Less roof!

The existing rear roof pitches are both off now. The rear pitch is common across the existing house and extension so that has been felted and battened as one piece. The slates will go back on tomorrow so fingers crossed we'll have a complete roof by the end of the week....


And the windows have arrived. No glass so I can't see exactly what pattern my wife picked so that will be a (nice) surprise when the glass finally goes in.

Wet and windy

We have struggled a bit this week and so have the guys. It's been blowing a gale and peeing down with rain. We have had no phone since yesterday (although the broadband is ok.... hmm), we had another power cut this morning at 5.30 thanks to the junction box just outside the lounge getting wet, and the TV ariel cable got chopped to finish the front of the new roof. The photo below was from yesterday - too wet to get a photo today, but the facia boards are on across the front and up and over the gable and the whole front of the new roof is tiled.

Fingers crossed the weather isn't too daft for them to do the rear roof tomorrow. The window company have dried out their computer and the windows will be ready for tomorrow. First window in is the bathroom at the back - hopefully no more water dripping into the lounge!

Typically, the weather deteriorated just after the roof was damaged so we also have a few drips into the bathroom....
The existing roof is just about shot, so we're going to have the back two faces replaced with new felt and battens. The plan is to re-use the slate for our half of the shared pitch at the back, and replace the main rear pitch to match the new roof since that pitch is common right across the existing house and the extension.

The valuer is booked for October 1st so hopefully we'll be watertight by then to get the maximum money!

Also had a call from Martin the UFH guy. He has set up his own company - link to follow - and has partnered with another company who do liquid screed so we're looking at using that. It is slightly thinner than sand and cement (55mm vs 75mm) and it dries in one day. Also the finish is laser levelled apparently so the Karndean can go straight on top - the sand and cement would need a 3mm levelling layer applied to get it smooth enough.

All the extra expense on the revised roof and old roof repairs is eating into the budget quite badly - but it seems daft to spend it on a fancy bathroom if the roof is knackered.... but it may still be disappointing if we get downstairs just right but upstairs is half finished... oh well, we'll just have to see.

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!