For the past week...

I was a one of eight people who helped build Sheila Clark a desperately needed roof for her porch. I went for the second time to CAP's WorkFest over spring break in Eastern KY. We didn't finish completely like last year, but check out what we did accomplish:
First, get to KY.


1. Become comfortable on the roof.


2. hold stuff while the people who know what they're doing do it.


3. "common rafters" are easy. square cuts, straight across. The incompetent workers (me and ali) were allowed to nails these in. We used a technique called "toe nailing." But for normal people, we just nailed them in at an angle. We missed sometimes.


4. "jack rafters" are a pain in the arse. They are NOT square. The angle to the beam that is square on top of the roof AND the slope of the roof are taken into account. By doing so, the new roof will blend seamlessly into the existing one. Here was our ever-so-technical process of making these work.



a. measure to the distance to the chalk line, but add a few inches just incase.
b. check level, check if it fits.
c. it's not? trim a .25 inch.
d. check again. LEVEL, check.
e. repeat til it fits. Then nail it, screw it, bing bang done.

5. admire your work and drink an Ale 81 (a late one)


6. Add planks. We had 7 people hammering at one time. Was that necessary? No. Was it loud? Yes.


7. add the tar paper. This is what shingles will be nailed to. It helps seal off the roof to the weather.
8. build an attic. We did this without any help from our leader. Pretty cool.


9. Other miscellaneous things.
The other half of the team also re-vamped Sheila's kitchen and gave her a new bathroom toilet, sink, vanity, and floor. Pretty sweet stuff. Only 2 smashed fingers and one minor cut later, the week was over and our time in KY was finished. I'd say it was one of my most productive weeks of the year.