A (Partial) Roof Above Our Heads

We came back from Mayo on the Fourth of July which was, surprisingly, a very light traffic day to travel.  Apparently everyone was already where they intended to be.  We spent most of yesterday just recovering from the trip and getting this house restocked with food.

Today promised to only have a 15% chance of "scattered showers" in the morning.  We were in work clothes and ready to pull the tools out of the garage when the first raindrops fell.  A look at the weather radar showed us that the morning would be lost to heavy showers, so we showered ourselves, changed to everyday clothes, and went on with our day.  In the end, that included a walk in the Mall and stops at both Menard's and Kohl's.

After lunch, the sun finally made an appearance, so we were able to resume work on the dripping, soggy porch.  The good thing is that after the rain, the humidity dropped as did the temperatures.  A breeze kept the atmosphere to an almost comfortable temperature which made the work on the roof much easier.

To keep going, I positioned the rest of the rafter covers while Rick followed after me and screwed them into place.  Then I did the same with a few bays of support covers, and when we had enough installed, we started to add more roof panels.

At this point we have six of the nine roof panels firmly supported and in place.  The weather is supposed to cooperate again tomorrow, so we hope to finish the roof panels by noon.

Today, we actually got further than I though we would.  That is a good feeling.

Rick screws down the support beam covers so the
roof panels have something solid on which to rest.
The rafter covers are the rounded ones in the foreground.
Completed roof panels are behind Rick.

The roof before this one had wooden supports and the panels
were nailed in place.  With this new roof system, everything is
screwed into place, and the supports will not rot or rust.

For each panel, Rick starts at the outer roof
line and works his way back to the house.

When completely finished, we will have rebuilt the porch from
the ground up.  New support beams are all treated lumber, the roof
structure is painted 2 x 6 construction at 24 inch intervals, and the
new panels are polycarbonate which will stand up to the sun well.
We'll add new screens and rehang the door to completely enclose the structure.

If we can get the rest of the roof completed by tomorrow, we will have met our goal of getting the roof finished before Rick returns to Mayo for a spinal injection.  If the roof is on, we also are ready to call in the main roofers to replace the shingles on the house.  That, ultimately, is our goal.