We got the second window in the south wall of the sun porch today. It looks awesome! Okay, it looks as awesome as dirty windows can look! <grin> Neither of the windows are permanently fastened in yet and the divider between the windows hasn’t yet been installed but it’s still progress!
Terry and I got the sun porch roof finished. It’s AWESOME. We’ve got one glass panel in the south wall and one to go. We’ll keep pecking away as weather permits.
I still have to figure out what I’m going to do with the north wall. I wanted to use eps-crete, but finding a way to grind the foam is proving to be problematic. I’m going to talk to Lorr (son) when he comes today to see if he is willing to fabricate something. I don’t see it being complicated. We’ll see what he says.
If I use papercrete, I’m going to have to parge (word is NOT in my dictionary!) the sun porch side to keep it from absorbing moisture AND I’m going to have to build a retaining wall (also on the sun porch side) where the wall has to be backfilled. I really want eps-crete for the wall.
 Lorr using serious equipment to prepare the parts for welding  Parts beveled and drilled  Pin in shaft, worm gear ready to go onto pin  Welding the result  Chucked for final cleanup |
This seems to be my month for equipment repair. Earlier this month I repaired the head on a reciprocating saw but the much needed repair of my table saw has been hanging around a lot longer. I broke the shaft off the worm gear that adjusts the angle of the blade and it was totally my fault. I should have cleaned the gears of the years of accumulated saw dust before trying to do any adjusting. Oops. Nothing is quite such a wake-up call as failed maintenance. I popped the worm gear right off the end of the shaft.
After a significant amount of time spent searching the internet for repair parts, I finally accepted they were not available and repair was my only option. I had the parts welded locally but when the weld was cleaned up so the part would fit where intended the parts separated again. Time to drag out the BIG guns.
Our son is an ingenious fellow and brilliant at what he does. He chucked the parts in a lathe, cleaned the ends and center bored a hole to accept a metal stabilizing pin.
Once the parts were all cleaned and ready for the pin he welded the parts together and, rechucked it in the lathe to clean up the weld.
This is the definition of perfection in repair.
I’ve spent the last 4 days playing Plummer Girl, the plumbing wonder working to replace the kitchen sink drain line in the Airstream. You might ask why I’m Plummer Girl and not Plumber Girl. If I’m going to be the plump plumber, I dub myself Plummer Girl to cover both bases.
Day one was clearing the downside blockage/sludge out of the holding tank. It truly was an all day process. It took a while to get the downside drain apart. Then it took multiple flushings to get all the blocking sludge out. It took multiple washings to get the smell of gray water off me when I was done. I swear it followed me around like a miasma. Yuk.
Day two was clearing away stored stuff so I could see the plumbing line running from the kitchen sink to the holding tank. Planning the new line didn’t take very long, neither did shopping for parts, but I took the opportunity to do all the in-town run-around stuff all at once.
Day three was the tear-out. To get to the line I had to remove the gas stove and all the storage shelving in the hall. The guy who devised the original drain line route with 4, yes FOUR elbows should be shot. With four elbows and only a single cleanout, there is NO way the line could be flushed. While I was doing the tear-out/rebuild inside, Wadly was out putting the drain line between the holding tank and the septic line back together. It didn’t take him as much time as the initial clean-out I’d done the day before, but I know it was no more fun.
After dry-fitting the new components, I had the new section of drain line in, the remaining section of old drain line cleaned, the whole thing tested for integrity and flow and the stove back in in time to cook a late dinner (NY strip steak, fresh corn on the cob and fresh garden salad – I LOVE summer). I was delighted to be able to leave the kitchen that night with all the dishes done.
Day four I built a base shelf for the small refrigerator (new location) and our filtered water cistern. I also built a 2-shelf rack for Wadly’s boots and my shoes out of scrap lumber, osb and some old masonite board.
