Raise the roof! It's seems as though the actual building of the structure is going by a lot quicker than the earlier earthwork and foundation. And that's how it always is. After the walls were placed, we needed to enclose the garage and waterproof it so we didn't have to worry about the pad becoming saturated. It took a couple weekends, but we got it done.

To start, we placed all the inner trusses upside down and after Mike added plywood to the end trusses (not to mention about 100 extra pounds), we (and a couple muscled friends), manhandled those into place at the front and rear of the building. Mike added the 2x4's shown here so after the trusses slid into place they didn't swing forward. This wouldn't be a true home improvement blog if I didn't mention that this was not the first attempt. While in the kitchen I caught Mike and our neighbor trying to lift an end truss into place themselves. This was promptly followed by a huge crash and some cracking noises as the truss twisted and fell, breaking a couple pieces. Of course Mike was able to attach some extra pieces and for the most part it was back to normal. And I think they learned their lesson.

Thankfully these pieces do not have as much load bearing on them as the other pieces. I love this photo because with his suspenders, Mike looks like he's Amish. And I love any picture that shows off his tush!



After the end trusses went up the rest were a breeze. Even my sister and I were able to throw some trusses up and help place them. Mike is the resident spider monkey so he, of course, jumped into place and walked between the trusses to nail in place. I think I only cringed a couple times as he jumped across the slowly forming roof, and that's pretty good for me.





To finish off the roof line we added a ladder frame overhang to the end trusses and completed the rough framing of the roof.


Now, make sure you’re paying attention so you don't miss this next part, the following weekend, Mike and I roofed the whole garage, wait for it, in one day. I'll give you a moment to take that all in. Not just the fact that Mike and I alone did it, but that in about 8 working hours we completely roofed a 26'x26' garage, (all in 90 degree weather)!

A couple weeks before I (stupidly) mentioned that I enjoyed didn't mind roofing. My very short time in the roofing profession consisted of one day working on a Habitat for Humanity Women's Build a couple years ago and from what I remember I didn't hate it. Much to my chagrin, Mike remembered this little tidbit.

After getting over my unexpected and momentary fear of heights, I was able to act as Mike's laborer and unwrap, cut, and layout the shingles as he placed and nailed them. Although we usually don't like to work side by side like this for large projects (we tend to butt heads on things), we worked like a well-oiled machine up there. Because we were too busy kicking ass and taking names, I didn't get any pictures of the during, but I did get back there before we did the ridge vent and take some pictures to prove I was up there and to show off all that Onyx shingle glory.



After shingling everything, Mike cut the peak to create the ridge vent. While he hung out up top, I stayed down on solid, and flat ground cutting the shingles that are placed on the peak.


Not one part of this garage has been more satisfying for me than looking at our beautiful roof. This must be how Mike feels about all the rest of it!