The table boogerin is all done but I thought someone might appreciate a peek into the life of an octogon boogerer.
I got to the jobsite about 10:30, just in time for coffee break (I’m great at timing that!). Here’s a shot of the corner of the roof that I somehow inherited. I guess the last one there doesn’t get too good of a choice….
blue
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I’m a hackmeister…they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
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The first thing I do is to organize the area up there. I have to set a few trusses, drop in a coupla planks and a sheet of plywood as a work area. I scab on a few blocks of wood as a workbench.
Notice that I've found an old Speedsquare! Since the roof is a 12/12, I decided that I'm not going to be stubborn...I'll use that to mark my rafter angles.
Of course I have my manly framing square....I know for a fact that I'll need that, there ain't no way that the girlie-girl speed square could take care of all the business up there.
The second pic shows my organized stash of 2x6 rafters. There is also a 2x10 plank that is layed there for a scaffold plank. Later, I'll roll that up and use it as a ceiling joist.
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
This pic shows a little bit of my work area. I have just enough space to lay a 4x8 sheet of osb. In the background you can see the side wall of the foyer. I'll be laying a saddle (cricket) in there. Tim Mooney, in another thread said that he would deny a permit for a roof system that had this design.
I'm glad we have a uniform building code here in Michigan. We don't have to deal with individual inspector's personal preferences for roof designs.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
I'm on the edge of my seat for this one.
Everybody, listen up! No calculating equipment allowed, no speed squares, no slider compound saws, none of that fancy stuff.
This thing's going up using nothing but a pencil, some scrap chopoffs to scribble on, maybe a framing square, a tape, and your trusty skilsaw, all safety equipment removed.
All cuts, however angled or compounded by bevels, will be eyeballed.
The good news, however, is we've got a nice old crane for the heavy lifting.
And, best of all, show-up time each day is 10:30 am.
Let the boogering begin!
Good grief Gene....you jumped right in and scared me!
You're actually very close with your predictions....
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Here we go Gene...
The first thing I do is measure the length of the hip needed....from the fascia to the tip of the girder truss. That measurement is 114.25".
The next thing I need to know is the cuts. I measure the total height of the girder and the total run from the fascia to the center of the girder. The numbers are 74" for the total rise and 89" for the total run. As I'm sitting here, I remembered that I should have added 2.5 inches for the drop of the fascia from the top plate height. So...the numbers should have been 76.5 and 89.
Please don't tell the homeowner......
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Gene, since I don't own a giant framing square, with numbers that go up to 74 and 89, I do the next best thing...I divide by ten.
So...holding my manly framing square on 7.4" and 8.9", I mark the plumb cut for the top cut and a level cut for the bottom cut.
I make both of those cuts. I don't bevel anything yet...these are just regular ole' square cuts.
Then, on the top cut only, I mark a centerline down the center of the plumb cut (actually I eyeball the centerline...but I'm trying to be informative). I then cut the bevel by tipping the saw and bascially making as deep as a cut as I can. I have no idea what the angle is....all I know is if I can just barely see the blade coming out, the cuts will lay nicely on the girder.
Heres a shot of the finished cut. I'd have snapped a picture of the actual cutting...but too many people would faint from the recklessness of it all.
Note that I work from the left side first. I do this because I hold the nail gun in my right hand and balance the lumber with my left.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Heres a picture of the bottom of the rafter Gene.
The rafter is just nailed into the subfascia at this time. After all the rafters are cut and installed, I'll gather up the cutoffs, and use them for the heel supports. The angle cut dropoffs are already the perfect angle, so it's easy to just whack them to length and nail them in. I think the hips needed a 10" heel block (measured at the long point) and the jack rafters needed 11".
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Gene, I hope you haven't fallen off your seat....
I've worked my way around now and heres a shot of the first of the jack rafters going in.
I space them 22.5 inches apart. By doing that, I can simply cut a pair of 65" jacks for each side of the octogon. I put one side cut on each. Since they are 12/12 jacks, I actually used the speedsquare for marking every single one of them! Everyone should be real proud of me now.
Acutally, though, I'd still prefer to use a 3/8" plywood pattern....it's lighter to carry. Luckily, since the work area was only 4' x 8', I could hang the speed square on a nail. Seriously, it's too heavy for my workbelt. My back can't take all that extra weight.
In the background, you can see our winter box. We have our generator and compressor in there and we drape a blue tarp over it when we hoist it up at night.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
You stilll with me Gene...or did you bump your head when you fell off your edge of the seat?
I had Frank take a picture of me getting ready to cut a pair of jacks to show you my cutting setup. It was a balmy 35 or so today and the sun was blistering hot...no breeze. I always set up some kind of place to cut things....my back doesn't like me to bend too much. The saw or guns rarely get laid on the floor...I always have some place to hang them. The block of wood that is nailed on the girder was used to hang the nail gun before I set up the other spots in the work station.
