Week Forty-two – Part Two

It’s a right dreich day so it’s inside work for us, for now.

Pete is finishing taping the last few trusses up at the apex and Molly is foaming betweene the ring beams. This task is a legacy from when we first put the timber frames and trusses up. The midfloors which make the mezzanine’s are part of the structure of the building and had to be fixed at the same time. In a rush to get it done we didn’t know, at first, that the gap between the ring beams had to be insulated. It was noticed before all the midfloor had been finished but some parts were left uninsulated. So finally we are getting this done.

Our next task is to check that all the taping we have done recently has stuck down properly and that there are no leaky areas. It’s a bit tedious but it has to be done. To make sure we don’t lose track of what has been checked we are marking up what has been done.

The rain has finally stopped so we are going to finish fitting the reveals on the boot room window. It’s our first attempt without Andrew so we’ll take our time to give ourselves the best chance of getting it right. We don’t get written instructions so we have to remember what Andrew has shown us and not miss any steps.

So it’s careful measuring and cutting, taping the boards with the Compriband and making sure everything is true and level before finally fixing.

We are very pleased with our work and we can feel the building’s character slowly coming to life.

Building a house is a bit of a rollercoaster but it’s moments like these that really lift our spirits and energises us to keep going.

Guess what? The rains is back! Time for some more taping quality control.

This morning looks promising, it’s dry so we are going to start fixing soffits on the south gable elevation of the shed.

We’ve been making slow progress, not least because we keep making silly mistakes and are having to climb up and down the scaffolding far too often which is quite tiring.

We’re on the last few boards and the rain has started again but we’re going to keep going and get it finished because we are under a bit of pressure to get ready for fixing the corrugated roofing.

With the south gable soffits and fascias fitted we move the scaffolding to the north gable ready for fixing tomorrow.

We are up and ready for work but there is no power and it’s raining. Pete has contacted our neighbour Margaret who tells us that the power is off all day until 4pm. She got a letter from the power company but somehow they forgot to tell us.

We’ve decided to go to Oban today instead of tomorrow and we can make up lost work time then.

We’re back from Oban and it’s dry so we are going top make a start on the soffits.

We’ve managed to do a few boards by dinner time so today hasn’t been a total right off and tomorrow we can get it finished.

It’s a fine dry Saturday morning, perfect for finishing the soffits and fascias.

We’re on fire and have finished the task with time to spare so onto the next task, the kitchen window sill and reveals.

We have managed to fit the sill without too much bother and are just about to start on the reveals but it’s started raining again and it is really unpleasant working under the scaffolding when it’s wet because it drips on you and runs down your neck and back.

Instead we are lifting the last of our roof windows up onto the mezzanine. It’s a heavy and tricky job but we manage it no bother.

The rain has stopped again and we are about to start fitting the top reveal board on the kitchen window but ther Compriband won’t stick because the board is too wet.

Our last tasks for the day are to dry out the boards for the reveals, cut the sills for the bedroom windows and tidy and sweep the mega-shed.

Time for a nice dinner and a few glasses of wine!