64: East Wall Complete

I finally got everything on the east wall finished. Once the walkboard had been raised all the way up to the 19 foot level (above ground), I could then reach the top of the gable for siding, soffit and fascia installation. I planned to paint everything from the top down as I lowered the walkboard.

An interesting question came up as the soffit was going on, and that was “how am I going to lay the lean-too scaffolds back down.” I had used rebar hooks in the purlins over each scaffold to attach the block and tackle too for raising the scaffold. Now, if I removed the hooks to install the soffit, there would be nothing to attach the block and tackle too. Sure, I could go inside the building and use a long stick to push them over and let them fall back to the ground, but I didn’t like that idea. If I ever needed to again raise a scaffold I wouldn’t be able too. So, I figured the rebar hooks had to stay in place for future needs. Drilling the soffit for the rebar hook to go through wasn’t hard at all.

Pic 1 shows the finished south and east walls.
Pic 2 is the soffit and fascia and some upper painting.
Pic 3 is a close up of the rebar hooks.

63B: One More Time

When I got my siding installed up to the crossarm on the scaffold I had to find a way to temporarily move the scaffold top away from the wall an inch or two so I could slide that piece of siding in and nail it.

What I came up with was a lever and secondary crossarm, which could be mounted above or below the primary crossarm. The lever is about 40” long which gives me plenty of mechanical advantage, so I can pry the scaffold off the wall just enough to slip in the next piece of siding. Once it’s pried off the wall I just tie the lever to a scaffold leg to hold it in place.

Pic 1 is your standard lean-too scaffold, like originally built.
Pic 2 is with the secondary crossarm in use. Notice the primary crossarm is off the wall about 2 inches.

To put the next higher row of siding on I pretty much had to move the secondary crossarm down “under” the primary to create enough space to install the siding.

63A: Scaffold Addendum

After posting the last post I realized I hadn’t shown any close-ups of the scaffold, so you could see all the parts.

Here’s an annotated pic showing how the upper end goes together.

The base of the legs sit about 8’ out from the building, so it will take a lot of effort to push the scaffold away from the wall enough for it to fall over. Each leg is made from two 12’ long 2x4’s, overlapped in the center. In this pic the overlap is about 6’ long, so total leg length is 18’.

I also didn’t talk about how I get the scaffolds raised and lowered. To do that I attach my block and tackle to one of the purlins in the roof. Then it’s easy to hoist them up vertical.
To lay them down, just reverse the procedure. When laying them down, it helps if you get in between the legs, and lift the base of the scaffold a little off the ground and set the bottom brace on top of your butt. Don’t worry, all the weight is being held by the block and tackle. Then as you lower away on the block and tackle, just walk backwards slowly. That will keep the top of the scaffold from rubbing against the wall as it comes down.

From a safety perspective, while lowering the scaffold, realize that all the diagonal braces in the scaffold are several feet away from your body, so while it is lowering, if the block and tackle fails for any reason, you are not in a position to get hit by anything on the scaffold as it falls.

63: Home Made Scaffolds

During this project I have spent a lot of time building, using and then taking apart scaffolds. You have already seen pics of some of them here in the blog. While they did the job they were intended for; they also had disadvantages that would prevent them from being used on other phases of the project. Example: I built scaffolds to allow me to install the 2x8 fascia on the ends of each truss. Unfortunately, that they were directly connected to my outside walls prevented me being able to use them when installing housewrap and siding.

So, I am now in my 3rd generation of scaffold building. Each new generation brings a clearer picture of what will work better. Some may argue, why didn’t I just go ahead and buy a 2nd extension ladder and two “ladder jacks” in the beginning.

At one time I did consider hanging my walkboard from ladder jacks mounted on extension ladders. I only had one 20 foot extension ladder, and it is rated only for 225 lbs (a medium duty ladder). I also didn’t like how the ladder bottom just sits on the ground. I wanted something that I could more firmly affix to the ground. And finally, my gable is 25 feet high and I didn’t think I could get enough extension on a 20 ft ladder to be able to reach the gable when it comes time to housewrap and side it. In case you didn’t know, on a 20 ft extension ladder the max working height is only about 16 to 17 feet. So, long story short, ladder jacks and extension ladders weren’t the way for me to go.

How to move the walkboard up and down by myself, was another big problem. The walkboard is I estimate 80 lbs in weight. There’s no way I could or would try to carry one end of the walkboard up a ladder and then try to set it in the ladder jack. That’s a bad fall just waiting to happen (and then that walkboard comes crashing down on top of you).

