October 1, 2012

The Tin Can – Transforming

We’re back from Camp Davis with more progress to report. In addition to replacing the roof over the Studio we completed the siding on its northern-facing portion. That is a huge deal for a number of reasons (for starters, that’s one less side subject to the elements this winter), but what it primarily represents is the almost psychological transformation of the Studio to the Tin Can, from glorified shed to bonafide living space.

When we walk inside the building knowing that the roof is properly covered and the siding is actually going up (and not just a pipe dream any longer), suddenly we allow our imaginations to run wild, and we begin envisioning what it might be some day. This is no small feat. Up to this point, Natalie admitted that she always feared we’d have to tear down the structure and start over. With the roof up she doesn’t see it that way anymore.

Well, we did have to do a small bit of demolition. Namely, that little window had to go. The original installation was all wrong. It was somehow sitting in place with just four finishing nails. It was set way inside the wall, and crooked to boot.

Also, there was a small hole in the window. Initial diagnosis suggests a bee bee gun was at fault. While I won’t outright deny the accusation, I will try to feign ignorance, and perhaps defer blame on account of the fact that we’ve shot bee bees in that direction so many times that I can’t pin down who specifically might be responsible for that fateful shot.

Either way, out went the window:

We also installed the ledger board beneath the drip edge to further secure the roof:

As you can see the courtyard was a bit of a disaster for much of the weekend, with power tools and building materials strewn about. Totally kid-friendly.

No really, the kids managed to find plenty of fun among the mess:

Loren and his cousin Afton even managed to bring the big metro traffic all the way out to the hollows:

When we took the tin roof off the structure we made sure to do so with care. The plan was to re-use the material as siding, which considering the low pitch of the roof made a lot more sense.

After completing the ledger board we framed in the siding area with pressure treated 2x4s. After putting up the house-wrap moisture barrier we got to cutting the tin panels to size. By dinner we had a glimpse of the finished product:

This material will cover three sides of the building when completed, which is why we plan to change the name to the Tin Can.

And we love it.

We’re a third of the way to completing the outside of the house. Once that’s done we can place our attention on remodeling and decorating the inside, where we’re building a great big living room area with this as our focal point and inspiration: