There's no point crying over spilt, erm, paint?

We've had an exciting week or so since the last blog which has seen Building control doing an inspection visit, the external roof carpentry finished, felt and batten on, tiling started and we've ordered timber for cladding and roof insulation along with three tins of paint/stain ready to go... well until "the incident"!!!

So I will start with the roof carpentry. It's amazing how much has been achieved in a relatively short amount of time with the roof works, even with some hold ups waiting for materials.

Roof trimmed out for rooflights

External roof carpentry, including attic trusses, roof light windows trimmed out, the centre hand made on site section all ready for felt and batten.

Last Friday saw the roofers come on site and in less than a day our house had felt and batten on, so we were water tight (well the roof anyway). 

Felt and batten on, ready for tiles

We were expecting the roof tiling to be started on Monday and the roofers were on site all ready to go, but there was a hold up with the tile delivery which meant this was delayed until yesterday. 

Very quickly however it has gone from this...

To this...

Tiles stacked in position around the house

Tiles on the back of the house. 

We chose the tiles quite a few weeks ago now and we are both delighted with how they look on the house! Neither Fliss or I wanted the tiles to look too red and we wanted to achieve a rustic look to compliment the way the house will look once it is finished and to blend into the local scenery.

Roof from the front after day 1 of tiling

The oak frame trimmed on the edges with slate soffits

By end of the week the roof will, if not finished, be pretty close. There is still some internal ceiling joist work to be completed, but a few holds ups with materials have delayed this a little. 

I suppose I ought to clear up (no pun intended, but Fliss did most of it if truth be known) the tin of paint incident. To set the scene, we both had a very productive Tuesday with the timber cladding ordered from local Timber Merchants Powell & Co, Kingsland, the first batch of Kingspan Insulation ordered and we (well Fliss) had finally chosen the colouring, "Chicago Grey" from the Sadolin Classic Wood Protection range to go on the timber cladding.

Naturally I was keen to "pop the top off" to have a proper look at the colour... as I did so the cat decided attack me at exactly that point, which lead to a slow motion fall of the tin only rivalled by the baywatch beach run... In my head I shouted nooooooooo and then heroically dived across the floor to rescue the last bit of paint before it left the tin, in reality I stood there like a lemon thinking "oh s**t" that's just wasted best part of £65 while Fliss calmely started to rectify the situation. It went everywhere. All over my shoes, trousers and the carpet in the caravan, but after 2 days of scrubbing with WD40 and blotting with anything that looked like it would remotely absorb, the carpet looks a lot better, and it's nothing that a big rug won't sort! 

#thankgodflissdoesn'tmoanasmuchasme

What a difference a week makes...

Surprisingly we've had another dry week... We've gone from being topless (and I'm not talking about parading in the winter sunshine earlier in the week) - to the bulk of the roof structure being in place. 

The attic trusses took a bit of handling because they were delivered upside down and had to be turned around in a small space before being lifted into position on the ready erected frame. 

 Attic trusses being manoevered before being turned around and lifted into position.

Attic trusses form the bulk of the roof, giving us space to fit two good sized rooms a bathroom and a landing. They came pre-formed, which meant that the significant transformation took place very quickly. 

The first 4 trusses in position. 

Rooms taking shape, with the view through the window. 

Attic trusses in position prior to securing.

The centre section of the roof is being made on site. It's obviously a much slower process, but it's amazing how much Neil (the carpenter looking after the roof carpentry) has achieved in a relatively short space of time. It's good to have people on site who can see beyond just looking at the drawings and help ensure things move forwards smoothly. 

With a temporary deck down we've been able to stand in the upstairs bedrooms, peer through the trusses where the roof light windows will be and stand on the beam which will form the internal balcony. 

Frontal view from upstairs

Upstairs view of the rear

I also managed to squeeze in a spot of filming for Building the Dream. Fliss wasn't here this time, but Lee was able to capture a little bit more of our story and the significant change since the last visit where the oak frame was being erected. 

"Up on the roof", Robson & Jerome have nothing on me

The internal balcony taking shape

Truss ends shaped to match the oak on site by Neil

End of week one of the roof carpentry works

And there we are; another week on and very visible changes. I hope the weather holds again next week!

Ta ta for now, Tim