Week Twenty

Week beginning 17th October.

Amazingly we are already starting the twentieth week of building our new home. We have come a long way since the sixth of June and we are very pleased with the progress. The weather has mostly been dry and we have been able to make great strides. But it has been raining most days since October began and we haven’t been able to get our buildings wind and water tight.

The forecast is for two dry days this week so we are going to make sure the megashed is ready (everyone who sees it says it’s huge so we’re calling it the megashed from now on). We can only get it to the watertight stage, the tin will come later. We’re also expecting the scaffolders today, finally.

Today is forecast to be intermittant showers so we have a good chance of getting everything done. We are starting by checking the truss ends are in line but we are finding that they are not consistent but we can fix that later.

The rain has stopped so Pete has gone up onto the roof to tape the worst of the gaps between the OSB sheets so that we don’t get glass wool insulation dust dropping into the megashed. While he is on the roof, Molly is making OSB ends for the gaps between the trusses so that the insulation doesn’t slip down and is fully enclosed.

Having had an extended lunch break because of the rain we are now onto wrapping the building with breather membrane up to the top of the east and west walls, we can do the top of the gables later.

Our final task of the day is to get in touch with Martin, who has offered to help, to see if he is free tomorrow or Wednesday. Molly has called and left a message. We haven’t waited long when Martin returns the call and says he can come and help. Yeah!

We are off for an early night, excited at the prospect of working on the roof. With any luck, and a lot of hard work, we’ll get the east roof insulated, sheeted with OSB, the rainproof membrane fitted and the batons nailed on by the end of tomorrow.

We’ve been up for a while and already had a call with Andrew to check on some of the technical details and had our breakfast but still in the caravan when Martin arrives. We had wanted to have made a start on getting the tarpaulin and plastic sheeting off before he arrived.

Before we can start putting in the insulation we are uncovering the roof and screwing in footholds for Pete so he can work on the roof. We are working out a plan of how to best approach the tasks at hand to ensure everyone is safe and we can be as efficient as possible.

Putting in the insulation is quite easy and the glass wool we are using feels more like wool than glass, it is also not making much dust which is a great relief. We had worked with glass wool before and hated it because it made us itch and cough but this product is much better.

We’ve finished putting up the insulation and it is clear that we will need more for tomorrow so Molly is heading to Oban to get more supplies after we have a spot of lunch.

The weather is holding up well and the sun is shining so we are having lunch outside. It’s lovely and warm, and dry so here’s hoping we’ll get more of the same tomorrow.

While she’s away Martin and Pete are getting on with sheeting out the roof. This a very awkward because the space between the east wall/roof and the boundary hedge is very narrow and the ground is uneven. We are taking our time to make sure the ladders are set and balanced properly and carefully planning how each sheet of OSB is lifted into place. Luckily Martin has been going to his personal trainer, Dora, for a while and is very strong. Thanks Dora!

The higher we go up the roof the trickier it gets and the more we have to plan how to lift the sheets into place. Pete is on the roof pulling up and placing the sheets but Martin is takiing most of the weight, we are both working very hard to make this a success.

Molly is back and has managed to get more insulation but they didn’t have the same brand as we are using today so we’ll just have to wait and see how that goes tomorrow.

It’s been a long day and we have managed to get the roof sheeted with OSB, we can’t finish all the tasks we had planned to do so we decide to get the tarpaulin back on the roof in case it rains.

The scaffolders are a ‘no show’ once again.

Martin is going but says he’ll be back tomorrow and will bring his long ladder and his roof ladder. With bigger and better ladders things should be easier tomorrow. Thanks Martin, we couldn’t have done it without you.

We get a message from Andrew saying the scaffolders will be coming at the end of the week. We’ll see.

We’ve had our dinner and although it is still early we’re off to bed so that we can be well rested for tomorrow’s exertions.

We’re up and at it early this morning and are preparing for the days work as Martin arrives with his ladders on the roofrack. The long ladders are extremely long and could easily reach double the height of the megashed roof. The roof ladders could also reach the top of a roof twice the size of our megashed. Looks like we’re in business in the ladder department today!

We are all set up to start on the insulation but Martin has to go for his weekly workout with Dora, but he’ll be back in an hour or so.

This insulation is horrible compared to the stuff Andrew sourced for us. It smells bad, it feels bad and it’s giving off lots of dust. Nonetheless we are making fast progress and Martin is back just as we are fitting the final bits of insulation.

Getting the OSB onto the roof and fitting it is much easier with the roof ladders and Pete is feeling much safer than he did yesterday. We have managed to get the first course of OSB done and so we are stopping for lunch.

The weather today isn’t so good and it keeps threatening to rain.

The rain has started and we are rushing to get the tarpaulin on the roof to protect the insulation from getting a soaking, if that happens we’ll have a real problem and might have to start from scratch.

It’s quite a struggle getting the tarp on again and guess what? Just as we get it over the entire roof it stops raining. We’ve decided to take the tarp off again in the hope that we can get the roof done before it starts again.

It’s 4.30 and Martin has to go, he’d told us this first thing this morning, but we’ve managed to get all the OSBing done. Martin has been great to work with and so generous with his time and effort in helping us.

He’s off but before he left he said we should call him if we need more help in the future and he will come over if he can.

You are a star Martin, thanks.

Pete insists that we try and get all the waterproof membrane and tile batons on before we finish but Molly thinks it would be better to put the tarp and plastic sheeting on, and leave the rest of the tasks for another day.

We are putting the membrane on the roof ridge and working our way down, this is counter to the normal way of doing the job but we can’t work out how to do it safely otherwise.

It’s getting dark and we are making slow progress and now the wind is getting up and the rain is starting. Pete is in a bit of a panic and can’t think of what to do because he’s so tired from balancing on the roof all day. Molly is staying calm and so between us we somehow manage to cover the roof with the tarp and the plastic and so protect the, as yet, unfinished roof.

We are exhausted and it’s after eight so we decide to leave writing the blog for tomorrow. We had wanted to go to Oban and do our washing and a bit of shopping in preparation for our son and grandchildren who are coming for a few days tomorrow, but we are too tired and it’s too late.

Pete admits he was too ambitious and that this created a lot of stress and fumbling about in the dark.