Part IV - Removal of the Roof

December, 2008

The next goal in my project is removal of the roof section over the last remaining part of the structure - the log cabin. Again with help from Brother Ray, I pulled off the last few shingles and began taking off the cedar planks beneath them.

The planks were cut at a very rough mill, likely a water-powered one in the area. Circular saw blade marks are visible all over the boards. They are made of cyprus, the same as the logs of the house, and though there is lots of visible damage from boring insects, most of the boards are in good shape.

A few boards already off of the top of the house.

More boards removed





Now removing boards from the front of the cabin.

The boards had to be removed carefully to avoid collapse. After all, I'm sitting on it for most of this process. I removed the top boards from the back side, down to the middle boards, then came back to the front side. In leaving some boards on the back, I provided extra support on the rafter frames, which would only be more precarious as each board was removed.

Finally, I removed all of the boards. The process was slowed by my efforts to remove as many nails as possible from the boards. In the process of taking off the shingles, many small nails were left exposed. In addition to tearing up my jeans, these nails were a nuissance that needed to be removed ultimately before the boards are re-used.

Ray prying off the last remaining roof boards.

The removal of the lateral roof boards left only the rafters in place. The 2x4 boards you see in the picture above are the roof rafters and also the awning boards, which lay atop the roof rafters and stick out to cover the awning where the old wagon was stored.

These were very easy to remove. The awning boards came off first and then the rafter boards were left. Generally, these were cut to fit onto the square top log, and held on each side with a single, very large square nail, which I refered to as a "Jesus Nail."

The rafter boards removed, with the large "Jesus Nails"

As each board was pried loose on one side by me and on the other side by my brother Ray, the rafters just leaned over until they flopped down into the structure and swung like a pendulum. We then let them fall or eased them off the building and took them apart on the ground. The removal of the rafters, after the lengthy, three-hour process to remove the roof boards, was only about 30 minutes.

The house free of its roof.

One of the very last shingles removed - which would have been among the very first to be put up - was this one, which features a branded imprint from the manufacturer.