Getting Ready for a Roof!

Monday was an interesting day. I stayed home from work because I was sick...a mysterious 24 hour flu that I get every couple months...another story for another day. Anyhow, even though I was playing hooky, I couldn't stay away from the new house because I knew it was going to be an exciting day. So, on the way to the doc I stopped and snapped some pictures.

This portion of the framing is by far the most complex and, as a result, the most expensive. When we designed the house we came up with a fairly straightforward floor plan and a fairly straightforward elevation/exterior look. What we overlooked was that when you combine the two in our particular situation it becomes quite complex! Because we didn't want a two-story look that would completely dominate the surrounding ranch-style homes we sort-of nested the second floor into the attic at the front of the house. So, rather than having roof trusses that look like giant triangles, they look like giant triangles with giant rectangles cut out of the bottom center. In places where roof slopes intersect and rooms reach the outsides of the house it makes for some interesting framing. What complicates all of this is that that is where much of the load that the roof carries is concentrated. That means that in addition to being geometrically complicated, it is also structurally complicated. Makes my brain hurt just thinking about it!
At any rate, the end result will be a great looking house that capitalizes on the views we have from the back and best uses our relatively narrow lot.