Standing Seam Roof – Part II

It’s Getting Closer
It’s getting closer to Christmas, it’s getting closer to Winter, it’s getting closer to Y2K and it’s getting closer to the roof being finished…But it’s not quite finished yet. Oh the agony.

Jo and I drove up to see the “progress” on Sunday. We drove through rain in the morning, but once we arrived in the La Crosse area the skies were partly cloudy although it was a little chilly. Driving up the road, I had hoped to see a completed roof but found there was still work to be done.

Some progress was made. All 16 sides of the metal roof were now in place and there were only a few remaining seams to be capped. The cupola still needs to be finished in matching steel and the gutters need to be installed, so I guess you can say it’s getting closer to completion. The weather looks good for the next few days, but I am wondering how much time is being dedicated to completing our roof versus the larger commercial projects that the roofers more customarily work on. Although I really like the work they’ve done, it’s been an agonizingly slow process. I’m not surprised, but I am a little disappointed. I hate loose ends.

I spent the afternoon loading 125, 8′ cedar posts into the pole barn to dry over the winter months. In the spring, I will start cutting them up into 8″ lengths to be used for the base of the outside cordwood walls. Cedar is a good choice of log to build with, but in our part of the world cedar doesn’t grow as prevalent as it does north of here. So, I decided buy a load instead. This wood is already quite dry and will work out nicely.

We drove back during the evening only to find that the rain we had left behind had turned to snow. Until today, no snow had been reported in Chicago this season– this was a record for the Chicago area. It’s been a very warm autumn, now we will wait to see what winter brings.

One final note, as I was unloading the posts this afternoon I heard a flock of cranes passing by. I’m not sure what the normal migration period is for sandhill cranes, but I normally see them fly south in October. Do some winter over? Or is it due to the warm weather? There was no snow or ice to be seen near the La Crosse area. Strange weather indeed.