I didn’t want to rent or buy scaffolds, too expensive, and time consuming to rig up and down.
So, I had to come up with something I could build myself out of readily available materials. But, most important of all, that they had to be safe. To me safe means stable (it doesn’t wiggle when I walk around on it); solid (no noticeable deflections in any members when I am working on it); portable (easy to move); easily adjustable (in height), reasonably lightweight (so I can move it around by myself).

So, here’s what I came up with. Let’s call then lean-too scaffolds. They are built out of 2x4’s, with critical connection points done with ½” bolts (plenty of shear strength). They lean up against the wall, but they are not connected to the wall. The legs are flaired out at the bottom, six or seven feet apart, so they won’t tip over easily. And finally, there are steel L-angles attached to the bottom of each leg. I drive rebar stakes through a hole in each L-angle 10-12 inches into the soil. This way the bottom of each leg is firmly held in place. The scaffold isn’t going anywhere.

There’s a vertical member (2x4, 12 ft long) that hangs from (bolted to) the upper cross piece. It hangs maybe 4” from my exterior house wall, so I have room to get my siding in there to attach. Where ever I need to place the walkboard I can connect a horizontal brace and then set the walkboard on it. To raise (or lower) the walkboard I just attach my block and tackle to the upper cross arm, lift it up to the height needed, then attach a new horizontal arm.

So far, this system has worked well. I’ve used the walkboard at three different elevations; I still have one more “raising” to do. At the final elevation, the walkboard will be pretty much up flush against the bottom of the upper cross arm.

So, the plan is to side the building, moving the walkboard up as necessary to keep the work at a comfortable height (about mid-thigh to the top of my head). Once I get to the gable top, I will start painting the siding and lower the walkboard as necessary until painting is finished. Then, it’s on to the north wall.

One final tip: When the walkboard was 4’ and 8’ above the ground I was pretty comfortable being on it with no other fall protection equipment. Now, that my feet are 12 feet above the ground I have a ½” rope that is stretched tight from one gable end to the other. Everytime I move around up there I’m holding on to that rope for extra stability. It’s probably not “enough” in the way of fall protection, but enough would be both difficult and dangerous to rig up; not to mention, quite expensive. So, this will have to do.

Pic one is a “shorty” version of the lean-too scaffold I tried to test it’s usefulness. Pic two is the full size version with walkboard at 8’ elevation. Pic three is at 12’ elevation. Notice the cross members are now diagonal mounted. This makes the scaffold much more rigid and stable in use.
Disclaimer: While I think this design is safe for ME to use; I don’t extend that recommendation to anyone else. Build and use a homebuilt design like this at your own risk.

62: Hardie Siding – South Wall

The south wall is complete. The windows are installed, the Miratech trim is on and the Hardie Plank is on and painted. I used a “ventilated cladding” approach to install the siding, ie there are 3/8” thick furring strips between the siding and the housewrap. This was done to provide for ventilation and drying in case any water gets behind the siding. At the top and bottom of the wall is a window screen covered permeable strip barrier to keep out the bugs, but still allow water and air to flow.

Installing12’ long Hardie Plank by yourself isn’t difficult once you build yourself a couple of what I call J-Hook holders. There are all sorts of commercial products available on the internet, but most of them are pretty expensive. I built mine out of Simpson Strong-Tie metal straps, but any light metal would do. Tack nail two of them on the wall about three feet from each end of the Hardie plank, then slip the Hardie plank into the holders. Now the Hardie is held securely against the wall, allowing you to pick up the nailing gun in one hand, do final positioning of the Hardie with the other hand, and start nailing. My Hardie is designed to have a 7” exposure so I use a wood block with a notch on the bottom to insure that I have a perfect 7 inch exposure.

If you decide to do something like this you will absolutely want to rent, borrow, buy or steal (just kidding) an aluminum walk board. My neighbor loaned me his 20’ walkboard. Without one you will spend the rest of your life moving ladders around so you can place and then nail the Hardie.

My Hardie Panel came pre-primed, so it painted easily. The Hardie is a light gray color, so it didn’t take a lot of paint to make it a light tan color. The south wall is 10.5’ tall and 57’ long. It took right at one gallon of paint to cover. I painted a test patch to insure I liked the color. The paint flowed on so smooth during the test patch that I decided to just do the whole wall with a brush. It took about five hours to paint it. To me painting is relaxing, so I didn’t mind taking the time to use a brush. And a brush makes it easy to get at the lip under each piece of siding.

Pic one is a distant view to show how the siding will look with the green metal roof. Pic two is what the Hardie looks like close up (and painted).

