The Gable: Steps One, Two and Three

The gable is a little more of a process than I necessarily expected. And, no, it's not because I didn't re-read the directions. There's just a little to think about in terms of making sure one piece is totally dry and in place before moving on to the next, strategic pieces to do the same thing. I believe the directions said we could build this part in two days, but we created a strategy for three just to be safe. That, and we don't get to really work on it until after dinner, and we get sleepy.

STEP ONE: Monday. Putting on just the right wall.

This was pretty easy and worked out great!

There are supposed to be filler strips to finish the interior wall where the walls connect, but we couldn't find them. After a couple of emails to our good friend Gary, he told us what we were actually looking for. And, as luck would have it, we even found them:

These make the interior wall smooth 
where the gable wall butts up to the
floor and already-in-place interior wall.

It would be cool if every, single piece of the house fit as perfect, easy and exact as those! But, those didn't warp, so, there's that.

STEP TWO: Tuesday. Flip the house on its back to add the ceilings/floors and other side piece:

I surprised myself by not flipping out on the inside about turning the house over. I know we've secured it as much as possible*, but STILL! I don't want anything to go awry!

*(Our construction mentor Gary told us that he never uses anything but Tacky Glue to build. Meaning, he doesn't use nails. And, that's actually good because the nails would show. And, who wants that? I admit if it were nailed, I probably wouldn't be nervous about doing something like turning it, but I think I'll get over it fast. My Dad only used Carpenter's Glue on mine, and I move it by carrying it by the chimneys to this day. So, I need to Trust the Glue like I Trust the Tape!)

This step of the process was also reasonably straight-forward. The good luck continues!

STEP THREE: Wednesday. Put the hinged pieces on. This is supposed to be the last day of the gable construction, right? Yeah ... well ...

We'll start with the really good news. The floors we placed last night are SEAMLESS.

See? NO seams! *pats on the back ...*

Everything looks so-far-so-good in every way!

Our good fortune streak ended here as the problems began with this step. In theory, and probably in reality if we were expert builders, everything should still just pop into place. But, we'll start with the crazy difficulty Aaron had putting those teeny tiny screws ...

... back into the holes he already created when Hal was micro managing him. It's one thing to do it flat on a work space bearing down. It's another thing entirely to do it sideways with no support from behind. On a wall you just adhered the day before. And, there's probably some kind of wood-physics thing we don't know about after the holes sat vacant for a few days in this ever-changing weather we have going on. So, yeah. Aaron broke out into a major sweat getting those suckers back where they belong:

After, we spent more time than I care to really quantify strategizing, placing and replacing the gable pieces because -- you guessed it -- the warping has an effect here, too. And, I think Aaron said something about maybe-possibly-kind-of-who-really-knows putting the hinge on the wall juuuuust a little high, so we had to figure out how to adjust for that. I really do not know how he would have known until that very moment of truth, so, you know. Whatevs.

SO. After much time, I finally noted that we could dink around with practicing the fit all night, or we could trust ourselves to figure it out as we go. Because, honestly, there wasn't much more of a choice than that. So, on with the middle piece!

This is where we actually ran into a bigger snag that I more than happily call an opportunity for a creative fix. 

You can't see in the picture, but there is likely to be a gap between the wall and the floor when this is put together. The gap is more significant than I'd like for sure. Like, don't butt a table against the wall because the legs WILL fall between the floor and the house. But, it might be necessary to allow that gap to make certain the front wall is completely parallel the front of the house.

It's also possible that there isn't much of a gap and that the wall doesn't really angle as severely as I fear. We really won't know what it will look like or what kind of solution we want to employ, though, until we sit the house upright tonight to put on the last piece.

I'm also continuing to debate if that third piece is going to be permanently adhered to the house on the right gable wall (which is how the kit is designed) OR if it will be adhered to the window pieces that swing out to reveal those rooms (which is something I saw someone on the internet do). Meaning, either two of the window walls will open and swing to the left, or all three will. I thought this alteration of the kit design was very cool to make sure there's a lot of space to reach in the room, but, it turns out that just opening two walls is plenty. So, it will now come down to which option is better for the overall design and forthcoming creative solutions.

There are all sorts of ways to fill that gap. I'm sure there's going to be one, so I'm just planning for it. I saw a designer on the internet build window seats there. While I think she's much more of an expert at building and didn't actually have to hide anything like a floor gap, it is a cool idea. I also like the idea of filling it with just a piece of wood because the extends the floor inside. How many times have you been in a room in your house and thought, "If I just had another little bit of space that direction, it would make a huge difference!"? Well, Hal and company might just get what I often dream! And, of course, there are baseboards. There are a number of ideas, but, there's no way to decide until it is upright. And, that's totally okay.

I was glad we decided to stop trying to get it figured out all last night because I was, honestly, getting tired and sick of trying to fix it. I needed a fresh brain. It didn't help that I'm only 10 inches taller than the gable when it's down like this, so, to see things lining up (or, not), I had to get on a chair. Over and over and over and over ...

The only thing that has brought out any bad words from me during this process has been when I'm pulling the tape after gluing, and the tape pops off. *$&%^! Until last night. That's when I knew we needed to stop. Key to a successful build: KNOW THYSELF.

Hal is either signaling victory or surrender.
You make the call. Oh, we put shims under-
neath to keep the correct angle while the glue
dries. Those are handy little suckers.

The next step is the final gable wall step which is called FIGURE IT OUT ...