some rough 2x2s and a desktop.

When we were touring the Boeing Flight Museum last month - in the old section that was supposed to replicate (or was... I can't remember now) the Old Red Barn (the first Boeing factory) - I got an idea for a desktop that I could make out of glued-together rough lumber. So a couple weeks ago I went to Home Depot and picked some out... the last of the lot on the pallet. No worries cos I wasn't being picky (this time) - the knottier the better.

I started then with some rough 2x2s...

The key was the little 12" planer I bought from a co-worker's dad for forty or fifty bucks a few years back... so I lined them up in the order I thought looked good based on knots and grain and such, numbered them and fed them through the planer a couple at a time to square them up nicely and plane off the dirt and such. J helped. I didn't really get any good shots of the process but then we glued and clamped them and let them dry for a day or so.

J also picked out a maple-colored stain he thought looked good that I finally applied the other day after boring holes through each end for a 3/8" threaded rod I also picked up at Home Depot to give it an 'industrial' look (strictly ornamental... but it would appear to also serve the purpose of holding it all together). Then rubbed on some poly (my favourite part of finishing!)...

But that was about it. Oh... I routed one side to have a nice edge on which to rest my wrists...

Like so...

Yep... that was it. Easy peasy. This was really just a test afterall - now that I know it works I'm totally going to do more of this type of woodworking (glueing up pieces of rough lumber) for other pieces of furniture I plan on designing/building...

rooftops and garage doors.

So for some inexplicable reason the garage has gotten a lot of love this summer-and-now-autumn...

Earlier in the summer I totally cleaned it out and organized it taking a load to the dump and one to Goodwill. It was a huge improvement and we could actually see the backwall (where I took to hanging our bikes).

Next - and I never mentioned this cos it didn't seem that exciting... though in the vein of full documentation of this little house I am mentioning it now... A couple years ago on a trip to the Puyallup Fair I intentionally stopped by one of the booths of a dude selling garage doors (intent on actually updating the ugly fiberglass garage door after having finally painted it, hanging new trim and building a gable vent and installing cedar shakes like I did on the front of the house earlier that summer).

But all the garage doors were the uninspiring cookie-cutter kind that looked like everyone else's so I never called the guy back (though I gave him points on his dedication for trying to persuade me).

And I'm cheap.

But finally this summer it got to me... so I did something. With some oil-rubbed-bronze-type spray paint I had left I first painted all the ugly aluminum hinges and handle -

Then I primed the door with some leftover Kilz.

OK - so far so good and not a dime spent... Next I had to decide on a color... this was tough. I wanted something bright that would contrast with the otherwise pretty Earthy palette I had chosen so far (traditionally - the door contrasts the most with the rest of the palette whilst keeping roughly in the same saturation/lightness - so on an HSB scale the hue can contrast pretty drastically but the other two should be about the same as the rest of the palette - and... I digress... ). But sticking of course to the Benjamin Moore Historic Collection... HC-10 Stuart Gold it was -

And in an afternoon the garage door went from some weird tan-ish fiberglass to bright yellow -

I'm still not entirely sold on it but... another afternoon and $20 worth of a quart of Benjamin Moore paint and I can fix that.

That was back in July... fast-forward to this weekend where it was time to put on a new roof.

I don't have any good before pictures that show the roof covered in stupid pine needles and moss - but it was time to replace it. No doubt the original roof from when the garage was built sometime back in the eighties... the roof on the house had been replaced after and didn't match the garage (thankfully cos I really kind of like the reddish-brown colour of the house shingles). And so I ordered up eight squares and an extra bundle (for the starter row) in 'Bronzed Brown' and got to work ripping off the old stuff...

(No pictures of that enjoyable process - which involved tearing them up with a shovel and tossing them over the roof into the bed of my truck waiting below - thanks Stuart!).

Here's a stack of cut tabs that I'd use for the ridge cap...

After the old shingles were peeled off and every single nail pulled Scott and I went to work laying the sealant sheeting and then... well - nailing the shingles. Lots of shingles.

But it goes fast and we had a good system... and before we knew it the first side was done -

It was - well - systematic... Cut the shingles to pre-determined sizes for the book ends -

And check the level-ness of the rows by the white line on the sheeting -

Despite the forecast calling for sunny weather it didn't really end up as such... though it never rained both mornings were wet from fog.

But like I said - despite all the methodical cutting - roofing goes quick. And before we knew it... we were done (actual drip cap now and all)...

And the garage roof now matched the house -

Still to do then (on the garage)...

- hang some lights on the outside of it that turn on with a switch by the back door (already wired)

- hang 4-6 recessed cans for better lighting inside the garage

- finish hanging the trim on the south side

- pressure wash and spray paint the gutters white

I think that's about it. Nothing terribly costly since I have most of what I need already (well - I'll probably need to buy some more cans of white spray paint). Just time. Always time.

But I had a lot of fun roofing and it looks great - nothing much more satisfying then the feeling of a manual job well done... and done right.

Thanks Scott for all your help, extra supplies and expertise!