Week beginning 19th September.
We took Sunday as a day off and did a bit of gardening, then Molly washed her hair under the garden hose (our main source of water).
Then we went for a walk up the hill behind our house.
A slow start for this week, it’s already 9.15 and we are only now starting work. Our task of the day is to nail batons to the house trusses. Later we will add OSB on top of the batons.
We are taking our time working out how to do this because we are going to have to climb up the trusses to nail the batons almost all the way to the top. We had agreed long ago to make sure we keep ourselves safe so some careful planning goes a long way to cut down risks.
The trusses are very deep at about 440mm and the insulation that is to go between them is 300mm thick so we have to measure 311mm down from the top edge of the truss to know where to nail the baton, the extra 11mm is to allow for the OSB sheets.
With our plan worked out and the distance measured we are nailing the first baton in place, we decided to cut the full baton lengths in half to make them easier to handle. We are standing back to admire our handy work and Pete has noticed that we have nailed the baton above the measured mark not below, not a good start! We have to saw through the baton and prize it off then start again. We have nailed all the lower section batons which is easy enough where the floored mezzanines are, the ones between the two mezzaniners involve climbing a ladder so it’s a bit more tricky but we are managing.
Now we have to climb up onto the trusses to attache the upper half of each baton. Molly is up on the trusses measuring and nailing the first few in place.
It’s time for Pete to have a go.
We’ve been at it for hours and all the climbing up and down and moving the 3 metre scaffolding tower is taking its toll. We had hoped to get all the batons done today but we are feeling pretty tired and have decided to call it a day. We both feel this is the best decision because accidents can often happen when you are tired and working at height is a dangerous affair. Tomorrow is another day.
Pete has just dropped Molly off at the bus stop, she is on her way to Edinburgh for a dental appointment and won’t be back till late. At breakfast our gas ran out so we had to make our coffee on the camping stove.
Pete is getting on with some of the things he can do on his own. His first task is to cut some OSB to size and see how easily it fits on top of the batons they had fitted yesterday.
It works a treat so he is doing one on the south facing roof too but decides to leave it at that because trying to do the high up one would be foolish and it’s really a two person job anyway.
It’s ten and Pete is about to make coffee as Andrew arrives with supplies of screws, airtight tape, expanding foam and assorted sundries.
We’ve just finished fitting an extra bit to the gable to attach the roof ladder securely and the lorry with our larch cladding is pulling up.
After a discussion about our next tasks, Andrew is leaving.
Pete is getting on with nailing the shed’s roof ladders to the gables and the trusses to the wall heads.
With that done he is taking the supplies to storage and picking up a new gas cylinder from the local petrol station, some six miles away.
It’s starting to get dark so Pete is finishing all his wee tasks and getting out of his work clothes ready for Molly’s return.
The call has just come in and Pete is heading off to pick up Molly from the bus stop. Just a few yards along the road Pete sees a young deer trotting aloing the road in front of the car, unsure of how to escape. Pete is slowing right down to allow it time to escape, a bit further on and now it’s a wee rabbit running along in front of the car. Luckily he has left plenty of time to get to the bus stop.
Molly is getting in the car and we are both pleased to see each other even though we haven’t been apart for long. It’s time to head home and cook ourselves a nice hot dinner with our new gas cylinder.
We have decided that today’s task is to fit the OSB between the trusses but we are taking our time planing how to do it safely. This is going to be a bit harder than nailing on the batons because the sheets of OSB will be a good bit heavier and more awkward to handle.
We’ve managed to do a few sheets and a car is pulling up. It’s Catriona, Molly’s cousin, who lives just a few miles away.
We are showing Catriona our house and telling her all about our plans. It’s so nice of her to drop by and be so interested and supportive of what we are trying to achieve. Over coffee, she is reminding us that her husband, Martin, has offered to help us if he can. We are delighted to be reminded of this because we will be needing quite a bit of help in the next wee while as we make the house wind and water tight.
Catriona also tells us about all the activities we could join in with at the local community centre. There’s badminton for Pete and Pilates for Molly as well as carpet bowls, Zumba and Pickleball. This will be a nice way to get to know some people and have some fun away from house building.
Catriona has left and we are getting on with it, managing to get a few more trusses filled, when Gordon and Sheena arrive. Back in April Gordon and Sheena collected our caravan from the dealer and towed it up here for us then in June they came and towed it to Tarbert. They have been a huge help to us so we are delighted to see them, and they’ve brought a picnic!
It’s so great to have visitors come and see what we’ve been up to. Gordon and Sheena were last here when it was just a green plot of land so they can see big changes from then.
After a lovely picnic lunch and lots of nice chat they are heading off and we need to get back to the trusses. We are heading towards the car when we spot another visitor.
We’ve done all the low ones so it’s time to get up high and fit the top sections. We have had to move the scaffolding platform a few times to fit the lower section so to save energy we decide to work backwards from where we are.
No sooner have we fitted the first high piece than we realise what a mistake we have made. In order for it to work you have to start at one end of the roof and work your way along. By trying to save energy we have trapped ourselves and won’t be able to fit the final piece in this sequence, unless we can come up with a plan. We finish what we can and call it a day.
