way bad scene

[Mikal Jakubal <mjakubal@asis.com>]

Well, I got the temporary roof built over the vault...but it took till dawn
this morning to do it. I did get some help, and we put up the last of the
rafters and braces at about 10 PM. Then it started raining lightly as we
were putting up the plastic sheeting and tarps. Then the wind started--not
much, but enough to make everything difficult. Then the rain *really*
started. I won't go into the details of how we got a giant roof frame
covered with plastic and then a tarp and then battens, all in the rain and
by headlamp. Suffice it to say that it was not fun. As I said in my last
post, the whole point of this roof project was so that I wouldn't have to
go through another night of holding the tarp down while water poured down
my sleeves. This was worse! Climbing around on the slippery roof in the
pouring rain, nailing down battens was the most exhausting thing I've done
since having to climb all night through storms back in my mountaineering
days. My shoulder was killing me, but at some point in the night, I forgot
about it entirely. Today, I can't lift it above horizontal. At one point, a
rogue gust caught the un-tarp-covered plastic sheeting on the South side
and tore it off. It slid down the rafters while the heaviest deluge of the
night poured directly onto the straw. All three of us ran over to that
side, pulled the sheeting up over our heads, but under the tarp covering
the ridge and held it there for about 10 minutes till the wind passed.
Nothing got so wet that it won't dry out fine, especially that the rafters
provide for air circulation under the roof, but it was not fun. The first
few times were adventures. Last night was what us Californian-Americans
call a "way bad scene." 

Over and over up there all night, I thought of how easily this post could
be another one like Sarah's... I don't know what I'd have done without my
two helpers willing to stay up all night in the rain. I paid them well, at
least, and they thought it was kind of an adventure (see above). Once, when
I almost fell off the roof for the third time at 5 AM, I wondered what a
sane person would've done in this situation. I guess they would've just
cancelled the plane ticket (that I have for Tuesday--what prompted the rush
to finish the roof), replaced the existing tarp, and waited for more good
weather to finish. Oh well, it's done and I'm going to get my vacation.

I dug the composting section of the wall out a couple days ago. It was only
about 6" wide and 12" long and has since dried out just fine. I'll re-pack
it with straw-clay in the Spring.

The roof over the vault is huge. The rafters are 26' long on one side; 24'
on the other. The whole thing took about 1400 board feet of lumber, not
counting the battens. I don't know what I'd have done without my own mill
and virtually free lumber supply... The roof is designed to be easily
dismantled so the lumber can be reused once it's time to continue building.
I've seen a photo of a vault with a permanent wood roof, and others have
suggested that to me as a roofing solution. But think about it: you're
*doubling* the effort, building a traditional roof *and* a vault. Why
bother with the vault at all? Just build a roof with R-50 insulation and be
done with it. One of the big advantages of vaults is that they don't
require expensive, material-intensive, technical roofs. To build such a
roof over a vault dilutes one of the very purposes of building a vault in
the first place. That's what I think anyway.

Mikal