From Dome to Cottage!

So Saturday was a huge day... I went from living in a 20-foot geodesic dome to living in a 20x28 cottage!

Dad and I, along with an occasional helper or two, have been putting up the walls for quite some time now, but getting the rafters up required a huge workday. 

Counting my Dad and brother, I believe we had a total of 16 people there at various times of the day, most of them from the church. 

Here are a bunch of pictures:

1. Lowering the dome. The dome is 12 feet tall, and the cottage walls are 8 feet tall... so we had to take out a bunch of struts so that we could get the trusses up there.

2. Figuring out how to get the trusses up. The original plan was to slide them up this ramp. That's my brother walking up the ramp, by the way. 

3. A wide angle view. My Dad doesn't mess around when he builds stuff, so each truss probably weighs at least 200 pounds.

4. Plan A was ditched when Jason arrived with his forklift. This was much better, but still took some fine-tuning. It was quickly decided that ratchet straps were a better idea for holding the truss in place than having Nathan do it. :P 

5. It was a lot of work to slide the truss to the front of the building. Here people are probably resting and contemplating how to stand it up. 

6. First truss up!!

7. We broke for lunch after the second truss was up. A couple of the church ladies provided lunch, and it was delicious!

8. Getting the third truss in position. Several men spent most of the day climbing around in the rafters! Those of us who stayed on the ground fetched tools, held ladders, ran errands, did site cleanup, and removed the rest of the dome.

9. Paul...he keeps telling me he's smarter than he looks. Guess it must be true since he spent all day up there and didn't fall once! :P 

10. I had to leave for work at 3:30, but the men kept working another four hours!! They got ALL the trusses up, and half the plywood sheathing. I couldn't see much when I got home that night, but this is what the cottage looked like Sunday morning. Isn't that incredible? ♥️

11. A few of the men came back Sunday afternoon between church services to finish the sheathing. They even got the tarpaper on! 

12. Nathan getting a lift down from the rooftop. 

13. So that was the incredible workday. God really provides help when we need it! ♥️ 

Dad and I puttered today. We were both pretty low energy, but we got a bit of framing done, finished sheathing one wall, and stuck one window in. I'm very excited to have real windows!! :P 

I have to decide soon about roofing. I wouldn't mind metal, except that I'm concerned about a heavy snowfall sliding off and burying a dog. Anyone have thoughts on the pros and cons of metal vs. shingles? Cost is definitely a factor.

Anyway, many thanks to those who came to the workday, and to those who have been praying for this project... it's so cool to see it coming together! ♥️