San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Siding in progress, Roofing complete! Part II

by Eric Fitts, Director

An update is overdue!

We hosted engineering students from the University of Dayton’s ETHOS program, who learned sustainable practices around the Farm and helped insulate the solar hot water system, replace the old side curtains on the high tunnel greenhouse, and install underlayment and siding similar to stucco siding panels on San Damiano. A thin layer of material, such as fiber, felt, rubber or foam, serves as flooring underlayment. Speaking of underlayment, we figured that it is something really interesting. It is a thin layer of material that provides cushioning, sound absorption and insulation, as well as reducing wear on your flooring. It is apparently imperative to install underlayment, especially under a laminate flooring. Laminate floors are floating floors, so they must be evenly distributed across the subfloor. Floor underlayment such as ones like Gypsum Leveling, provide stability, support, noise reduction, and supports locking mechanisms to ensure the sturdiest floors.We completed the underlayment on the west and east walls, which means underlayment is complete and we are dried in before winter. Oh, and all of the siding was measured, labeled, and stacked where it will be needed. And the first two pieces of siding were installed.

Meanwhile, the roofing crew from Forbes Copper Works, Josh, Tim, Chris, Tyler, and others, completed the installation of the standing seam metal roof. It was similar to the metal roofing installed by Four Seasons Kanga Roof, which is a great comfort heading into harsher weather. Metal roofing has a number of benefits. Unlike wood and other roofing materials, metal roofing is fire retardant. So, it won’t burn in case of a fire. In summer, metals reduce heat gain by reflecting radiant energy from the sun. Furthermore, metal roofs can be easily insulated to keep homes cozy throughout the winter, keeping energy bills down. Therefore, it could be understood why the chosen roofing crew, who tend to provide services similar to a roofing contractor Winston Salem, focused on installing a metal roof.

Next steps are installing the root cellar door, pouring concrete into cinder block cores around the posts to firm them up, installing the 36″ ³ steel door to the picnic area, completing the metal trim and siding, and plenty of interior work. Work has slowed as Eric focused on the garlic planting and admin work, and as we have fewer hands to help at this time of year.

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Siding, Roofing in Progress, Part I

by Eric Fitts, Director

Siding and roofing have begun!
The ShelterKit kit has finally been exhausted. (Just a few latches remain!)

Eric, Gemma, Raine, and Steve pitched in, completing a few small door adjustments that remained on the slider and loft door, staining/sealing exterior trim for the loft door, completing the underlayment on the north gable wall, running some trim pieces for the siding (high ladder acts III and IV of V are now complete!), and learning about standing seam metal roofing from the roofing crew similar to Precision Roof Crafters, a roofer in Houston, TX.

A well-built roof is essential to the value and durability of a property, protecting it from rainy and windy weather. It is surprisingly easy to overlook the importance of roofing. Whether built by yourself or by a specialist like 99Roofers, a solid roof is as important. In some cases perhaps even more important than a strong foundation. Consequently, if you would like to learn more about the steps that go into improving roofing for new construction, then you can find plenty of helpful resources on the following construction website – check them out here.

As for our roofing project though, the next steps are completing the underlayment on the sheathing for the west and east walls, installing the 36″ steel door to the picnic area, completing the metal roofing, similar to that available at seiroofing.com/service-areas/arlington/, and metal trim and siding, and plenty of interior work (interior work is quite appropriate at a place named after San Damiano, since that’s where St. Francis’ interior (soul) work began).

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part X

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued, with Eric, Bobby, Gemma, and Marty pitching in.

We installed all the underlayment on the south wall, and half on the north wall, installed all 6 windows on the north wall, and installed the exterior bathroom door. Marty stained the materials for the entry roof, we built the entry roof over the loft door, and installed underlayment on it.

Masters Week is coming! Next steps are completing the underlayment on the sheathing, installing the sliding doors, bi-fold doors, and loft door, and installing the metal roofing and metal trim and siding.

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part IX

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued, with Eric, Gemma, Patrick McGinnis, Bernadette, and Dorothy pitching in.

Soffit was painted and installed. North and south gable wall sheathing was completed.

Next steps are constructing the entry roof over the loft door, installing underlayment on the sheathing, and installing the metal roofing and metal trim and siding.

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part VII

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued, with Eric, Kevin, Jake, Katherine, Matthias, special guest Ryan Cornelissen, and Gemma, working during Adult Week.

Rafter install continued, with the first 6 rake/overlook rafter sections going up. Rafter install was completed on the livestock shed. The livestock shed roof was then sheathed and dried in with StormGuard roofing underlayment. The lowest section of the east main roof was also sheathed and dried in with StormGuard and titanium paper roof underlayment. We also secured a tarp over the educational area, to make life easier.

Next week is Family Week (so the site has been secured) and we are planning on continuing work on rafters, sheathing, and roofing underlayment.

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part VI

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued with Summer Servants (with and without Eric) plugging along on a couple ordinary weeks between groups.

We installed the remaining roof columns and roof headers, with the highest headers forming the ridgepole, 14.5 feet above the loft floor, installed high up on scaffolding. Roof headers were brought flush with the outside walls and all was checked for square and straight edges along string lines. Hardware was installed to attach all rafters to the headers and floors. The header across the livestock shed columns was completed. Rafters were begun on the west over the educational area, on the east over the livestock shed, and overlook rafters were constructed on the east end of the building proper. More rafters to come and soon roof sheathing and the beginning of drying the structure in!

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part V

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued with help provided by Summer Servants and volunteers from St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City), Loyola Blakefield (MD), and Geurin HS (Noblesville, IN).

We completed framing the south gable wall with an awesome effort by Farm Crew to raise the center section, which somehow YouTube failed to get on film 😉 We also completed the first course of sheathing on both gable walls. After a heroic run to Hurricane by Will and Justin (on a reunion tour, as Justin was visiting this week) to pick up the last bundle of materials, we also were able to begin setting roof columns and roof headers, as we prep for rafters. The livestock shed began to take shape as we set the ledger boards to hang the shed roof rafters on and measured, cut, and set the columns.

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San Damiano Center for Sustainability:
Framing in Progress, Part IV

by Eric Fitts, Director

Framing continued with help provided by Summer Servants and volunteers, including groups from St. Mary of the Woods (Chicago), Fr. Ryan HS (Nashville), and John Paul II HS (Hendersonville, TN).

We completed the east wall sheathing, framed in the loft stairs, completed the north gable wall, and began framing the south gable wall, all while dodging thunderstorms 🙂

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