Fresh from two whole days off (a first since starting the build!) I felt better prepared to start work on the roof. This week is all about the roof. Watch a time lapse to see what I got up to this week: Day 31 Today was very much a production line. I needed to make lots of rafters, so instead of making them one-by-one I decided to apply one step to each rafter at a time. This way I was doing one job over and over and didn't have to change my setup. To build each 45 degree rafter I cut them to length at a 45 degree angle then cut out the 'birds mouth' (a notch cut out of the rafter

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All of a sudden the build has got very tall, which amongst other things means lots of trips up and down ladders. The inclusion of angles has also caused much head scratching. Despite this, some great progress was made this week. I also placed my window and door orders, which is a pretty big deal in any house build. I worked with a local company and after many trips and quotes I ordered the custom windows and doors that I have painstakingly sized and positioned. I'm sure it will all be fine when they arrive in 2-3 weeks. Watch a time lapse to see what I got up to this week: Day 24 I

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With the walls in place, my first challenge was to wrap my head around the puzzle that is strengthening and securing the walls so they stay there. I knew what I had to do, but making sure to do things in the right order took some thought. Eventually I got there. Watch a time lapse to see what I got up to this week: Day 19 Today I focused on making sure the walls were straight. To do this I had to remove the braces and check every section with a spirit level. I was pleased with how solid the walls felt, even though there isn't much holding them down. By the time I am through they should

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This was going to be a big week. We had some friends visiting so I wanted to finish the walls and get them raised while they were around, always a big moment when building a house. Before this could be achieved I needed to finish framing and figure out the logistics of getting them vertical. So there was lots of work to be done. Watch a time lapse to see what I got up to this week: Day 15 Today was a very productive day! The friends who are staying with us right now kindly offered to help with the house (thanks Andrea and Brady!). We managed to buy, cut and lay out all of the wood

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After a bit of a break it was time to crack on with framing the walls. In normal house construction, with a well oiled team, this is usually a very fast stage. I am doing this for the first time, and am having to cut every piece of wood to a custom length, so we will see how 'fast' this goes. Watch a time lapse to see what I got up to this week: Build Day 10 Today I got to use my new framing nailer to build the first wall. It actually was a little harder than I expected! Being the first time I had framed, I was learning as I go (no change there then), I was also learning how to use

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