The roof...a light at the end of the tunnel?

I've been trying to get the final parts of the roof on my almost-completed building for quite some time...weeks in fact. I was going to put shingles on it, and even have several squares of shingles purchased (seconds/discounted from Ace hardware). But then I actually climbed onto the roof, and decided that a metal roof would be better.

Luckily, my youngest aunt, Janice Lance, is married to a very generous guy, Bobby Lance, who just happened to have some excess galvanized steel 5-v roofing. So a couple of weeks ago, I went and picked it up. It's not quite the right length, but that's OK, the price was right...free!

In the meantime, on days it was dry, I was busy with work, and when I could get some free time, it's been raining! That's just the way it goes.

Today I finally rigged a spray paint stand in the yard, and painted the first 6 long sheets. It took more paint than I expected, but it turned out great. Of course I have a few 'runs' in the paint, since I've never worked with a compressed air gravity-fed spray gun before. I think I'll get the hang of it before I'm through. The roof's going to be a great hunter green color, and I'll paint the building in a couple of shades of brown...fairly dark for the background, and a lighter brown for the 'battens' that will hide the seams. That should make the building fit in well with its surroundings down in the woods.

As I write this, I've realized I'll need to paint the outside of the building before putting on the roof metal, to avoid overspray. Now if I can just get some dry days to do all this!

The big compressor and tank are really useful. I've used all the tools that came with it, and even purchased a 'jitterbug' sander. I have a similar electric sander, but the air-powered one just seems to work better. It really knocked the rust down on the 'tin' roofing. Then I spray painted with Ace's brand of rust-inhibiting paint. I hope I'll never have to roof the building again. With shingles, I'd have been facing a reroof job at a time (if I live that long) when I definitely couldn't get up on a roof. I may even be looking at a metal roof for the house here. That's one of the maintenance things that will have to be done before many years go by.