Today I have to build three more short wall mounted shelves. The one below the main shelf will be for the cat food dish and storage coffee cans of dog and cat food. The two shelves above the main shelf will be for storage (linens, towels, pots). I also need to put up a new slightly longer clothes rod in the adjacent closet (I torn out an unnecessary wall which meant taking out the old rod and shelf). When these are done I will again be able to see all of my living room floor and the top of my sewing table.
Once I’ve got everything put away, I want to build a new set of wall mounted shelves to hold the toaster oven, coffee maker, fruit, sugar, salt, pepper, ground coffee . . . I’m cleaning as I go, scrubbing walls and winterizing. Oh joy.
With any rebuild there’s always time lost to other things. Wadly’s brother “gifted” us with a reciprocating saw. I’ve wanted one for a while and knew it would be *the* thing for cutting through the old drain line. The gift was more of a “here, take my worn out tool and see if you can fix it” gift, but I can handle that. It took two hours to rebuild the head so the blade would stay in. I did some quick screw swapping to get the stripped out screw that held the blade replaced, but there are actually two screws that hold the blade in. One provides pressure on the blade to hold it in place and the other is milled to provide a pin to fit in the blade hole to lock it into the tool once the pressure screw is tightened. The pin end of the original screw had been sheered off and the blade would come out unexpectedly. I built a new pin screw out of a screw with matching threads. I really should replace the cobbled together phillips head pin screw with a matching allen key screw. Is it gonna happen? <shakes head> Don’t hold your breath on this one. It works. That’s the necessary part.
I’m still plugging away on the sun porch. This last week I got the flashing and shingles up on the adjoining wall and I’m ready to put in the last run of roofing glass. It’ll be nice to have the entire roof done.
I picked up the flashing for the sun porch a couple days ago. Wadly’s going to get it up and start shingling while I get the final three thermopane roof windows built.
I picked up another piece of pvc lumber a couple weeks ago to rip for the spacers between the panes of glass.
My nephew repaired the worm gear/shaft for the table saw. I’ve got it installed, I just need Wadly’s help to carry the head over and get it placed on the stand.
I’ve got to find something to cover my work bench to protect the glass from any grit or bits marring the glass when I’m cutting. I think I’ve got an old nylon blanket in storage that will work.
My first thermopane birth - click to enlarge
I got my first thermopane window done. My technique needs work. It’s been so long since I’ve done any glass cutting I wasted a bit of glass getting my skills back.
I don’t think the vinyl is going to be ideal as a divider. The butyl rubber mastic doesn’t appear to stick to it well enough. The end result certainly LOOKS like a thermopane window. To be on the safe side I’m going to make sure I’ve got good pressure on both sides at all the strategic points.
We got the 4th sliding glass door panel up on the roof. It’s really looking good and with each panel Wadly and I get mounted we learn new things.
Here’s what I’ve learned about mounting mastic. When you’re setting the window, use butyl rubber bead. You can get it from Copperstate Roofing Supply/Best Materials. I already had this material. It came with the metal roofing for our barn/shop.
I used two other products to set two of the windows while Wadly was trying to remember where he put the mastic tape. Trying to caulk an even bead on a slated rafter while standing on a 10′ step ladder leads to unintended sloppy work . . . not to mention how much more spendy the tubes of mastic were than the rolls of mastic. I’ll have to cut off the stuff that ended where it didn’t belong. Yuk. Conversely, the two windows we set with the butyl rubber bead look perfect, perfectly seated with no mastic oozing out anywhere. Plus it was way easier and less messy to apply
To finish glassing in the sun porch I’ve got some spaces which are going to require window sizes I don’t have. And I’m at it again . . . you know me. If I can figure out how to do it, I’m not going to pay someone else to do it for me. In this instance, we’re talking oddly shaped thermopane windows. I think I can make ‘em. I’ve got the glass so I may as well try.
