The roof is done.

The crew arrived early on Wednesday — only minutes after I popped a fresh SD card into my time-lapse camera and started it up. Now that the days are very long — we get almost 16 hours of sunlight, and even more light if you include twilight hours — and starting to get very warm, the builders want to work early. They asked if they could come as early as 5 AM and I told them they could — heck, I’m awake at that time. They rolled into my driveway at about 5:40 AM. The earlier they start, the earlier they can leave.

The day was perfect for construction on a rooftop — very little wind and relatively cool. As usual, the crew got right to work. I was home all day, doing odd jobs around the yard and working on a writing project on my computer. I came out a few times for a peek at where they were, amazed, as usual, at how quickly this “well-oiled machine” worked.

At one point, I climbed up onto the roof of the RV for a better look at what they’d done — and a photo, of course.

They finished the metal on top of the roof before lunch. Afterwards, they went back outside and worked on the trim, which I’m sure has a special construction name I’m not aware of.

And then they left.

Afterwards, I repositioned the man-lift and used it to go up to the second floor. I was meeting with a builder to start getting bids on the framing job and wanted another look around before he arrived. With the roof on, the building was beginning to really feel like the big shelter it would soon be.

Another look from the second floor, this time with the roof on. There’s no insulation under this roof yet; it’ll be done with the framing and drywall. The framers will put a wall between the second floor and the shop. I’ve decided to leave the roof beams (but not the purlins, of course) exposed.

Once again, the time-lapse camera isn’t in the best position to see exactly what they did. But you can watch them progress from left to right across the rooftop and then see them put up the trim.

Despite moderate to heavy winds, the workers manage to finish one of the building’s two roofs.

Monday’s high wind postponed roof work. The wind was also supposed to be a factor on Tuesday, but when the workers arrived around 7 AM, the wind wasn’t much more than a breeze. They decided to go for it.

There were four workers in the crew that day and you could tell that they’d obviously done this many times before. They started by using the man-lift to get two of the workers and a roll of insulation up on the roof beams. The workers unrolled and placed the insulation. Then the two men on the ground rolled up one of the many long sheets of roofing metal and tied it securely. They used the man lift to get it up to the workers on the roof. They unrolled it and fastened it into place.

The very edge of the roof, where it overhangs the outside of the building by about two feet, did not get any insulation. As Angel and I discussed later on, there’s no reason for it and it’s basically all taken away by birds, over time, for nesting material. (Note to self: keep garage doors closed during bird nesting season.)

I busied myself with work around the yard for most of the morning. I needed to construct a latticework for my peas and beans to climb as they grow. I needed to haul off some sage I thought I’d burn but realized was an eyesore. I needed to retrieve a 20-in by 14-ft culvert pipe someone had left on my property years ago and put it on Craig’s List to earn a quick buck. My 1999 Yamaha Grizzly ATV, which I bought new in 1999 for “yard work” in Arizona, was a huge help. I’m so glad I brought it with me, along with the “farm trailer,” I’d bought in Arizona all those years ago to use with it.

At one point, I drove the Grizzly up the road for a look at their progress from above. In only a few hours, they’d done more than half the roof.

I can’t believe how quickly the roof metal went up.

Meanwhile, the wind was picking up. I really expected them to call it quits, but if there’s one thing I noticed about this crew, it’s that they like to finish a whole job in a day. You can clearly see this if you go back through the day-by-day posts I’ve written about the project. So even after breaking for lunch at about noon, they went back to the roof to finish up.

I had a meeting at the airport to attend at 2 PM. Although I toyed with the idea of flying over, I had some errands to run in town so I drove. I passed the workers on their way home when I drove back around 4:15. When I reached the overlook for my building, I saw that the roof was done.

The larger of my two roofs is done.

I have a time-lapse for the day (of course). It doesn’t clearly show what they did because of the camera angle. Although I toyed with the idea of moving the camera, I didn’t want to deal with the problem of getting power out to it. So I left it where it was. The other roof work, which should be done today, will be more visible.

Ten of the last 11 windows get framed.

The builders were supposed to put on the metal roof today. In fact, on Thursday they even warned me that they might come as early as 6 AM to get started.

But the weather didn’t cooperate. The usual work crew arrived without the roofing guys. It was just too damn windy. No one wants to be standing 30 feet above the ground holding a sheet metal sail.

So Angel and his crew went to work on framing the windows and doors to the deck for the second floor living area. With the floor in place, it was easy.

I was out most of the day. With the construction of the building shell nearing completion, it was time for me to get to work on the interior. The first step was the HVAC. I met with four contractors to talk about options and got promises for bids by Wednesday. I made some other stops, too, including a very nice lunch at a farm stand up the road from East Wenatchee.

When I got back, most of the windows had been framed. I watched them work on a few while doing some odd jobs around my property. They would have finished them all, but they ran out of lumber.

Later, after the builders had gone, I used the man-lift to go upstairs. (My friend Bob, who had come for dinner the night before, had shown me how to get the darn thing started and that was all I needed to make it my personal elevator.) I wandered around my future home, checking out the views from my future windows. I liked what I saw.

Here’s the view from the doorway of my future bedroom. There will be two 4×5 windows and a glass door leading out to a long deck.

In this shot, I’m standing right about where my stove/breakfast bar island will be in my future kitchen looking out across my future great room. This room will have eight 4×5 windows and a glass door leading out to the front deck.

Still later, as the sun was getting ready to set, I wandered out by where my helicopter was parked to take a photo from a different point of view. I realized that my home was really starting to look like a home.

Home is where the helicopter is.

Here’s the time-lapse video for the day:

A huge amount of work done.

I was out for a good portion of the work day, with a hair appointment in the morning and a meeting with the concierge at Cave B Estate Winery at lunchtime. While I was gone, the three-man work crew buzzed through piles of lumber, fitting them like puzzle pieces into the frame of my future home.

In looking at the time-lapse (below), I could clearly see the order in which the work was accomplished. First, they laid in the remaining beams for the second story floor. Then two men added girts to the front and back of the building while the third finished framing out the floor. They took a break for lunch and then the two continued adding girts, this time to the garage side of the building while the third man framed out the garage doors.

The “well-oiled machine” was working in peak form on Wednesday, framing floors, garage doors, and exterior walls.

They were almost done for the day when Tanya drove up. She wanted to review the window placement with me and Angel, the lead worker. We talked about it first, then walked around the building with Angel, who made notes in pencil right on the girts. It wasn’t until then that I realized my building would have 20 windows — not including the ones in the garage doors.

The next step will be framing the windows and getting the plywood on the second story floor. Once the windows are framed, they can be installed. Once the floor is finished, the stairs can be built. After the windows comes the metal roof and skin of the building — the metal was scheduled to be delivered the next day. The additional windows for the shop area would arrive Friday. Somewhere along the way, they’d add the poles for my front deck and put in the concrete pad. The garage doors would be last.

That’s my understanding of how the job would finish up. At this point, I’d say they’re more than halfway finished.

In 11 days.

Here’s the time-lapse for the day. I think this is one of the most interesting ones in a while. So much going on that its difficult to keep track of it all!