scrape as much of the silicone off as I could, and then scrub things down with paint thinner.

Before cleaning:




After cleaning:




Of course now that I’ve finally gotten rid of all the silicone I'm going to have to caulk it all over again.

jules4

Wednesday (Sept 1)

It appears that there’s a good chance that hurricane Earl will make landfall here Friday night/early Saturday, so I’m going to have to get all the excess roll-roofing that’s hanging off the edges of the roof trimmed so the whole roof doesn’t wind up peeling off in the wind.

It’s been hot and humid all week so I’ve been putting this task off: hanging out on baking hot asphalt does not appeal. Today’s no better, with an expected high of 33C (92F) and a heat index in the low 40s (105-110F), but with Earl closing in the roof needs to get done. (In case you're wondering, no, these are not normal temperatures for Nova Scotia in September!)

In order to avoid the worst of the heat I headed up on the roof at 7am and, thankfully, managed to finish before the sun really started to beat down (it was still bloody hot though). I trimmed all the roofing flush with the drip edge, and made double-sure the roof edges and all the laps were cemented down, applying Black Gold patching compound as needed. To protect the Black Gold from UV damage I coated all exposed compound with roofing granules (obtained by rubbing scraps of roll-roofing together).




I also got the eavestrough installed (Earl is supposed to pack loads of rain).




And installed the rest of the floor joists (nothing to do with Earl).

DangerMouse

Wonderful read. Thanks!
I can't wait to see it done.
Beautiful view too.

DM

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cocobolo

Nice try Jules, but we are at the right end and you are at the left end! It isn't that it's wrong, it's just that it's all that's left!

DangerMouse

South end ain't so bad either..... south of the soo....lol

DM

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jules4

Thanks - I’m enjoying writing it too.

It is a very beautiful site, and I must admit to occasionally choosing my pictures on the basis their aesthetic qualities rather than their functional merits. (E.g., I particularly liked the contrast in the picture I posted immediately before your first reply to this thread - I actually had several other pictures using a flash that showed the joists much more clearly, but they lacked charm.)

DangerMouse

If I did that in MY woods, all my view would be of is frogs eating mosquitos.... lol

DM

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cocobolo

The simple truth is DM that no matter where you go there is beauty to be found.

I remember when I arrived in Canada as a kid being completely in awe of the views as we were approaching Halifax by boat. I'm still very much in awe of the scenery all over this country.