A Roof Rises to the Trees

As the walls of a house define the living spaces and serve to provide shelter from the outdoors, the roof gives the final seal against the elements and makes sure there is protection.  In addition to the practical and necessary function of sheltering the rooms of a house from wind, rain and storms, the roof gives a house character and punctuates the design elements that were used in the planning.  An ill-conceived roof line on a house can ruin any look that one may try to achieve.  Not only can it affect the aesthetics of a house but a mislabeled drawing can cause all plans to be thrown out the window, literally.  I would discover the tough reality of this as the roof began to be raised.

Since this house is a classic story-and-a-half, much of the second floor is nestled under the roof-line.  When a roof like this is built, the framing crew will most likely build the gable walls first, raise them into position and add the roof rafters onto them.  It is at this point in time when one can start to see the look of the roof in three dimensions.  It was on that fateful Tuesday a few weeks back that I discovered the error of my mislabeled drawing.  The first gable wall was raised when I noticed that something did not look quite right.

First gable wall

Our builder, Ben Beatty, called me to say that the bathrooms looked like they were not going to have enough room for a full eight foot ceiling.  We agreed that it would be alright if the ceilings sloped a little in these rooms and the framers continued framing the walls that day.  That evening I spent hours reviewing my plans to see what I had done wrong.  It was then that I discovered my mistake.  I had designed the roof over the main body of the house with a 7 over 12 pitch in order to have proper room over head.  However, I labeled the drawing with a 6 over 12 notation.  Consequently, the framers had built the first two gable walls at this reduced pitch line.  The next morning I had to break the news to them that the newly raised walls had to come down.  They couldn't be used.  It is a sickening sight to see a day's worth of work get thrown to the ground.

The consequences of a drawing mistake

But, it was better that this mistake was caught at this point and not later after the entire roof was constructed.  After thoroughly beating myself up that day, I was convinced by wiser counsel in my household to let it go and move on.  Hey, if we didn't have snafus like this, a reader of this blog would think we were building this house in a fantasy world.

Kellye and I continue to praise God as the progress on this house continues and we are reminded of His words to us; "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain."  Psalm 127:1.  We realize that we have continually been blessed in many ways and we will continue to dedicate the work of our house to the glory of God our Father.