Recently, with the help of Traci, I finished raising the last of the secondary rafters for my reciprocal frame roof for a grand total of 28 poles.

They are affixed to the primary rafters with a big spike nail for now. Today, I finished bracing them with small two foot long pieces of roundwood. I slipped this roundwood underneath the rafters to help spread their weight more evenly through the cob. In addition to each rafter, this wood is pepper nailed, and the two are tied together with strong steel wire. It looks pretty messy (see below), but it will all get buried in the topmost layer of cob. Hopefully this is sufficient to keep everything steady and locked in place.

The weather has been grand lately, with only a small amount of rain the other night. Today was quite breezy and it truly felt like fall. Within another day or so, I’ll be able to begin decking the roof with my new work exchanger, Jeff.

P.S. More photos of the reciprocal roof raising, including a rundown of the process is coming soon… I promise.