Rafters, baby!

After getting all our side-beams up, it was time to focus on rafters. Before putting up a ridge beam, we needed to know what style our rafters were going to be.
They could either be set into the beam (sketch on left) or above the beams (sketch on right.) We decided to go for the inset ridge beam for extra security. Since none of our beams are directly lined up, the cutout was not actually going to be in the center- instead, most beams were going to need their sides notched out.

The first order of business in putting up the ridge beam was to even out the tops of our posts.

Phil has become quite the expert on elevated construction.

As the top of the post fell, it hit and snapped one of our supports. Everything was alright- just exciting. (The rest of the post tops gave us no problems.)

Setting the ridge beam was not too terrible. We had gotten plenty of practice putting up beams with the side beams- this was just a little higher up in the air. We pre-drilled holes into the beams for the lag screws to reduce the amount of time we had to spend up on ladders. The two outer beams got placed first to ensure that they landed halfway on our middle posts. The middle beam was then measured and cut for an exact fit.

Adam and Phil, placing the last beam.

Completed ridge beam.

The next step in the roofing process was to put up the actual rafters. Adam and I trimmed all the rafters at a 25 degree angle. (Actually, we somehow didn't get the angle right the first time, so I had to trim most of them again the next day. Oh well. Learning.) I then made the angled edge about a quarter of an inch thinner so that our true 2x6's (I think) could fit into the hurricane brackets made for dimensional 2-by's. (I don't feel comfortable typing 2-by's. It sounds right saying it, but not typing...)

Phil finds the appropriate angle/cut for the bird's mouth. We were later able to make these cuts on the ground.

After a steep learning curve, the rafters started going up pretty quickly. (By "pretty quickly," I mean 3 days. Not necessarily full days, but 3, nonetheless.)

We finished rafters today (no picture available) and went home early as a reward. Good stuff.

In the meantime, other fun and exciting things have been happening. Like getting straw!

Pallets are being used to keep the straw off the ground. We put a plastic sheet over the bales to protect from moisture and put the top and sides of the tent on.

Jason Coomes has also been out to visit us twice. Jason is going to be a new professor at Berea (teaching my Ecological Architecture class, among others.) He worked in Alabama with Rural Studio before this, and I think everyone is pretty excited to have him in Berea. He seems nice and knowledgeable (which is good, since I will be working with him next year,) although natural building is fairly new to him. Once was basically just a visit to see the project and talk about possible class trips to work on the site, but yesterday he stayed for a while and helped up put up some rafters. We then headed out to John's.

I've been to John's a few times without mentioning it in my blog. It's only been a few random days (or, in yesterday's case, half-days.) Jeff has been camping at John's, so the two of them have been continuing work without us. Without going into too much detail, here are some pictures for you. Some are mine; some are Jessa's. They are taken over the course of a couple weeks, so the heights of the walls and such vary- don't be confused.

Starting corbelling (curving the walls in to create the dome.)

The compass has letters on the vertical pole that correspond to the letters on the horizontal pole. I'm not sure who did the math, but they figured out where the wall should be at what height, so using those guidelines, the compass helps to figure out if the wall is curving in enough.)

Goofing around... It's an "UnBirthday Cake" (with teddy grahams, because that's how my mom used to do it) and a mouse drunk off tea. (Think Alice in Wonderland.)

A waterproof barrier was layed on the backside of the building since the area will later be infilled with dirt. Trying to keep out moisture.

Jeff's make-shift steps. Very helpful.

The crew, resting and visiting.

Starting the arches.
Almost done with the arch. Arch, complete. (And Jeff.)
The building, almost as it is now. Now there are two complete arches and maybe another layer or so of bags. It's an impressive place.

Oh, and for kicks, here's a picture that Jessa posted of Adam and my completed seam coverers:
I thought it was cute.