It wasn't until our roof panels were installed that I learned we would need to build an additional "cold roof" on top of them. A few months ago, I had no idea what a cold roof even was. The physics of it make perfect sense, though. When warm air in our house permeates through the roof, the moisture inside it will condense on the wood as it hits the cold air outside (warm air is capable of holding more moisture than cold air). If we don't give that moisture a clear path to evaporate, it will rot out the top of our roof in short order.

So, this weekend, I started the process of putting another roof on our roof, beginning by trimming the tar paper I'd already affixed, and screwing in a row of furring strips running vertically from peak to eave.

Once that is done, I'll have to re-sheath the whole thing with plywood again, leaving an air vent for moisture to escape. I'm sure I will be grateful for our highly insulated roof come winter, but right now I'm a little shell-shocked by the amount of money we're going to spend by the time this thing is done.