My anxiety went through the roof look at that picture he posted.
Good job on adding the lighting to the attic space, huge difference.
🏡 Better Homes OffshoreDrilling's (mostly) DIY Solar install extravaganza.
- Thread starter OffshoreDrilling
- Start date
Thread
Why Solar?
Economics of Solar
Good job on adding the lighting to the attic space, huge difference.
this almost seems like one of those situations where you should just make that opening.
I’ve got a balcony off of my master suite, the sliding door is in just the right spot that a board would angle into the walk in through the master bath then into the closet where the pull down stairs are.this almost seems like one of those situations where you should just make that opening.
I’ll finagle one up there and see how bad it is to do, only have about 16 to get up there. If it’s a PITA and I’m going to end up beating the walls up with an awkward board, I’ll cut the hole.
IT BEGINS.
I’ve been itching for a couple weeks to get started but haven’t had the time (being allowed time by pregnant lady) to get away from baby/house prep.
I’m choosing to start with the garage because I can start/stop this at any time and not worry about a mess. Main roof won’t get any attention until after baby is here. This is sort of the trial run for the main roof too, so I don’t have to figure out all this crap while rolling around in blow in fiberglass.
The first thing that needs to be done is sistering any rafters over 12’6” long on the roof faces that support panels. The garage only has three.
I cut the width of one ceiling joist bay about 6’ long to have adequate room to maneuver 12’+ long boards and access for nailing at the skinny end of the roof at the eves. There’s a second hole cut just behind the door operator to actually climb into the garage attic and nail the rafters sisters in.
I’ve been itching for a couple weeks to get started but haven’t had the time (being allowed time by pregnant lady) to get away from baby/house prep.
I’m choosing to start with the garage because I can start/stop this at any time and not worry about a mess. Main roof won’t get any attention until after baby is here. This is sort of the trial run for the main roof too, so I don’t have to figure out all this crap while rolling around in blow in fiberglass.
The first thing that needs to be done is sistering any rafters over 12’6” long on the roof faces that support panels. The garage only has three.
I cut the width of one ceiling joist bay about 6’ long to have adequate room to maneuver 12’+ long boards and access for nailing at the skinny end of the roof at the eves. There’s a second hole cut just behind the door operator to actually climb into the garage attic and nail the rafters sisters in.
14’ 2x6 #2 SPF.
I was debating renting a truck and buying all the lumber at once which is 20 2x6 in 14’ and 16’ lengths. Prius should handle it no problem though. Homeless Despot is only a mile up the road so a few trips aren’t a problem. I’ll grab half a dozen of them on my way home from work for a few days and take care of that.
Spent about 3 hours between dropping ceiling, vacuuming drywall mess, picking up lumber and cut/nailing it in.
I was debating renting a truck and buying all the lumber at once which is 20 2x6 in 14’ and 16’ lengths. Prius should handle it no problem though. Homeless Despot is only a mile up the road so a few trips aren’t a problem. I’ll grab half a dozen of them on my way home from work for a few days and take care of that.
Spent about 3 hours between dropping ceiling, vacuuming drywall mess, picking up lumber and cut/nailing it in.
Starting on some of the fun work!
I marked all the rafters out on the shingles with a lumber crayon, found the center of the roof then marked out the corners of where my panels will land.
I started with the two mounting feet that land closest to the edge of the array. Measuring up from the roof edge 15.5” I peeled back the shingles, dry fit the flashing to make sure my hole location worked then drilled a pilot hole. 4” long 1/4” diameter spade bit. Squirt some roofing sealant in the hole, a good bead around the underside of the flashing, send the lag bolt home and bobs your uncle.
I only had about 2 hours of time to work managed to knock three of them out. A good chunk of time was layout and being careful to not damage shingles. The rest should go quick. I expect to at least have all the rails mounted on the garage roof by the end of the weekend. Thinking I can get panels, inverters and wiring done completely though.
I marked all the rafters out on the shingles with a lumber crayon, found the center of the roof then marked out the corners of where my panels will land.
I started with the two mounting feet that land closest to the edge of the array. Measuring up from the roof edge 15.5” I peeled back the shingles, dry fit the flashing to make sure my hole location worked then drilled a pilot hole. 4” long 1/4” diameter spade bit. Squirt some roofing sealant in the hole, a good bead around the underside of the flashing, send the lag bolt home and bobs your uncle.
I only had about 2 hours of time to work managed to knock three of them out. A good chunk of time was layout and being careful to not damage shingles. The rest should go quick. I expect to at least have all the rails mounted on the garage roof by the end of the weekend. Thinking I can get panels, inverters and wiring done completely though.
i know you're a pro at all the things but did your butt pucker just a touch as you just uggga-duggga'd through your brand new roof?
I would Still Make that call to double check, as your insurance will need to know for replacement values.
It is most definitely a Florida thing. FPL is in bed with the insurance companies (whatever ones are left).
Got all the garage flashings/mounts finished up after work today. Definitely would have been faster if I had someone to help snap a chalk line, had to measure each one
Two hours and one trip to the store later:
Rails mounted, inverters mounted, trunk cable run, ground run between rails, through roof junction box mounted.
Taking a break to cool down and drink a beer. It’s hot up there. Panels go on next, then cut the rails to length.
Rails mounted, inverters mounted, trunk cable run, ground run between rails, through roof junction box mounted.
Taking a break to cool down and drink a beer. It’s hot up there. Panels go on next, then cut the rails to length.
Garage is done. Tucking all the wires is the worst part of all this so far. It would be much easier with a second person. Same thing for mounting the first row of panels at the eve. Line it up while it’s trying to slide On the rails and pull you off the roof.
18ish hours of work into the garage. Expecting another 60 or so to finish the whole project.
18ish hours of work into the garage. Expecting another 60 or so to finish the whole project.
Looks badass brother. my luck doing all this would be a 60 mph wind would come by and take all the panels with.
Back at it.
I took the day off yesterday so I could have a long weekend of hammering away at this project. Luckily? Half my house is a construction zone so I don’t care about making a mess. I have to reinforce the rafters for the roof where the array mounts. That means getting 14’ 2x6s into the attic.
I probably could have taken an old attic fan off the upper roof and slid them in through that hole but it would have been a 2 man operation and a lot more difficult. Opted to cut a hole in the master closet wall and feed them up through the attic stair access.
I’ve got them all up there right now and nailed in except at the roof eave. I got started on that last night. I have to tear out all the HVAC supply duct to get down that far and then nail them in with a palm nailer. Got 6 of those finished last night, 10 to go and then reassemble the ductwork. Hoping I can finish that in 6ish hours today and get started with the work on the roof.
I took the day off yesterday so I could have a long weekend of hammering away at this project. Luckily? Half my house is a construction zone so I don’t care about making a mess. I have to reinforce the rafters for the roof where the array mounts. That means getting 14’ 2x6s into the attic.
I probably could have taken an old attic fan off the upper roof and slid them in through that hole but it would have been a 2 man operation and a lot more difficult. Opted to cut a hole in the master closet wall and feed them up through the attic stair access.
I’ve got them all up there right now and nailed in except at the roof eave. I got started on that last night. I have to tear out all the HVAC supply duct to get down that far and then nail them in with a palm nailer. Got 6 of those finished last night, 10 to go and then reassemble the ductwork. Hoping I can finish that in 6ish hours today and get started with the work on the roof.
Thread Info
-
Created -
271Replies
-
8KViews
-
Participants list
