This section involves angles so taking a short break before starting might provide you with a little extra patience in case things don’t line up exactly as you want them too. Keep in mind that you have the option of adding an exterior roof finish to cover any possible roof construction flaws.
Lets get started.....
Middle Bracing
Now we start to add the Middle bracing which will provide additional support to the angled roof pieces, as well as provide a little more outwards extension of the roof pieces. Without these pieces, either the roof pieces would sit too low or the wall piece would be too tall and you’d have window problems.
Glue Middle Bracing
You can see here that the middle bracing pieces need to be sanded/cut slightly with the needed angle. See the Plans for details. Glue these Middle Bracing pieces in with the sloped edge out and the angle sloping up and back.
Use the same gluing techniques discussed earlier to attach all of this middle bracing. Be sure to dry-fit the pieces first to ensure they are all properly oriented.
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Sand outside Corners
After gluing all of the Middle Bracing pieces into place, you’ll note that the ends of the middle bracing are not angled correctly. You can use sandpaper or a dremel tool to sand these end edges equal to that of the connecting bracing.
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Mark for the Soffits
Now we mark for the soffits that are to attach to the front of each wall. Refer to the plans for the exact location of these markings. Using a straight-edge of some sort, mark the full line where the soffit will sit (details are in the plans). Be sure to mark where the soffit will sit on that line (above or below the marked line).
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Mark All Walls
This picture shows the marking of the soffit line on the front wall assembly.
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Walls Marked for Soffit
If you look closely at this picture, you can see the markings along this side wall for where the soffits will be glued on. Having marked all of the walls on the exterior, at the location specified on the plans, you are now ready to glue the soffits on.
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Glue the Soffits On
So we get started on gluing the soffits into place. Assuming you marked the walls correctly, you simply add the Gap filling CA Glue to the edge of the Soffit piece and stick it on there. Since these pieces will be just ‘hanging there’ until we get the roof pieces on, you’ll probably want to hold it tightly in place for about a minute, and – as long as it looks good – go ahead with the thin CA glue to get it really secure.
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Gluing the Soffits
The actual order of placement of the soffits isn’t really essential to the process, but you’ll want to be sure you can get all the pieces in without disturbing any other pieces too much. I chose to jump from the outside wall to the short wall, but you can do yours in any order.
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Soffits in Place
And you can see the soffits are now in place. Add an extra line of the thin CA glue for extra strength and allow to dry completely before continuing. Our next steps will be to add the angled roof pieces so it will want to break these soffits off if it’s not well dryed.
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Soffits On
While using the thin CA glue, be sure to hit the connections between the two soffits, not just the connection between the soffit and the wall. Anywhere a piece connects with another piece.
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Mark the Top Edges
While the soffits are drying, we move to the roof pieces. This picture shows the outside lines marked on the bottom side of the flat roof piece. There is no defined ‘bottom side’, so pick a side and it will do. Using the same technique as in the beginning, mark the edges all of the edges of this roof piece. Check with the plans to see how this is all going to go together in the end.
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Glue Top Bracing
After marking the edges, we now layout the top bracing, making particular note of the orientation of each piece, then we glue, using the same method as on everything else. First – the Gap Filling, then the Thin stuff. Notice the extra glue on the connections between each bracing.
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Top Bracing Glued
This is the front step-out for the walls, with all the top bracing glued into place. Notice I haven’t run the thin stuff along the edges (I ran out and had to go buy more at the local hobby shop).
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Glue Roof Pieces
Now it’s time for the more difficult parts. Because of the odd angles that are generated due to the double-angled roof, the pieces may not fit as perfectly as you’d like at first. The objective is to get enough gap filling glue in place to hold them until they dry. You won’t want them to be completely dry until you have them all in place with the flat roof piece on top. An extra set of hands here is very helpful as well. (in this image you can see I cut my front window wall soffit pieces just a hair short – oops).
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More Roof Gluing
In this picture, you can see I have the side walls roof pieces in place, along with the two short side roof pieces and it’s ready to receive the front roof piece. If you do it in this order, you can ensure that the front piece is centered on the soffit.
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Add the Flat Roof Piece
With all of the angled roof pieces in place and with the glue in a semi-dry state, you can now dump the glue on the top edges and prep to put the actual flat roof in place. If you have the pieces all correct, the bracing you put on the bottom side of the flat roof will fit perfectly just inside each of the angled roof pieces.
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Placing the Flat Roof
With plenty of glue in place, get the Flat Roof piece to sit into place, applying sufficient pressure down so that the seams are as tight as you can get them. Assuming the soffits are on strong and the angled roof pieces are at least semi-dryed, it should be plenty strong to add that pressure downward. On this one, you’ll probably want to hold it there for a number of minutes. If it’s secure enough, some good heavy books may also help while the CA glue finishes drying. Since you can’t use the thin CA glue from the underside, you’ll probably need to wait for this flat roof piece to dry, turn the whole thing over, and then apply liberal amounts of thin CA glue to the seams.
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Last Structure Pieces
It’s almost done now – add the two back pieces, holding in place until it’s well set. If everything is in it’s perfect place, this back piece will fit in perfectly. If not – you’ll need to fenagle it just a bit. Put in both the top and bottom back pieces. When completed, you, as the builder, will decide whether you want to fully close off the back with spare flat material.
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And that’s it! All of the structure pieces are in place, they are all glued and strengthened and tight. Eveything fits and looks great.
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Finished Structure
So here it is - the final structure completely assembled. What did it take you? 2 hours? Maybe 3? Not bad for having the major portion of this house complete. Now we move onto much more detailed and finish pieces that will take more work and time.
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Please feel free to post comments or questions on the Advent House Forum.
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(cj)
