The Dreaded 40-Footer

Nearing completion of the siding (with the exception of caulking and painting all the trim - that may wait until spring).   Finally got all the high spots done this week thanks to a 40 foot extension ladder borrowed from Dean, picked up and delivered by Amy with her dad's truck and Dean's trailer.  Amy came over early this morning and we sided one wall under the porch.  All that's left: under the porch in front, the front of the family room, and the north side of the garage dormer.

Since it was warm today, and we have the 40-foot ladder set up and the step ladder is still tied on the family room roof still, I did some painting in the high spots as well.  Note to self:  it takes less effort to move a ladder than to try to reach the tricky spots with a brush duct taped to the end of a stick.

"Great Stuff" is not so great when the nozzle gets blown off and your hands get covered in rapidly expanding sticky goo.  The "Always wear gloves" warning makes sense now.  Hopefully the stains will come out of my hands fairly quickly.

Otherwise, did some miscellaneous framing tasks, figured out what to do with the tub deck, some major cleaning/organizing my junk, finally hard wired two outlets for power away from the electrical panel - no more pushing that one extension cord to its limits.

HVAC has also started in earnest.  Now I have to keep up with the electrical so they can hove power to test the equipment once it's installed.  Air supplies and returns are in place.  Met with well driller to locate geo wells. 

The front peak fully sided. 

What do you do when you set up one giant ladder in an unsafe manner?  You add a second ladder, a few bungee cords, some rope to tie it all together, a harness made from two belts, some climbing rope, and your father on belay through the attic window, of course.  Throw in some long planks of siding and some power tools and you've got yourself a party!

Hello down there.

The 20 square feet above the bump-out roof took 80% of our time.  Here we are planning our attack.

The help.

Nearing completion high atop the dreaded 40-footer.  Not too terrifying until I had to walk out on the little plank that's resting between the ladder jack and the steep roof.