So here’s the plan. I stopped at Home Depot today and purchased a 12′ length of ½”x1¼” vinyl molding. I’m going to try to figure out how to cut it in 3/8″x ½” strips to use as the sealing spacers between the panes of glass. Assuming I can cut the molding strip lengthwise without melting it all over the table saw, I’ll miter the corners, seal the miters with aquarium sealer and lay ½”x3/32″ butyl tape (ordered today) on each face of the spacer frame before mounting the glass.
I found a post today bysomeone who described filling the newly sealed panel with argon gas. I can do that, though for the sun porch I probably won’t bother. I’d like to find a source for moisture filtering vents that are used to repair windows with moisture between the panes. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’ll try. I won’t need them for the sun porch windows, but I will when it comes to building windows for the house . . . assuming I don’t fill them with argon gas. Once I’ve made them I can repair them, dontcha think?
While we’re waiting for the butyl tape to arrive, Wadly needs to get the upper part of the adjoining wall finished and the flashing put in place so we can proceed with installing the windows when they get built.
Looking up, three panels in so far!
The frame of our sun porch is a combo of post and beam and pole building construction. The rafters are locally milled full dimension 2×6′s and all the posts, beams and stringer lumber are commercial pressure treated standard dimension lumber (nominally 2×8′s, 4×6′s and 6×6′s).
We have three panels up on the sun porch roof so far. Picture me wiggling in delight. I REALLY like this method of building a sun porch.
I purchased sun porch plans from CountryPlans.com. If you’re not a “leaps of logic, connect the dots” person, I recommend you purchase the plans. They’re relatively inexpensive and give a good run-down on how to assemble a sun porch. The construction they use is a little bit different and mounting the panels is a bit different, but sealing the roof using butyl rubber tape should be the same.
CountryPlans sun porch plans say to use glazing tape under the panels. I’m using putty mastic. Yeah, yeah, ever the rebel. As this bit of construction is a test for later construction, I’m trying two different types of mastic. Because I already have it on hand and it’s surplus, I’m using the putty mastic we got with the metal roofing for the barn/shop. It’s very like the putty that comes in a can which is used to set glass panes into wood frames (old type stuff) only doesn’t seem to harden much with age. The other is an all purpose acrylic silicone (includes window setting as one of the uses) compound in a tube I picked up at Ace. One tube does 1.5 panel mountings so mastic for the whole 6 panels would have cost just around $30.
I’m viewing the mastic as a pliable weight distribution base for setting the windows, not something for seal joints against moisture penetration. There is no such thing as moisture sealing something when the mounting is against raw wood.
Ideally I want the edges of the panel to have consistent pressure around the entire panel to ensure the panel doesn’t end up stressed to fracture. Bear this in mind if you decide to build a sun porch. You want a consistently even surface on which to mount the panels so the stringer installation is important. You want the support members (rafters) to be strong enough to support whatever weather (snow load) you get. The panels are relatively flexible but over-bending will result in broken glass. That’s one of the reasons I’m not using the 4′ wide panels as roofing panels – lack of support.
Ideally, pressure treated 4×6 beams would be the ideal rafter for this sun porch, but I already had rough cut 2×6 so that’s what I used. If we get a significant snow I’ll keep an eye on the roof to see how it holds up. I expect it to be okay but will have a temporary t-bar support planned should it look as if our infrequent “big snow (~30-36″) suggests additional support is needed.
Because we have amassed a lot of used windows, we have sliding glass door units in varying dimensions. I think we even have 2 sliders with ~4′ wide panels which we’ve earmarked for sun porch walls. If you’re wondering how I ended up with so many sliding glass door panels, here’s the deal. Home owners are swapping out aluminum framed sliders and sliders whose panels have developed leaks for more energy efficient vinyl and/or wood framed units. The old aluminum framed and leaking sliders are out there begging to be collected up and recycled/reused. Strip the aluminum frame, remove the roller and handle hardware, recycle the aluminum and use the double paned glass panels to build a rocking sun porch or green house for just the cost of the lumber, fasteners, mastic and butyl rubber tape.
