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			Gable End Wall Framing and Finishing Touches on the Beam and Purlin



The first order of business this week was to complete the finishing touches on the beam and purlin system. Here I am preparing the blocking for the spare bedroom dormer. You can see the difference between the main beams where they are mounted to the wall (floor) and the blocking that is already in place to bring the level up to the same as the other beams. This blocking is required for the center wall (which goes from the main floor to the top of the beam and purlin), and for both the front dormers.



Some of the blocking continues all the way to the ridge purlin and down the other side. The scaffolding came in handy here as you can see. My son is standing on the scaffolding supporting me. I'm standing on the collar tie to get high enough to lag in the blocking at the peak of the roof.



	Each dormer has two diagonals which will support the framing for the roof. These supports are lagged into the purlins as you can see. Our plans weren't clear on how far these supports extended down the beam so a quick call to Kuhns Brothers was in order. Our question was answered in less than two minutes and we were back to work in no time.



The beam and purlin system is now complete except where it ties into the conventionally constructed gable end wall. That's next.



This gable end has to be constructed in place and because of this cannot be sheeted until the wall framing is complete. Here we are laying out the wall on the top of log course 16.



Building a wall, especially one with dual angles, can be a challenge. The front of the wall has a 40* (10/12 pitch) and the rear is 24* which translates to an 8/12 pitch.



		Another large window is framed into this wall. the "spare" bedroom will also have a window in the dormer for cross ventilation.



The framing for this gable end is now complete. Soon we'll start work on sheeting this wall and tying it into the rest of the beam and purlin system.



In this shot you can see where the final perlins will connect the existing beam and purlin system into the newly framed gable end wall. A project for next week.



While my son and I were busy up stairs, the "boss" was working getting the tongue and groove which will eventually become our ceiling coated with polyurethane. There is a lot of this to do and she felt the need to get a head start so it will be ready when needed. Won't be long before we have a roof now.

That's all for this week. Next week will be a short week with Labor Day but we still hope to get a fair amount of work done. By the end of next week we hope to be working on the walls in our bonus room and getting ready for the conventional rafter roof system that goes in that section.

Check back soon.