The winter rainy season was fast approaching – in fact, rain was happening in town, in the county and all around us. But God held it off of our thirsty land while we hurried to dry in our house.
A beautiful day dawned:
The building stood ready….
First a blanket of insulation (yes, the 60 year old man on the right is my Dad, the ridge runner!)
Flora checks out the attic space (while mommy nervously watches from very close by).
Panels are measured, and holes pre-drilled. (Dad and the brother Brian)
Taking the panel up! Due to the trees we liked next to our house, each panel had to go up in one place…
and slid across the roof to the other end (brothers Michael, David and Timothy)
Katie ready to secure the next panel. The beautiful day was sunny and pleasant, but the reflective roof made for hot work and good winter tans!
Brian took off work for the second day of roofing and I was able to help as well. It was overcast and slightly misting which made for cooler working but a slippery surface.
The finished roof!
Side view
And then the rains came! A downpour like we hadn’t seen since the spring. Katie and I ran through the raindrops, lighting and thunder to stand in the house and listen to the rain on the roof. Thrilling!
“For He sendeth rain on the just and the unjust”….and sometimes, He withholds it, just for us.
Trusses were delivered in a big stack – that almost didn’t make it off the truck. Several hours, a broken hydraulic line and a backhoe later, everything was unloaded.
Each truss was carried from the pile, up the ramp and onto the house.
Then cranked up manually with a duct lift. David did most of the cranking and must have had some kind of muscle by the end. I cranked up just two and was sore the next day.
Once they were on top of the walls, each truss was drug into place and attached to the one before.
Here all the trusses are in place and boards are laid across the top, ready for the roof!
I love the way the sunlight plays through the boards, leaving spots and shadows across the floors and walls.
And this is the overhang for our back porch. We stained the ends using a roller and a long extension handle – took me all day!
I’ve been reading through Genesis with the children the last two weeks and stumbled across a surprise. I’ve written out my thoughts along with a few pictures that help illustrate the point.
Genesis 5 list out generations from Adam to Noah, ending with Noah having three sons at or around age 500. The next chapter goes into the evils of mankind, and God’s directions for the ark, which includes space for his sons and their wives. Due to this, (and the many Bible story pictures) I had always thought Noah’s sons were adults when they started this project.
Now, go over to chapter 11 – we’re in a different story already but it seems necessary to relist some generations, just so we have it all straight. Here’s where a verse caught my attention:
Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was 100 years old and begat Arpaxhad, two years after the flood.
Don’t get stuck on the names, look at Shem’s age! Noah was 500 when he had his sons and 600 (Gen. 7:11) when the flood came. That means 100 years building. How old is Shem 2 years after the flood? Only 100. That has Noah taking on this massive project when his boys are young and possibly not even born!
Maybe this is not so amazing to you, but as a parent of very young children and being in the middle of a building project, this really hit home. Families with young children, don’t be afraid to take on something big.
Serving God and having a family don’t have to be two separate seasons of life. I know (very well) that young children can be a lot of work and most of the time you’re just trying to survive.
These boys grew up with Dad working on this crazy project but they must have caught the vision because they stuck with him 100 years! What better way to teach the next generation than by faith in action.
Where did I last leave you? Ah yes, I believe it was here:
Things have changed quite a bit since then!
More framing has gone up: walls, halls, bathrooms, pantry!
Ivy looks out her bedroom window!
OSB is added to the outside.
The ground crew is ready for action!! A cooler morning calls for hoods!
Everybody has boots for working on the job site. Whether or not the boots are worn all depends on the child.
Lance picks up bent nails.
Ivy sweeps up leaves.
Flora surveys wall placement.
Eden sweeps….
and checks the walls for stability.
The ramp is built so trusses can be carried up to the house. Our inspectors put it through strenuous testing to make sure it was safe for the work men.
Many hands are needed for putting up walls, so we held a “barn raising” day. All the men related to the Jones side of the family came to help along with a few friends.
On the morning of the big day – Lance is ready to start work!
Flora is delighted with the color of the studs – pink!!
The plans are consulted and Michael marks where each board goes.
X marks the spot! For a stud that is. C K shows the edge of a window, calling for a special configuration of boards called a cripple and king stud.
I was taught how to put these together along with corners and “T” posts.
Lori grabs a ready made “T” out of the stack.
The studs were laid out where called for…
…and the top plate was nailed on.
Then it’s all hands on deck to raise the wall.
Up, up and away!
Then we all hold it steady until the wall and supports are nailed in place. This process was then repeated for the rest of the day.
Other aspects of the job:
Consulting.
Crowd control.
Cutting.
Cooler breaks.
More consulting.
Dirt work.
By the end of the day, our house was really taking shape!
