That's a Wrap

Did you know you have to wrap a house up, like a giant Christmas gift before you can put siding on it? Okay, it’s not exactly like wrapping a gift. It’s a moister barrier then you add special tape around the windows.

We were originally told it would take about five weeks to build our home. Now two and a half month later, it’s still not complete. Our framer was able to get the exterior inspection approved. This allowed us to finally begin wrapping the house, which as I said, has to be done before we can side it.

While our home is two stories, some of the window sit more at a third story position to allow light in. I didn’t want Jer going up and down those ladders with no one around. His brother joined him on the first day and they installed most of our windows and completed the easiest sided on the first floor. I joined Jer the next day.

The most exposed wall has three levels of windows. I thought it would be a good idea if we tried to complete that wall. I had visions of us being able to finish it all in one weekend but like most things we’ve done, everything is harder than I imagined.

The first level wrap wasn’t too bad. It was a nine-foot strip that went across the entire side and around the corner. After that we decided to use the three-foot roll to make it more manageable on ladders. Jer and I worked great together, taping the overlap and windows as we moved across the wall. We had two very tall adjustable ladders and Jer had to keep moving them for both of us… multiple times.

It was definitely more work for him than for me. Even though I had hoped to complete the wall that day, the higher we got, the more tired we became. We made the safe decision to stop for then night. The next morning, we had two hours to see if we could complete it.

Jer set the ladders up higher and more straight up and down on the second row of moister barrier from the top. I can’t lie. It was scary and I prayed the entire time. I thought about telling Jer I couldn't do this and needed to go down. He finished up but we ran out of time to him to complete the very peek.

You know you’ve worked hard when you're not just physical weary but emotionally. We aren’t done yet but we got a good chunk completed. There are a couple more really scary areas. I pray for safety and for some other men to help because somethings are just too hard for me.