"Old Buildings Are The Best" - A Phrase I Hate

Ah, but old buildings were the best...

We hear it all the time and so often that we get fooled into believing it's true. 

Don't get me wrong, some were great, but some are truly terrible. And we only NORMALLY kept the good ones. 

This one is not one of those. 

Big Cut Roof Job In Wales - Internals First Fix

One of my favourite jobs in carpentry is studding. Trouble was we had a fair bit to do before we could get there. 

The lovely old floor boards had seen better days (and better trades) so we decided the first thing to do was cover them with ply to make them a bit flatter and a bit stronger. 

Big Cut Roof Job In Wales - Side 2 - Roofing

 Something about a roofing job. Not sure what it is. People are often in awe of builders chucking on a new roof. In truth once the thinking part is done much of it is very simple. But some roofs have much more thinking than others involved in them!

This was one of the ones with more thinking in it! 

Big Cut Roof Job In Wales - Side 1 - Roofing

So Somehow I got roped into a big roofing job. 

Repairing a roof on my parents property in Wales. Also add three dormers and two velux roof lights to make it a more useable and well lit space. 

Extension Progress - Roof Tiled

This roof has been my nemesis lately. 

I've not managed to get out there and finish for a number of reasons, either the weather has been against me (to cold for the mortar to go off or too wet to not wash it down the roof), my wife and children have had different bouts of poorlyness or we've had things like birthdays to contend with.

So it's just sat there, in it's unfinished glory, taunting me every time I go to get in the car.

Yesterday I managed to get out there and even though it had forecast rain for the afternoon I'd thought I'd risk it. Luckily the rain never came and I managed to have a good run at it, I did think I was going to run out of tiles at one point but luckily I'd got just enough (about 30 or 40 left over I think).

Stepping back last night and look at it I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. All four of the hips I've had to do up there look really tidy and the lead work around the chimney does as well. A good, solid, waterproof roof, One that should last for many years. 

There's still lots for me to do up there (not today though as it's meant to rain all day). I've got to fit the gutters and line and insulate the chimney. The chimney is cause me a particular problem as I can't insulate it properly until I block the bottom off, and I can't do that until I know it through into the extension and we're a long way from doing that. I have got a plan though so we'll see how I get on! 

Also I've taken the my last two posts down. I've enjoyed your all your comments and they've been both popular posts, but I've decided that I'd rather talk to this woman face to face next time something like this happens. Rather than her reading it in a few months time if someone at school mentioned my blog (the dangers of using my real name). I've saved both posts and all the comments though so please don't think they were wasted. Thanks again for all your input.

Extension Progress - Roof On

Sorry it's been a quite week on the blog - I've been really busy! 

Managed to get the roof on the extension!

It's now felted and battened meaning that it's waterproof from the top and ready to tile! 

I still have a few things to do inside the roof (which I'll do tomorrow - Sunday). 

Here's some pictures of some of the frame work - 

Cuts on the jack rafters

Hip and jack rafters either side

Beams as ceiling binders but also to form a truss to support the purlins in the roof

Feels good to put a lid on the place and to be honest it's been one of the hardest little roofs I've done just because of how it cuts intot he old one and that it has purlins, I don't think I could have gone for a truss one just because of how complicated it is. 

I've also had a bit of help over the last week or so, so big thanks to Andy, Dill, Nick and Dave who've all come at different times to lend a hand, the days on my own always seem very slow by comparison! 

If I finish off a few structural things in the roof tomorrow I'll be pleased with how half term gone! Just the job of tiling to go on the roof then (as well as fitting gutters, etc) but that's not straight forward either! 

Extension Progress - Roof Carcass Day 1

We made a good start on the roof yesterday. 

Dill had got the brick work finished the day before (which is a post in itself that I'll do later) so it meant that Saturday we could start the roof. 

Andy, pictured above, came to give me a hand. He's the man that trained me to be a carpenter many years ago!  

The roof itself is quite complicated as it's trussed and has purlins so some head scratching in a few places but I was really pleased with the progress we made in a day. My brother came over in the afternoon to lend a helping hand.

There's still loads to do but by the end of the day we managed to get all the heavy and awkward timbers in, leaving me with stuff I can do myself. 

I need to now finish the rest of the rafters, support the purlins, install the ceiling joists, fit binders to carry the ceiling, fasica and soffitt to fit, felt it, batten it, line the chimney, tile the roof. I don't think my week without the children will be enough to get it all done but it's a start at least!