More Roof

Busy day today. Rob and Pete got the 2 RSJs up the scaffolding this morning and Geoff got to work with his hammer this afternoon. We now have a loft floor and most of the bones of the roof done.


The second RSJ isn't yet in position but that will get installed tomorrow I assume.

Unfortunately, it has also shown the state of the existing roof which is a bit rotten


A slater is arranged for next week so the guys will have to get the membrane and battens up before the weekend. Hopefully the replacement Velux will come tomorrow and the rear roof can be sorted. The main roof will get tiled first then the rear, then the glass can go in.

A big thank you for Howard from Carr Faulkner associates who slotted our work into his busy schedule pretty quickly - and his rates are very reasonable too!

Roof

Got the calculations back from Howard the structural engineer today. So we have 2 more RSJs on order and Geoff has begun cutting the wood for the spars..... The broken Velux frame has gone back so we should have a new frame on Wednesday, probably at the same time the RSJs arrive ready for the main roof to start going on....

Yet another hole, a roof and some windows....

Well, another hole appeared and disappeared over weds and thurs. This is the back door and Rob has removed the existing single skin outside wall and is running the new double-skin wall up to the joint with the utility room. The wall will be thicker so we'll have to work out what to do inside.


Rob and Geoff battening the rear roof. You can see two of the three Velux windows - one arrived with a damaged frame so the roof has stopped until that gets delivered (weds) and the guys can finishing battening between the windows then start tiling. We are going for new Brazilian slate apparently!


Here is the whole house again. The Velux will have the usual grey outer when they're done, but they have a white inner as the ceiling will be white. The main roof has been delayed. Our building regs drawings specified no floor in the loft and standard computer designed joists. Geoff asked if we wanted a traditional roof which would give us more space inside which of course we said yes to, as we wanted to walk around... 'Ah, you want a floor'... So back to Howard the structural engineer for some re-calcs - a traditional roof uses the side walls to carry load so he has to check the ground floor RSJs are upto it... Another delay. Useful Geoff spotted the design issue - just wish we had all spotted it earlier so we weren't waiting on Howard. Once the calcs are back, Geoff can order the roof materials and get it up. Once that is tiled, the glass can go in everywhere (the windows are ordered) and we'll be weather tight - time to ask the bank for more money!

The whole house

Some slightly ropey photos today. Here is the whole rear of the house. You can see the full scale of the extension at the right of the house


Here you can see the front of the house. The window lintel isn't on yet, but should be up tomorrow.
Rob is now here full time bricking and Geoff has him working on the front and gable walls so the main roof can go on soon. We need Howard the structural engineer to work out whether the RSJ along the side of the house is up to the job if we go for a traditional roof (as Geoff suggests) rather than a modern truss job. The trusses would sit on the front and rear walls whereas a traditional roof will load the side walls as well. Once we know the loadings, RSJ sizes and cost comparison we'll decide which roof to go for and Geoff can order it straight away to put it up (hopefully) the week after next. Then we should see the glass going in and the extension made water tight (excluding the porch). Time to get the valuer back and get the next load of money! £12K left at the moment.

Next door have also got into the act with a dormer (and a similar side extension later on)....

Roof

The rear roof has been built now - you can see the outlines of the 3 Velux windows across the roof. Next step is the felt and batten (I believe), then the felt is cut to insert the Velux flashings, then the tiles, then the windows themselves


This is the new rear porch. Rob is having some fun building the pillars either side of the door as they are quite small. We may consider using a conservatory corner - with uPVC panels instead of bricks/blocks - we need to check if we can do it.


Geoff is back from holiday on Thursday. Time to talk about the time to get the main roof up and the windows in - then we get the valuer back and try and get some more money out of the bank. Also time to see if it's time to get the new boiler and tank installed. The new boiler is gas and nPower want £350 to do their bit of the gas supply, we'll need to excavate and run the rest of the pipe to the house and install the box, and nPower will fit the meter. Hopefully we can plumb the new boiler/tank into the existing rads and hot water supply then we can see about getting the old boiler and the oil tank removed.