Weekly Update: 10.28.23

We did it! Or rather, God helped us do it. It was a long, crazy, exhausting first part of the week -- but when the rain hit Tuesday night and ran off of our newly constructed roof, it was all worth it.

We knew rain was coming. Looking over the forecast last week, we saw that starting Tuesday night, we would have rain off and on for five days. Since our subfloor already has some damage from rain, we hated to see it get more. Since all of our rafters were finally up, we decided to try to push through the fascia, eaves, decking, and tarpaper over the weekend. That way, we would be protected once the rainy days started.

Saturday dawned warm and sunny, and we got right to work on the fascia. Because of the unique design challenges of our build -- particularly the proximity of the tent -- we knew putting the fascia up was going to be difficult. And it was. We were so thankful for our dad and brothers, as we could not have done this without them. They spent hours on the scaffolding and 20-foot ladder, holding the lumber in place until they could get it nailed on. Because it was tedious and tricky, it took all day to get both the front and back of the house done. We sisters helped out: passing tools, holding ladders, and marking the layout and cutlines on the boards.

On Sunday, we made the rare choice to work all day. We typically go to church in the morning and rest in the afternoon, but after some thought and prayer, we felt it was wise to steward our project and get it roofed. Sunday is one of the two days of the week we have all three of our menfolk home, and we needed all of them for this portion of the project. We were thankful for another sunny day as we tackled the eaves, which were also tricky -- though not as bad as the fascia. I cut the blocking, which we opted to place 16-inches-on-center to be consistent with the look of the rest of the house.

After getting the eaves installed, we started on the decking. Three sheets in, we realized we had a problem -- we were crooked. Even though we were lining everything up with a supposedly-straight string line, the decking was hanging over the fascia more with each sheet. It was getting dark, so we decided to call it a night.

On Monday, Levi was home and able to help us girls take on the decking issue. After a good night's sleep and lots of prayer, we started with some serious measuring. We realized that our whole house had settled, with the walls leaning south about 3/8 of an inch. It doesn't sound like much, but that is why our sheets were hanging off the roof even though they were straight. We brainstormed, then broke out the come-along. I have to say, I never knew how much we would use that tool when we picked it up at a local farm store last year. We knew there was some give in the walls, so we hoped we wouldn't need too much force to pull them plumb. We removed some of the decking from the night before. Then, we cut a hole in our house wrap and ran a strap through the kitchen window, attaching it to the hitch of Jeremiah's Jeep and the come-along. Sure enough, we straightened the walls right up -- actually pulling them a bit far in some places, so we had to push them back. We braced the wall every 8 feet, and when we unhooked the come-along, everything stayed where it belonged.

Once everything was plumb again, we started with the decking. Levi and Grace put up the first row. It was a tedious process, getting everything perfectly straight along the stringline. Jeremiah got off of work just as they finished, and he and Levi made quick work of the second row. Since we used lap siding for our decking, it all fit together easily after the first row. Since we were supposed to have a little rain that night, they covered the first rows with tar paper to protect them. The guys worked until after dark, which was not easy, but they managed to do good work just the same.

Tuesday dawned gray and cloudy. It looked like rain, and the forecast showed it could start at any time. Our dad was off work, so he and Levi started early to see how much they could get done. Grace and I worked on marking and cutting the decking, and we helped pass it up to them. We worked efficiently, and even though it sprinkled on us here and there throughout the day, we trusted God and kept going. We finished the decking in the afternoon, and then the guys made quick work of the tar paper. Once they finished the last row and everyone was back on the ground, we felt both elated and relieved. The rain started about an hour later, and it rained off and on all night. I enjoyed the sound more than I have in months, as I knew the bunkhouse was staying safe and dry.

Since we didn't take a sabbath on Sunday, we had one of sorts on Wednesday. We did some chores and some ran errands, but we enjoyed an easier day with some rest and recreation. All three of us sisters took some time to walk in the woods, which was delightful. We hope to take a longer hike soon.

On Thursday, we got busy getting caught up on things we let slide during our roof push. I worked on plans for the interior walls, and my mom researched bathtub options. Other family members did camp chores we had gotten behind on.

Our main project on Friday was sanding the subfloor of the bunkhouse, which was warped from past rain. Since we only have one sander, the rest of us worked on several odd jobs -- sorting our new lumber, marking bottom and top plates for interior walls, and vacuuming all the sawdust. Grace used the sander for hours, then she passed it off to Bonnie-Jean and I for awhile.

This week feels like a turning point. While we still have work to do on the roof, we will take it on as the weather allows. It is so fun to be starting on the interior, using easy-t0-work-with 2x4s instead of the 2x10s and 2x12s we used for the roof. It feels like we made it "over the hump" so to speak with our build, and now we are moving into territory we are all more familiar with. It's surreal to be inside our bunkhouse. It's not just an idea anymore -- it's an actual building.

Over and over again this week, I felt grateful -- doxologically so. It has been a difficult year. We have all been stretched and tested in so many ways. We have grown, but there has been real struggle, too. We have been living a dream of decades, even as we continue to grieve a love we were not ready to lose. Over everything, God's presence has been almost palpable at times, as we see his fingerprints splashed in every direction. As we walked in the woods this week, singing with our nieces, I couldn't help requesting we change the tune to a refrain that seems particularly fitting these days.

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

 Folliott S. Pierpoint