Finally, we are ready to finish the living room roof. YEAH!
We put up scored plywood for the ceiling (so it looks like individual boards) and then a layer of aluminum metal roofing is being applied. The metal cleared customs a week ago Tuesday so, fingers crossed, we’ll have a finished roof by the end of the week.
Our new ceiling. Here, you can easily see how much higher the walls are and the roof goes up to as peak from there. We now get plenty of wind in the living room so this has been a huge success.
Our regular team put on the wooden ceiling and they are doing all the work to prep the roof for the metal that will go on top. The company that is providing the metal will also provide the team to attach it to the roof. This is great for two reasons – they have the most experience installing these roofs and will guarantee the workmanship AND it means our regular team can keep moving their parts of the project forward.
Ecstatic Note: We had a large rainstorm recently (the first and only one since the end of December) and the only evidence was a small puddle in the hall where the roof and wall haven’t been sealed yet – the living room floor was DRY!
Our custom made louver for the front of the house was delivered and it looks great. I love the dark mahogany finish.
Our new Louver which will be placed in the front of the house above the Arched doors.
It was quite the experience watching it get installed.
Lifting the huge louver into place was a simultaneous combination of pulling and pushing.
One man was on the outside of the building on a scaffolding, three men were on the inside on a different scaffolding and two men were on the ground. Thick, long pieces of canvas were tied to the louver and the other ends were thrown up to the three men. They pulled the canvas “ropes” tight and then they pulled up while the men on the ground lifted the louver as high as they could. Then, with poles, the louver was pushed up so the bottom sat on the scaffolding. With the great teamwork, this heavy louver was set into place in about 5 minutes. Then the louver was leveled and held in position while it was screwed into the concrete. Ten minutes later, it looked like it had always been there.
View from the courtyard.
View from the inside. The living room is so big, that the louver almost looks small. That is unless you compare it to the size of the men lifting it in the picture above!
Now, our team is split. Some workers are focusing on prepping the roof for the metal and the rest are focusing on the patio area where we are removing part of a wall to square off the space. We are also completely removing the patio roof and supporting structure so we can put up a new roof that will be mostly flat with a minimal pitch for drainage, removing all but one floor post and then replacing the stationary glass with windows that will open. If you remember back to the start of this project, the two primary goals were –
- Raise the living room roof up so we’d have great airflow to cool the room and
- Reconfigure the back patio to make more usable outside living space (by bumping out part of the side wall to make the room rectangular) and to change out the funky triangle, fixed glass with larger windows that open to allow for controlled air flow.
The back of our house faces a large bay so we can get a tremendous amount of wind if the prevailing wind is blowing, but it can also be very calm on some days. We are putting in tiered “walls” of awning windows. We think awning windows will be best because we can control the angle and amount of wind that can come into the patio and we will also be able to keep the windows open during rain storms. These windows will need to be able to withstand strong winds that will be pushing against them when they are open so Michael is committed to purchasing local windows in case we need warranty replacements or repairs. It’s enticing to think about purchasing windows in the US where they will be less expensive but then we are essentially on our own if anything goes wrong. There is always the consideration of buying local verses importing from abroad for any large dollar purchase.
Here is what the patio area used to look like. Notice how the room is “bumped in” about 5 feet next to the bar. We will square off the room, giving us more covered space under the new patio roof.
As soon as the windows were taken out the view really opened up. We’re trying to have as much glass as possible to retain unobstructed views but need the windows to be functional and strong enough to withstand the torque from the strong winds so no one window can be too large.
This is a similar shot after the windows were taken out. The concrete pad will be incorporated into the living space. The new windows will give us a much bigger view.
We are also cutting down the back wall, facing the view, to about 16 inches. We will continue to have a rail at waist height and will run wire cables between the wall and rail for safety. I can’t wait to see this part completed and to have a fairly unobstructed view to the water.
These are the supports that held up the old patio roof. The new roof will only have one free standing support.
And this is how the railing area looked. We’re cutting down the peaks and will have cables running between the upright posts.
By Friday, the roof should be completed and the living room can start being prepped for painting – YAHOO!