This photo shows why I’m not a roofer. Gary Duden, our contractor, is standing on the top of the roof, straddling two trusses, and giving instruction for the roof sheathing being applied. Yikes! It is very fun to watch the crew’s agility that far from the ground. Some of the sheathing is being applied before the top gable goes on. With November weather unpredictable, Duden & Viken are trying to protect as much area as possible.

The west gable end has been attached and the sheathing is being applied to the north face. The north and south faces are each one broad stroke and the east and west ends have the hip broken by an open gable. This arrangement allows for the pitch we desired: it will allow solar panels on the south with the proper angle to the sun, and also allow for ample attic storage (I’m already mentally filling that space). The heat plant will also be housed in the attic.

The new view from the street of the front of the house. It is a terrific time of year for this photo: no snow and no leaves. The front of the house will be covered by foliage most of the year with the trees we have to the east. We are already seeing quite a bit of sun falling on the south slope of the roof, for a large portion of the day. Maybe we can talk the crew into allowing us to take our Solar Pathfinder (the tool we use to estimate solar optimization) up in the lift and re-check our earlier calculations.

Shingles! We’re thinking the house looks like a big box, but it will look more house-like again when the openings are cut out and the windows installed. Oh yeah, and when it isn’t sea green anymore…and doesn’t look like we are the Tyvek family.