Week Forty-eight

Week beginning 1st May 2023.

Apologies for not posting a part-two last week but we went to Edinburgh for our grandson’s eleventh birthday and didn’t find the time to post, so here is a catch-up.

On Wednesday, with Alistair’s help, we finished fixing the tin on the mega-shed roof.

On Thursday the weather forced us inside and we were back up high where we worked on taping and sealing the double trusses ready for the pressure test in June.

On Friday we did a bit more work strengthening the frames for the mezzanine walls and had a visit from Molly’s sister, Ishbel.

________________________________________________________

After a lovely weekend with family and friends in Edinburgh we are ready for action. We are expecting confirmation soon that the solar panels will be fitted in the next few weeks, after which we want the scaffolding to go. In preparation for that we need to get on with cladding the west gable, the east gable will have to wait until we have built the balcony.

Before we can get on with the cladding above the mid-floor level we need to fix the cladding on either side of the bathroom window on the ground floor. This will help us position the corresponding boards above the drip detail and ensure everything matches up nicely.

Our first board went on fine but this one is more difficult and Pete is having to chisel away some protruding batten to allow the board to sit flush with the window reveal. It’s holding us up but we have learned to be patient and not rush things.

We are getting on with fixing he cladding on the gable, we have already worked out the pattern of random boards for the section between the corner and the board that follows up from the edge of the bathroom window below. Each board needs cut horizontally with a 10º edge to allow water to run off and a 45º top edge to run in line with the roof pitch. We also have to put in 5mm spacers between each board for our shadow gap. It’s a slow process because we are trying hard to do a neat job but it isn’t always working out like that because the larch can be bent or warped or both.

We have just finished the second section, above the window below and we are very happy with how it is looking. At this rate we should easily get it finished by the end of the week.

________________________________________________________

We seem to be a bit slow today because we are taking care and there is a lot of time spent going up and down the scaffolding to measure and cut boards.

All the up and down is taking it’s toll and we are getting quite tired but we are making prgress.

We are stopping a bit earlier than usual today but we are satisfied with our work.

________________________________________________________

We are on the final section of the gable now and the end is in sight. To make the run of boards fit we sometimes have to cut a board to a custom width to make it fit but if we make sure and record all the measurements the cladding on the ground floor should match and everything will look great when it’s finished. We won’t be doing the cladding on the ground floor until the scaffolding is away because there isn’t enough room.

Yeah! We’re done so tomorrow we can concentrate on helping Andrew do the last bit of tin around the third roof window and that will be all the tin on the house!.