Some of the panels we got are no longer sealed. For this particular application I don’t care if the panels have or can develop moisture inside. This sun porch is a test of the building method and serves as a temperature moderator for the sliding glass door into our living room, not as the roof of a place I plan to serve lunch with linen napkins. When we start building on the hill, sealed panels will matter. At that point, I will rebuild broken sealed panels and/or purchase new. Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to ever serve lunch with linen napkins. I am SO not Martha Stewart.
Because we are using sliding glass door panels in disparate sizes, the “as we go” construction works really well. Each bay is completed before the rafter of the next bay is put in place. This lets us use panels of different widths, lengths and thicknesses without affecting the integrity of the roof.
I started building at the outside edge planning to fill in between the adjacent building and the last bay of glass panels with conventional construction. It is pure serendipity that the panel width combos are exactly the right width to connect the outside wall of the adjacent building without any infill.
Stopper detail
We put the first rafter up (left most rafter in the first picture), measured the width of the panels destined to go in that frame bay and cut the stringers (2×8 pressure treated) 1″ shorter than that measure. We butt screwed the bottom panel support stringer (see detail image)
The bottom stringer was beveled and channeled to act as a stopper for the bottom edge of the lower panel. In the stopper detail image you can see the bevel. The bluish bit is the window, the brown/gold wood is the stopper sitting on top the beam the stopper and rafter sit on. The faded wood grain is the rafter and the little bit of gray under the bottom edge of the glass panel is the putty mastic. There is an error in the image. <wince> I’d already trashed the working file when I caught the error. In actuality, the top surface of the rafter is even with the beveled panel seat on the stopper. The mastic continues all the way around under the panel including on top the rafter.
The stopper is butt screwed to the rafter. The panel is supported all the way around the outside edge of the panel. The panel sides sit on the rafter, the top and bottom sit on stringers. The entire outside edge is sitting on a bead of putty mastic.
The first bay of panels are 5/8″ thick and 32″ wide by 74″ long. The second bay has 5/8″x34″x76″ panels. The third and final bay will have 34″x76″ panels but I’m not sure what the thickens will be . . . maybe 3/4″. I have one slider side stripped and it’s 3/4″ thick. If I find a match for it, that’s what I’ll use.
Every time you build something, you learn what works and what you’d change if you were to do it again. I’m really glad I have a chance to test the construction method before using it for the sun porch for our house on the hill. There are a few key things I would do differently. When we build on the hill, I will notch the rafters where they meet the supporting beams at the peak and base of the rafter. I don’t see this as being a strength issue, I see this being a practicality issue. Notching the rafters facilitates attaching the rafter to the supporting beam. It also makes insulating the final result easier.
Additionally, I will install the bottom stopper stringer to the inside edge of the beam instead of flushing it to the outside edge. That will allow me to insulate the outside of the stopper and will allow any moisture running down the bottom side of the panel to drip off the beam face to the floor instead of pooling on top the beam. The devil is in the details. The beam is pressure treated, but it makes more sense to facilitate the running away of any moisture instead of providing a surface on which it can collect. This was a real duh moment, but you can only perfect a design by doing the design.
And one final piece of advice. If you have to use panels in a single bay that vary in thickness, put the thicker panel at the top. This will prevent water pooling where the thicker and thinner panels meet.
It’s still raining. I’ve got blossoms on my tomatoes and the sky is providing hail. Ah, spring.
We’re still pecking away at the sun porch. We have two rafters up and I’m ready to put up the first course of glass and . . . <sigh> Wadly put the mounting mastic away and we can’t find it anywhere. Next time he heads for town he’ll have to pick up another roll.
The butyl rubber aluminum clad tape came weeks ago. I’ve taken apart the first window, removing the aluminum frame. I’ve cut the support board at the bottom and the support board for the top of the window. I’m as ready as I can get.