In late October the building failed the county sheathing inspection. The framers had omitted many nails. In haste I had called for an inspection without inspecting their work. I was not on site the day they finished. Subsequently I learned the difficulty of veriflying nailing far above the ground.
The framers and their portable scaffolld were gone. First rains were close. Priority shifted to preparation for moisture. I had hastily applied roof metal but major leaks were expected. The exterior could not be wrapped because the sheating had failed inspection. In November I was obliged to walk away from the project to join Noriko in Japan, a trip arranged six months before.

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The first substantial rain occurred end of October. Roof metal is in place, but crudely. The exterior could not be covered. The first modest rain demonstrated that I needed gutters and downspouts immediately. This required access to the high roof edges. All effort turned to this.

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Access to the high walls is not existent.

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I was in Japan during two weeks of November. In my absence 24 inches of rain fell. This sort of weather was months earlier than normal. Frequently the rain did not "fall" but flew horizontally against every wall and into every uncovered opening. The building was inundated, without and within.

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From Japan I checked NOAA rainfall website every day though I helpless to do anything. On my return the outcome was as bad as I had feared. A few wall openings I had clumsily obscured. I was not prepared for the aggressiveness of the weather. The wind-blown rain resented this tall obstruction, did it's best to blow rain into it and was quite successful.

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In mid-December came the most intense rain of all - heaviest rain since 2006. In rain like that the drops hit so hard they splash high. Day after day I cover openings and improvise access to the upper exterior and apply nails.

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High access is mostly be 20' 2x4s scabbed together. These were hard to rig and not confidence-inspiring.

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Jan 19: by now I have acquired a lot more scaffolding thanks to a friend. I begin to replace the funky 20' 2x4's.

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Dreadful innundation of the interior by wind-blown rain and by roof leaks.

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This is the first "little" storm on November 1. Much worse was to come.

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The mid-December storm was from the south. I had scarcely secured the south-facing openings. Storms nearly always blow from north and west.

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