Shiloh

Yesterday we had the privilege and pleasure of raising our ridgepole. It marks a major milestone for us. On Saturday we had put in the final ridge pole support log. The problem was it began raining so hard we couldn’t finish bolting it in place. We began the morning doing some preparations including finishing the installation of this rpsl.

Once preparations on the ground were complete we moved to final preparation of the the three ridge pole support logs. We had purposely cut the logs too long and it was necessary to cut them to the proper height. Since the ridgepole tapers it was necessary to determine the diameter of the ridgepole at the three points where it would be supported by the RPSLs. Then we could calculate the exact height needed for each RPSL and measure and cut  . . .

Next comes the ridgepole . . .

Now we move it into place:

Up it goes.

Still going . .

It took about 30 – 45 minutes to actually get the ridgepole into place. Even with the help of someone on each side of the house, it took more than one try to get things lined up. I had to drive the forklift within two feet of the house to get the ridgepole in place and I could not see anything from the seat of the lift.

And finally we had moonrise!

Here’s the view from about 30 feet up:

While not the easiest part of the building process, requiring a lot of planning, it is definitely one of the most satisfying parts. To see this very important piece of the puzzle go into place gives you a great deal of satisfaction. While it wasn’t strictly required there was a lot of worry on my part. If this didn’t go right we could end up with a roof that isn’t correct. Fortunately it went almost exactly as planned. That is a big relief on my part.

We had some great help from some soon-to-be LHBA members. They are taking the class next month and have great plans for their future. We really appreciate their help and hope to see them again in the near future.