Day Eight

About 8:00p.m.. The rafters are all up and you

can really get a feel for what the cabin will look

like. I even added one of the twelve light

windows so you can see what it looks like in place.

After much head scratching, I started to put up the rafters

late this afternoon. There are other roofs that would have

been easier to build, but I love a gable roof- the steeper, the

better. This is a 12:12 roof, (45 degrees),but if I didn't have to do all the work

by myself, I would have gone even steeper.

Here's one of the rafters I made today. This one didn't

make the cut. Making rafters is hard. These are a sort

of hybrid between traditional rafters and a truss system.

Rafters are lighter, but must be put up two at a time- tough

for one set of hands. A truss is too heavy and uses the space

above the ceiling (no loft). These are assembled on the gound,

(the loft actually- the only flat, open area left) and then raised

one set at a time. They are then married to the the loft joists

as a reinforcement.

The windows are here! Eight windows and french doors.

How do you make a tiny space seem roomier and more

open? Glass was my answer. We'll see how it turns out.

Today was one of those days when I couldn't really get going. I haven't seen another person
in a week and today I had three different visitors. One was the Building Inspector who was "just wondering what was going on."