61: Window Install

After checking around for where I could buy my windows, I came across a replacement window factory. These guys make the windows that people buy (and have professionally installed) when they want to upgrade their old, single pane windows. The factory has a “mis-measure” cage where they store and sell these windows at significantly reduced price ($75 each). These windows are all vinyl, double hung, low-E, argon filled, and best of all Energy Star approved in all 50 states. Comparable windows in Lowes and Home Depot sell for about $250 each (before installation).

I had gone to this window factory once before to look at their windows, and was disappointed to find no two windows the same size, or even same color. However, on the second visit, I found 13 windows in exactly the size and color I wanted. The sales rep accepted my offer of $50 each, so all my windows cost me $650. All the windows were still in their new plastic protecto-wrap, so I feel like I got a real bargain.

One characteristic of replacement windows is that they don’t have a nailing flange like “new construction” windows. You couldn’t install them (with a flange) unless you removed some house siding, which would make the install cost prohibitive. So, with no flange to nail through, you install them by running screws through the window jambs into the wall studs, and then caulk the snot out of the joint between the window and the rough opening. It helps that they make caulk in the same color as the window frame, so you won't notice it's there. My girlfriend had 12 windows replaced this way and the finished work looks good, even though I know there is a lot of caulk on each window.

Still, I don’t like the idea of having to depend on caulk to keep the rain out. Even if you use the fifty year (warranty) all silicone caulk, (like they did) I still don’t like depending on it. So, I needed/wanted a better install method to make me happy. What I “wanted” was a nailing flange like new construction windows.

One of the girlfriend’s windows is a bay window that has a center picture window flanked by two smaller windows. Where the windows join they used some type of “extender flange” to cover the joint. I asked the window factory rep and found out the flange comes in several widths, the widest being two inches. It has a feature on the back that allows it to lock into a groove on the edge of the window frame. I bought some and tried it out on one of the windows. It works beautifully. I am very confident it will yield a good, waterproof joint. Best of all, it gives me the flange I was looking for. It costs about $10 a window, so now I’m up to $60 per window.

I don’t nail through the flange; that would void the warranty on the windows. But, I do use it to seal and waterproof the joint between window and wall. Best of all, I don’t have to depend on caulk.

Pic one shows the flange. Notice how the flange goes “under” the Tyvek at the top of the window. Pic two shows the Tamko flashing material installed on the sides. The top piece of flashing hasn’t been installed yet.

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Note:
I have decided to finish each outside wall (housewrap, window prep and install, exterior trim and siding) before moving on to the next wall so that I don’t have to spend all my time moving scaffolds.

60: Windows Sill Pan and Sill Dam

Now that the roof is on I need to get the outside OSB sheathing covered up and protected. It’s been out in the weather for five months and is beginning to show signs of ageing. So, it’s time for housewrap…pronto.

Back when I built the exterior walls and sized my window rough openings, I had not yet done any research on the “best” ways to install windows. I have studied lots of houses being built over the years, but I’d never seen anyone put in a sill pan or a sill dam for a window. I didn’t even know they existed until a YouTube video pointed out the need and the benefits for both; so I had to lengthen my rough openings by ¾ inch. Fortunately, I didn’t have to adjust the rough opening width.

What is a sill pan and sill dam you ask? After installing the housewrap (some call it the Tyvek or weather resistive barrier) many people then cut the housewrap at the windows, fold the flaps into the rough opening and staple. They then just slide the window frame in and screw/nail it in place. They are depending on the window’s nailing flanges to keep out any rain that gets behind the siding.

But sometimes, rain does get behind the house siding and then the nailing flange of the windows. It then runs down the sides of the rough opening (the correct term is the window jambs) and pools on the window sill. It rots the sill out, then proceeds to soak the insulation under the window, rendering it useless, not to mention providing the moisture needed for mold growth. So, your utility bills go up, you get sick house syndrome and then a big repair bill to tear it all out and rebuild it. You think I’m exagerrating? A friend of mine has a neighbor who is having eight windows rebuilt right now (at considerable expense) for this very reason.

So, the sill pan is a waterproof layer that catches any water that runs down the insides of the jambs and along with the sill dam harmlessly push that water back outside the house siding where it will do no harm. There are several ways to make a sill pan. You can buy then prebuilt, but they are expensive (and none of the local stores stock them, so you have to special order). Or, you can make them using window flashing material. The material I am using is a foil faced, butyl rubber adhesive backing material made by Tamko. The roll is 6” wide by 100 feet long and runs about $13 per roll. Sticky doesn’t even come close to describing how well butyl rubber adhesive sticks to everything (including your fingers). So, if you use it, plan well and in advance of how you’re going to maneuver it around to install it.