Week Forty-seven

Week begining 24th April 2023.

After last week’s progress we are going to carry on in the same vein and are going to tackle the south facing roof. We were going to be four on the job but one of the team had to attend to other matters so it’s just Molly, Pete and Alistair. Alistair is our neighbours brother and has worked with us when we were insulating the roof.

Alistair is very prompt because it’s 9am and he has just arrived. It’s a lovely day because the sun is shining but there is a bit of a cold wind coming from the north. Luckily for us the wind isn’t too strong so we can get on with hauling the 5m sheets of corrugated metal onto the roof.

Our method is for Pete and Alistair to lift the sheet up to rest on one of the scaffolding bars then Molly grabs it from her position up on the scaffolding, Pete then goes up on the scaffolding while Alistair takes the weight from the ground. Now that Pete’s on the scaffolding, Pete and Molly can pull the sheet up and rest the top edge on the roof. Now Alistair comes onto the scaffolding and Pete gets on the roof. Alistair and Molly feed the sheet up the roof while Pete pulls it up into position. It’s a very effective method but it takes a lot of effort on everyone’s part.

Before he left on Wednesday Andrew set up the first sheet so we have somnething to work off.

Pete is at the top of the roof and Alistair at the bottom with Molly. Molly’s job is to make sure the bottom of the sheet sits at the correct distance above where the guttering will go and Alistair’s job is to adjust the position by pushing the sheet up the roof or letting it come down a bit.

Once in positioin we put the first screws in and now we can work together as a team and get the sheet screwed down, hopefully with all the screws in nice straight lines.

Our team work is excellent and we get a good rhythm going so that we have done about half the roof by lunchtime.

It’s more of the same this afternoon and we keep going even though we have a few minutes of hailstones every now and then and it is getting colder as the day goes on.

It’s dinner time, Alistair’s off home, and we have finished the south facing roof. This means it will be ready for the solar panels that are due to be fitted by mid-May.

We decide a celebration is in order so we are heading out to get some wine.

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Alistair’s bang on time again this morning ready to help us fit the shed roof tin.

We are taking our time setting up the first sheet because all the subsequent sheets will be postioned relative to it. If we get it wrong the roof could be leaning one way or the other or the bottom of the roof could be in the wrong position relative to the gutters.

The first sheet has taken us almost two hours, though that includes building the scaffolding tower and working out a safe approach to getting the tin on the roof. Our approach to getting the tin on the roof was much the same as yesterday but it is quite a bit easier because these sheets are more like 3.5 metres long and the roof is lower than on the house. Also, the slope of the roof is not as steep.

Having established a good approach to the task and carrying on in the same spirit of cooperation as yesterday we have managed to sheet the east face of the roof and get two sheets on the west face by the end of the day.

We have agreed to finish a bit earlier today and carry on with the west face tomorrow. It’s been hard work these past two days and we are feeling it a bit so a bit of extra r&r won’t go amiss.