It's been a while since my last blog post and that's been for a couple reasons. 1) I didn't want to post until I finished some projects and had some insight on the tiny house process as opposed to just posting short status updates and pictures and 2) I get lazy/busy. Honestly at the end of the day all I want to do is relax after work or building and not spend 2 hours updating and analyzing what I have just done. But it's been long enough that I now have a couple of blog posts built up in my idea box.
One of the projects I have finished is sheathing the roof. I ended up using 7/16" OSB and am happy with that decision. It's a lot easier to work with than any thicker material because it's lighter but it is sturdy enough to support the roof. For anyone wondering too, I ended up putting my roof rafters 16" O.C so if you're planning on going 24" O.C I'd recommend something thicker than 7/16". One of my pieces of advice would be to watch the order you decide to sheath the roof in if you have dormers.
In the picture below I have the area where the dormer roof pitch and the living room roof pitch meet circled in red. This intersection of pitches can be tricky if you're not really paying attention(like I wasn't). How I did things was I sheathed the roof section above the front door, followed by the part of the loft(but not the whole thing), then I sheathed the small steep part on the opposite end of the trailer from the door, then I finished sheathing the loft. Because of this I had to deal with the loft roofing intersection in two different ways and one was way easier than the other.
One of the projects I have finished is sheathing the roof. I ended up using 7/16" OSB and am happy with that decision. It's a lot easier to work with than any thicker material because it's lighter but it is sturdy enough to support the roof. For anyone wondering too, I ended up putting my roof rafters 16" O.C so if you're planning on going 24" O.C I'd recommend something thicker than 7/16". One of my pieces of advice would be to watch the order you decide to sheath the roof in if you have dormers.
In the picture below I have the area where the dormer roof pitch and the living room roof pitch meet circled in red. This intersection of pitches can be tricky if you're not really paying attention(like I wasn't). How I did things was I sheathed the roof section above the front door, followed by the part of the loft(but not the whole thing), then I sheathed the small steep part on the opposite end of the trailer from the door, then I finished sheathing the loft. Because of this I had to deal with the loft roofing intersection in two different ways and one was way easier than the other.
Here is a cross section showing what you do and don't want in the place where the dormer roof meets up with the living room roof. On the left there's a red triangle where the two boards over lap and what you want to cut out. On the right is what will happen if you don't cut out anything. The ridge line will end up being taller than the ridge line over the living room.
To make sure the roof has one, continuous ridge line you'll have to cut notches in the OSB where the two pitches intersect. For my roof that meant I had to cut notches on the pieces of OSB that went underneath the dormer roof overhang. This is much easier to do before the sheathing is screwed into place. I ended up screwing in the OSB before doing the dormer roof at one of the two intersections and I had to haul a circular saw up on the roof and cut the notches in place. Boy was it a pain in the butt to try to not cut the rafters but cut out a notch. In the end though, I got it done and everything worked out. The other intersection was much easier because I cut the notch on the ground and then screwed it in.
Another thing to keep in mind when sheathing is leaving enough hanging over the edge to cover the fascia board. I am using 1x6's so I left 3/4" overhang from the side of the house so when everything is finished and put together is will be flush and pretty.
After all the sheathing was done we put up some left over Glacier Guard my dad had from building his house years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see we had enough to cover all of the roof except a 10'x3' section. We used a strip of left over #30 tar paper from the garage to do that bit. I really liked using the Glacier Guard though because it acts as a vapor and moisture barrier and will create a water tight seal around all roofing nails. In short it's ultra water proof and ultra tough. I feel like I have a second roof under my primary roof. The backside is also adhesive so that made applying it much easier for John and I. However we did end up stapling it too to help keep it in place.
Another thing to keep in mind when sheathing is leaving enough hanging over the edge to cover the fascia board. I am using 1x6's so I left 3/4" overhang from the side of the house so when everything is finished and put together is will be flush and pretty.
After all the sheathing was done we put up some left over Glacier Guard my dad had from building his house years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see we had enough to cover all of the roof except a 10'x3' section. We used a strip of left over #30 tar paper from the garage to do that bit. I really liked using the Glacier Guard though because it acts as a vapor and moisture barrier and will create a water tight seal around all roofing nails. In short it's ultra water proof and ultra tough. I feel like I have a second roof under my primary roof. The backside is also adhesive so that made applying it much easier for John and I. However we did end up stapling it too to help keep it in place.