Today netted more progress on the Tiny-Houseboat. The pontoon work is now completed..that was a larger chore than I first expected. The boat hat to be raised from the trailer, one side at the time, the bunks removed from the trailer bed, the pontoons sanded until shiny to remove oxidation, and pitting inspection to make sure nothing had penetrated the hull. The metal is .120" thick, the pitting was up to about .015 deep in places. Not too bad, but we wanted to make sure it didn't progress any further. So, a heavy coat of marine epoxy paint was applied, then another coat of brown top color was applied to match the trim on the boat. Then, once cured (about 2 days), the bunks were reinstalled, and the boat lowered back onto a bed of wax paper on the bunks. This will keep the pontoons from gluing themselves to the trailer. This process was repeated for the opposite side.
Rain drip edge was installed on the top edges of the front and rear walls. I then erected the assembled gable units to to wall tops, temporarily securing them with long strips ripped from wooden 2x4's to hold them upright while bolting them in place. The double roof beam was installed in the top center, and the two single roof beams were installed about midway out on each side. These were connected to the gable assemblies on each end. This really stabilized the roof assembly, and allowed me to start cutting the rafters. The patio trim was also painted with it's last coats and tape removed.
The rafters are a SLOW task. I have to fabricate 26 metal 2x4 rafters to be installed from the center roof double beam to the two single roof beams that are about 34.5" from the center. They are made from the pieces left over from the outer wall structure, and are made of 2 pieces screwed together. They require a folded tab on one end to screw to the side of the single roof beam, a 15 degree cut on each end, and are screwed in at 4 points each. the photos below show some of these rafters in a pile, and the first rafters installed and screwed to the gable end. I worked on this batch of 12 for about 3 hours...I have a long ways to go!