My winter hat does keep me nice and warm......
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
I got everything framed and I'm starting my first piece of roof sheathing.
This picture is hard to understand...but basically, I've layed the plywood on its side on top of my cutting station. At the bottom, you can see a small block of wood that is nailed to keep the plywood from slipping off and smashing my toes.
I'll mark the lines and precut the pieces in this vertical position.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Blue,
Nice bod there buddy!! Whew I bet the ladies were whistling :-)
I've got a house coming up with 2 octagon roofs in the back. I'll make sure and take lots of pics.
Nice work by the way.
Ladies....we don't need no stinkin' ladies!
I'll be lookin forward to your pics.
The boys are firing up the lunch fire. If it was a cold day, I'd have dragged that firebucket up with me and we'd be buddied up on that 4 x 8 work platform!
I do love winter fire buckets and I love my firebucket soup. Today I had split pea and ham...healthy choice.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Tim, I keep forgetting to tell you and all my cold weather framer buddies. That glue you see on the horses is the best stuff we've ever had. It's a perfect firestarter...better than gas. They've added some antifreeze to it and it's ALWAYS SOFT AND FLOWS LIKE ITS HOT! Even when it was below zero, it came out in a liquid form. Honest....this is the best thing since sliced bread!
I'll snap a close up of the name tomorrow.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
This pic shows nailer that is fastened to the house that will be the saddle (cricket). Frank miscalcuated slightly and it would have terminated at the front of the brick. I recut the hardie siding and extended the saddle about 4'' past the brick. I like to extend it about 8 or 12" but it would be significantly different than the one on the other side of the foyer that already exists, so I settled on about 4". I don't actually measure these things...i just eyeballed the rafter cuts and the length. I did a rough check on the pitch...its about a 5.5/12.
I took another picture that would have shown the saddle up in that area, but it didn't turn out well. I can't usually see anything on my tiny monitor because the sun washes out the picture, so I never know how things will look till I get home.
I wanted to show how I get the saddle done as much as I can from my workstation. It only takes two piece of sheathing and I've laid on, and tacked the other one up. As soon as I set the final two trusses, run the sheathing, I'll be able to simply nail on the remaining parts of the saddle. I do this because it's much easier to cut all the parts when I'm standing comfortably on the level workarea.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Heres the last picture of the day. I'm looking over the octogon layon and up at the roof area that Ben and frank have layed.
I was going to snap a picture of my day's work, but I forgot when I had to help roll up.
Basically, I was able to get the inside of the layon, the saddle and three sides of the octogon roof done. I have the outside of the layone left to sheath....the boys will probably get that done before I get in tomorrow moaning.....
I think the generator ran out of gas about 4 pm. I had a short day....the kind I like.
I still have to post those hip return pics...its too late tonite...i'll do it tomorrow.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Tim, I keep forgetting to tell you and all my cold weather framer buddies. That glue you see on the horses is the best stuff we've ever had. It's a perfect firestarter...better than gas. They've added some antifreeze to it and it's ALWAYS SOFT AND FLOWS LIKE ITS HOT! Even when it was below zero, it came out in a liquid form. Honest....this is the best thing since sliced bread!
It's been awhile, 7 or 8 years, but when I used to come out after school the guys had a small fire going. They alwasy used subfloor glue and it worked like a charm. I think Jasen has a fireplace at home and starts his fires with glue sometimes :-) The county won't let us burn most of the time anymore, so it's been a long time. Next county over though, will let us.
I had trouble getting the numbers right on my first sheet. I just made a basic miscalculation. I had to cut the sheet twice. My second try, instead of calculating, I measured...I was confused because I knew the calcs should work, but they weren't even close.
I decided that I'd think about it at lunch.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
I have a similar roof coming up. This looks good to me, but i do have a couple of questions.
How is the soffit and facia supported on this?
Does this type of roof normally sit on the facia or is this special to your application. I can't see how I can avoid cutting birdmouths on the rafters and having tails.
Bstarch, we drive a spike or two down into the subfascia through the top of the rafter. We also fasten the bottom edge of the roof sheathing securely (6" oc). The rafter itself is supported by the heel blocks. This system has served me well for at least 10 years. I've never had a call back.
On lower pitched roofs, we run a second subfascia on the flat. Heres a picture of a low pitched roof with a 24" overhang. I added a 2x4 on the flat to get better nailing.
Keep in mind that the 12'' overhang that we are using on the octogon is actually very light. Even if the gutter were to fill up and freeze solid, it wouldn't come close to pulling the overhang down and that is the worst case scenario that I can envision.
If you are still bothered by the thought of the overhang falling down, you could use some simple brick ties to add a level of "hangability". In my earlier anal days, I used to add a couple of these on each wall. I'm long past that degree of anality though.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!