PATIO ROOF INSTALL 

With the temperatures cooling down it was getting to be time for the exterior to be plastered, but before they started on that we needed to get the patio roof constructed.  The frame for the roof is made of square steel tubing that is supported by five steel poles.  The shape mimics the shape of the patio with its distinctive point which draws your attention to the horizon between the Empire and Whetstone Mountians to the southeast.  The cantilevered roof was engineered so that none of the support poles obstructed this view.  This proved to be a challenge as the steel tubing needed to be cut at specific angles.  Dwayne and his crew of welders proved to be up for the task.

The frame and supporting poles

The frame was anchored to the house on either end.  In addition, a piece of steel was attached to the wall to act as a ledger.  The purlins would be welded to the ledger on one end and the frame on the other.

Roof frame bolted to wall and steel ledger  

The intitial welding of the patio roof is complete and the ledger is installed ... notice the cool cantilevered point?

With the framing complete they moved on to welding up the steel C-purlins and then plywood decking was screwed to the purlins.

Without the roof decking you can see the purlins' shadows

The roof decking install is complete

The next step was to attach furring strips to the underside of the purlins.  The pine ceiling planks (same as the ones on the interior ceiling) would be screwed into the furring strips.  3/4" plywood was ripped into 3" strips to produce the furring strips.

Furring strips installed

The last step before installing the ceiling planks was to staple up a layer of black landscaping cloth.  As the planks dry and age they shrink a little and even if they are installed flush with each other gaps will appear between the planks.  The purpose of the cloth was to provide an inexpensive way of making the gaps uniform in color and keep you from seeing into the cavity between the planks and the plywood decking.  This sounds like an easy thing to do but throw in a windy day and it proved to be a challenge.

Lucas, Bill and Jacob installing the landscaping cloth

Just like the interior ceiling planks, these pine planks were rough sawn so each plank was run through the table saw to give it a flat edge and then run through one more time to cut it to the correct width.  The planks were first temporarily kept in place with small wire nails.

 

Lucas holding up a plank while Bill reloads the nail gun

Jacob and Bill getting ready to install another plank

Bill and Jacob finishing up the install on the last couple planks

Once all the ceiling planks were in place, the next step was to install the screws which would permanently keep the planks in place.  To keep the line of screws straight the team snapped chalk lines onto the ceiling.

One chalk like complete

Chalking the lines for the screws

Once the chalk lines were snapped the team went to work installing the hundreds of screws necessary to keep the planks in place.  This is no easy task as they need to hold the drills above their heads.  They were very relieved to have this job complete, as now all the ceiling and soffit planks have been installed!

Now it was time to walnut blast the soffits and ceiling planks, just like they did on the interior ceilings of the house and casita.  The father and son team of Armando and Ivan came back out and completed the walnut blasting.  It was much more comfortable for them doing it in mid January than in the middle of June like the last time.  This will even out the finish on the planks and erase some mold stains that appeared as this batch of pine planks was quite a bit greener than the first batch that we installed on the interior ceilings.  This was also evident in the small gaps that formed between the planks over the next few months as they continued to cure and dry.

Armando and Ivan's truck with the diesel motor and blasting machine.  The hopper (round can on the right) is where the crushed walnut shells are fed into the machine.

Ivan walnut blasting the patio ceiling

Ivan walnut blasting the soffits