Reach for the Sky you Rascally Rafter You

 

 

 



We have doors and windows !

Tiny office at top, small bedroom to right and the rest is library/lounge.
About 350 square feet total in the upstairs.

We're really moving now! Room divisions have been made on the second floor ; a teeny office for the writer chick, a modest bedroom for the chick and her guy, and a decent enough sized library for most of the books neither the writer chick or her guy could ever part with. (Yes, I understand one should not end a sentence with a preposition but I am a creative writer. Which means I can make stuff up.)

Our challenge though was how to build the walls all the way up to the peaked ceiling and then how to put in the ceiling rafters which will hold the drywall which will hold the insulation up against the top of the bin.  Keith and our son Jason worked it out though and as you can see...it was genius. The height of the walls will make even the smallest room look bigger and give us more vertical space for storage.



In the corner of our bedroom where the rafters meet the grain bins top portal we will one day put a skylight. But for this winter that portal will be in the closed position and we will insulate it with a circle of foam and some kitchy fabric wrapped around it for fun, you know like how your orthodontist used to put pics of Davey Jones on the ceiling above you so you wouldn't notice the pain in your mouth as he wrapped ungiving wire in and out and around and through every crooked tooth in your head?

But I regress.

So back to rafters. Keith once again used a combination of used and salvaged wood, since looks didn't matter only structure did. It took him many hours to cut each rafter in order to get it to end around the portals circular opening plus lots of shims and small wood blocks to keep it somewhat centered. Oh how I wish I could afford a skylight or stained glass for that opening RIGHT NOW, but we cannot. All in good time my pretty.

Last weekend our son Kyle did the majority of the inside electrical work and we only have a few more lights to buy. I scored on a bathroom light for $6 at Menards on their lower clearance shelf, a cool outdoor light for $4 and an overhead light for my office for $3 at the Restore (Habitat for Humanity in Champaign) as well at 8 wall sconces for just $6 each at PACC salvage store in Urbana. Lighting and electrical work is crazy expensive so we are so thrilled we have two sons who love to play with voltage or is it ampage? Me...I never touch the stuff.

Tomorrow, the whole place gets another dose of insulation, blown in cellulose behind all the framing, and on Friday the dry waller comes. It's been an exhausting few months for everyone but it looks like we may get inside this little metal cone yet!



Guard dog Fannie and Tiger the cat take a break