Preparing , preparing , you're always preparing . OZ-T's "Just build the damn shop already build ".

Got about 6" of snow last night , commute to work was a mess , had to wait for the plow to clear a path before I could get to the shop

 

Wasn't able to actually start installing soffit material till this afternoon and managed to just get 3 rows on so far .

Cold temps and sleeping in cut in to my work time plus I also needed to do a bit more prep work than I originally anticipated .

Might be hard to follow but in the pic below there is a flat section of soffit close to the building that transitions to a 2 in 12 sloped overhang for the wide covered area. Those two soffit conditions also meet the 5 in 12 sloped overhang that runs up the gable ends . The 4x12 beam that carries the 2 in 12 rafters also comes into play because I don't want a skinny rip of soffit material to finish against the beam and want full boards to butt each other where the flat soffit meets the 2 in 12 soffit .

The 1x6 soffit material has a 5" exposure and it was about 80 5/8" from the intersection of the flat and 2 in 12 soffits to face of beam which would have left me with a tiny rip so I needed to shorten the length from transition to beam face , I ended up shimming down all the flat soffit framing with strips of 1/4" plywood which then pushed the flat to 2 in 12 soffit transition down the slope enough that the last board installed will be close to a full 5" exposure .

i also decided than in order to insure my boards on either side of the flat to 2 in 12 transition were full and that row was straight , I needed to start there and work down toward the beam so I installed a 1x4 stop block on the flat soffit and started installing the rows backwards from the top down



I'm definitely not going to be done before heading back to work on Monday but at least for the weekend I'm just cutting and installing soffit and not messing around getting things aligned anymore

 

Good planning. I've just done floating bamboo flooring, and it sucks having a thin rip at the edge. Thanks again for sharing your progress.

 

Just curious how much the furring strips brought the flat soffit down until you got your full board and did you do math or just eyeball it until you got it where you wanted it?

 

This measuring device comes to mind, some might even call it a tool.

 

OZ knows what I am talking about.

And we use feet/inches down here.

 

1/4" strips on flat soffit framing moved transition point about 1" downhill on the 2 in 12 framing

 

hehehe just checking if this really was Rob from Florida, or an imposter.

 

LOL

Really me bro.

 

10 degree spline I made up to transition the flat soffit to the 2 in 12 sloped soffit , with boards groove to groove so I could work from that point outwards in both directions




Spline in place




What I got done on the weekend , not the greatest pic , was kinda dark outside when I finished up




I got all the main big area done , left the last 2 rows against the beam which will be finicky fitting around the posts and up against the beam for next weekend . Soffit intake vent will go against building where I have spray painted framing black so you can't see framing through the black screening . There is another row of soffit to go up against building , then the 2" intake vent which will be mostly hidden with a flat trim that the top of the siding will finish to

 

Looks great.

 

Finished up the row with the vent against the building and the 2 rows that fit against the posts and beam this weekend.




The last row fitted to the 4x12 beam and around the 8x8 posts took me pretty much all day today

The boards are oriented so the tongues face the beam because I worked my way down from the top .

When I framed the timberwork I left the posts tops square cut and flush to the top of the beam . I honestly can't remember if I considered how that would effect the installation of the soffit but it kinda left me a bit of an issue because the 2 in 12 rafters climb up away from the beam toward the building leaving a progressively increasing gap between the post top and underside of rafter , so the final row needed to run partially over the top of posts where gap was greater than thickness of soffit material but notch to the side of posts for remainder of the board . Add to that the last row needed to fit over the tongue of the previous row and also finish tight to the beam and because I couldn't put the board on to the tongue of the previous row and then rotate it up till it contacted the beam because the last row had to also go over the posts I needed to come up with a 'hybrid' way to install the final row

All my other rows are cut to a length pattern that repeats every 4th row but in order to fit the final row around the posts I was going to need to cut the boards off pattern with each board joining tight to one side of each post so that I could slide the board in and on top of the posts from the side and then join the next piece down stream

I kept my standard pattern for the 'ends' of the boards , and by making my off pattern cuts through the same board , I feel like I was able to disguise the extra cuts pretty well

Sample of last row fit over and around post




Pencil pointing to additional disguised joint through continuous board from picture above

 

Very nice. Your work is inspiring.

Quick question - why did you use acorn nuts on the posts? They look great. Was it only cosmetics?

 

Are those the final light fixtures or just temp work lights?

 

Was going to ask the same question. Probably be a good idea to get some cages so you dont break a bulb with a board.

 

temporary

 

yes , just the look I was going for . Eventually all the hardware will be black and have square washers , going for an early 1900's timber framed factory look.

 

already snapped one off with my head on Saturday lol

 

LOL, I had the same thought -- that I would have busted at least a few of those bulbs just moving boards around.

I recently was replacing a glass LED GE Reveal bulb in the bathroom and the bulb part just snapped off in my hand. Those things aren't built like regular bulbs, and there was no place to grab the metal threaded rim with needle-nose pliers. I had to drill a couple of holes in the circuit board, thread 2 screws in, and use those to grab with pliers to get the base out. What a PITA.

 

A flush mount, warm white, LED fixture might fit the bill.