da da da DA! da da da DA da DAAA! Trumpet fanfare and flourishes...
A ROOF AT LAST!!!
OUR GYPSY WAGON IS ALMOST FINISHED!!!
After a major setback (oops--are our faces red!) due to the unforeseen weight of our clerestory roof, we modified our original plans and went with a bowed roof instead. We dismantled our lovely clerestory roof and re-used most of the salvaged building materials.
Thankfully we were able to incorporate the stained glass transom windows into our new design, which will let in more sunlight, as well as help with cooling the wagon in summer...
Our new bowed roof was constructed as follows:
Using roughed-out oak rocker runners (purchased from an out-of-business chair maker) and pine 2" x 3" studs, I built 12 arched trusses, allowing for an 8" overhang on each side. Using roughed out oak chair back rails and various carved wood corbels, Siobhan built flying buttresses to add support to the arches.
I stained and gold-stenciled five 4' x 8' thin plywood panels and secured them face-down to the trusses, using the stained undersides as the wagon's ceiling and the unfinished topside as roof underlayment.
We primed and painted 2' x 4' pressed tin panels for the roofing, using a layer of tar paper between the tin and the plywood underlayment. Hex head sheet metal screws with rubber backed washers were used for securing the panels to the underlayment. After adding painted wood trim along the roofline of the wagon's front and back, our roof was finally completed. All that remains to do is paint and hang the matching tin gutters on the sides, and install the solar power system...
As soon as the ground dries from last week's rain, our wagon will be moving to its place of honor--nestled among the moss-draped oaks of Travellers' Rest, here on Just 2 Gypsies Farm.
What a lovely ending to a story that began with a handful of papers and a rock...
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| **More photos to come in the next two weeks... |
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