Casa Blanca: Colorado Off-Grid House Build, Ep.11

Sorry this took so long to upload. I took this video 2 weeks ago, then dashed home for a family event and didn't have time to upload it. As soon as I got back to the site, a massive storm opened up and dropped 2' of snow over the entire site (I'll make a follow-up video about that shortly). I had a scramble just trying to protect/shovel out what I could.

In this segment, we'll take a look at what I'm trying to wrap up before I stop for the winter. I don't mind the cold (I prefer it over 95 degree weather!) but the site itself can get hard to access and live at - the road isn't maintained by the county, and although I have a friendly neighbor who has generously cleared it once or twice before, I don't like to be a burden. Next year I'll invest in a plow, but for now I'm just trying to close up.

As you'll see, I started on the deck, which wasn't a requirement at all BUT the center post of which will set the ridge height for the gable that extends from the house over both the mud room and deck. Knowing that height precisely is important, because I do need to work out at least some type of roof over the mud room to protect it.

You'll also see a setback. As I was setting rafters over the kitchen and great room, a large wind storm (gusting 50mph) started and didn't actually let up for over a week straight. I wasn't able to get the opposing front rafters installed during that time, so the rafters I did have up were pushing the ridge beam out of place. This is a structural ridge beam, not just an old-school "ridge board", so it needs to be straight and true to do its job properly. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you're dealt, so I made the hard decision and took down 9 rafters so I could get the ridge re-positioned properly.

I also made the decision not to install my eaves/overhangs this year. They're a time investment I don't actually have to make right now, so although I prepared for them, I'm going to defer that task until next year. I'll just sheath to the edges as best I can, and install "ladder" style eaves next year on a calmer day.

Thanks for watching and I will try to get 1-2 more episodes out before the end of the build season!