New rafter 2x4s bought:
Unfortunately, I bought 12′ instead of 10′. My mind is not on my work recently. Now I have two-foot-something boards I cannot use and money gone that I could have used.
The 2nd floor (“up”) suite door must be a 36″ opening by code. The old door was a 34″, I believe. Since we’re reframing the whole area, the grandfather clause doesn’t apply.
You might notice from this poor quality photo that part of the 4×4 top plate has been replaced. A 55-inch 4×4 replacement was added and mounted to the house (as it should have been long ago!). I went to Lealta for some hardware to join two lengths of 4×4.
As it turns out, it was Lealta’s Vendor Days. I talked with lots of vendors offering plastic drywall replacement panels, padlocks that can be re-keyed to match the house, truss systems, power tools, lots of stuff. Also, free lunch. So that was nice. Floyd later went there for the meat-on-a-bun but was too late. <sad>
The 2F doorway was enlarged. I cut through the stucco with a masonry disc on a circular saw and left a 1-1/2″ strip of original house cladding for trim. We I added a 2×6 and mounted it in place.
The hard part is the middle section of the wall. It was not connected to anything except for one 2×4 stud resting on the bottom place, rotted at the bottom. It isn’t easy to mount this wall into place because its placement, both horizontally and vertically, are in question. It’s not just a matter of levelling the wall and mounting it to a 2×6 stud. The gap at the top, where the top plate was / will be raised, has to match the other two sections of wall. It would be weird to have a 3-1/2″ gap on the left and the right but only 2-1/2″ in the middle.
In writing this (the next day), I just had an idea. The 2nd door (main suite back door) is too wide now that the rotten studs are removed. I can move the wall to the north by 1-1/2 (or 3″), closing the 2nd door gap, and add two extra 2×6 studs on both sides of both doors – structurally more sound and fixes the giant gap issue.
Back to the roof, I have three rafters in, two of which are mounted to the ledger, a treated 2×4 that runs along the house and is mounted to the house’s wall studs. The third, next to the house, must wait. I can see snippets of daylight looking up at the join.
Only seven more old rafters to remove along with the fascia board to which they are toe-nailed.
The tennis elbow in my right arm is preventing me from moving forward. Come 5:30pm, in picking up a hammer, my had was numb – but my elbow seared in pain.