The weather yesterday was appalling, but unbelievably the roofers continued to work throughout the day. At one point, we thought we might lose all of the felt off the roof however the roofers managed to batten in all down. Later in the afternoon, the wind subsided. By the end of the day, they had installed all of the Veluxes in the back of the property. But they even managed to put a couple of courses of stone slates on the roof. Amazing.
Category: roof (Page 2 of 7)
We have started putting the stone slates on the front elevation of the extension. These are reclaimed stone slates that we bought a few weeks ago. They have been stored off site until we need them.
To be able to install the bi-folding doors this Saturday, we need to make sure that the scaffolding has been dismantled on the front of the extension. With any luck (mainly weather permitting) we should finish slating this elevation tomorrow. This will leave us with Friday to dismantle the scaffolding.
The rooflights were installed today. There are three sets. Two in the lounge and one in the kitchen. Each set is identical. 5 panes 600mm wide. Originally, we were going to install 6 panes 500mm, but this increase the amount of frame in the unit and reduced the amount of glass. 5 panes 600mm wide was about the same price as 6 panes 500mm wide.
Each set has two openers. These are electrically operated. The electrical unit has to be the ugliest thing ever. And the rocker switches that came with it are even worse! I am less worried by the switches as we will use the Loxone system to control the opening and closing of these windows. This means that when we set the alarm, the windows can be closed automatically. The motor units are more of a problem. I thought there were covers to go on them, but alas no – they are meant to look like this!
The installation was very quick – around 2 hours to get all three banks of rooflights installed. The frames and the glass are shipped separately and the team from Standard Patent Glazing assemble them on site. Unfortunately, one of the panes bumped into the scaffold when being brought into the extension. When it comes to glass versus scaffold, the scaffold is always going to win. The broken unit has been fitted temporarily, but a new unit has been ordered and should be installed next week.
Progress has been made today on putting the roof on the new extension. Although only partly felted, at least the rear and part of the front of the extension is now covered. We need to sort out the kitchen roof before this can be felted, but that will happen in the next day or two.
All of the major beams are now in place and so are most of the spars. The spars in the kitchen roof are still to be done, but this will be done this week as the roofers are due in the next couple of days.
You can see the roof in the previous photos, but here are some close-ups taken from the scaffold.
Over the past 2-3 weeks, we have made significant progress on the extension.
The main roof beams are in, as are most of the roof spars. Almost all of the ashlar stone surrounds are in place – particularly the really large pieces. Most of the block work is up and the external stone work is catching up. The roof will start to go on next week. Exciting times.
We have had a couple of fine days already this week and that means that most of the roof spars have been installed. This is a bit of a slow job since there are so many rooflights – standard patent glazing in the lounge and kitchen (together with electric openers) and pairs of Veluxes elsewhere. There are a total of 6 pairs of Velux windows to be installed throughout the extension.
Most of the oak beams are now in place in the roof of the extension. There is still some work to be done on the valleys (where the two roofs of the extension meet). However, there was a bit of confusion about how this was meant to be built. The upshot was that a piece of oak timber was missed off the order and we now need to wait for it to be delivered next week.
In the meantime, we have pushed ahead with adding the spars to the rest of the roof.
I have been on a course this week (the Loxone training course – more later) which has meant that I haven’t been on site much. With so much going on, it is a meant of a shame not to be here, but the training course has been a welcome break. I do go first thing in the morning (once it is light!). There is little point in going in the evenings as it is dark by the time I get back.
This week the builders have been concentrating on getting the roof up with the hope that we can get it covered over early next week. However, it is a constant battle with the weather at the moment. Even so, they are making good progress.
The roof is relatively complex as you can see from the architects diagram and notes. However, it all seems to be going according to plan.
All three trusses are now in position. The purlins between the trusses have been installed and the “free ends” have been propped up in position while the blockwork is built up to support them. Hopefully all the major woodwork for the roof will be in place by the end of the week.
This should be a fairly simple task given that we know that the pieces already fit together. However, the sheer weight of the oak pieces plus the fact that this is now being done off scaffolding while it is raining, just makes the job a little more challenging.
However, by the close of play on Friday, two out of three of the trusses has been assembled. The third truss (the one in the kitchen) will be assembled on Monday morning.