Day 2
Day 2
Donald seems surprised that I’ve managed to get all of the rafters prepared and ready to go but as I explain more about my sleeping arrangements, I think it’s clear the van isn’t quite the luxurious glamping experience I was aiming for!
I’ve managed to get a few hours’ sleep though and after a quick breakfast and a hot brew, it’s time for us to get started and it doesn’t take long before we’re cooking with gas. Lifting the rafters from the ground is giving my arms something of a workout but I’m surprised at how fast the structure of the roof is coming together. Seeing I was happy climbing out onto the acro-propped ceiling joists on day one, I get the job of securing the rafters to the ridge beam. It’s a bit bouncy and stretching up at a funny angle isn’t the most comfortable way of spending your day, but the suns out and it comes along really quickly.
The rafters are pretty-much all in position and secured by 10am when Gary, Rachel’s dad arrives to give us a hand.
Gary seems really impressed at how far it’s come along since his last visit especially as it’s only day two. He’s ready to work though and gets up onto the scaffolding to help with the beam-fill. This is the process of securing not just the wall-plate but between the rafters to keep the distance between them fixed even when the building moves and settles. I start out by putting in too much mortar and not enough ‘fillings’ between the beams so, after being gently re-educated, the rest go a lot more smoothly and it isn’t long before the wall is ready to take the first layer of slate and damp proof membrane by lunchtime.
Interest locally seems to be picking up and we get a lot of visitors throughout the day asking how it’s going, what our plans are and at times mentioning names of neighbours we haven’t yet met which, considering I’m so bad with names is going to be a struggle to remember them all. That’s the sort of detail Rachel would absorb like a sponge, she’s so much better with humans than me!
Luckily, Donald has had the forethought to leave the largest of the slates on the scaffolding so they can be more easily manhandled onto the roof and from there, it’s like trying to put together a patchwork quilt of stone. It’s heavy work as some of these slates are nearly two feet wide, three feet long and two to three inches thick, far heavier than your average roof slate.
By the end of day two, we’ve got a great start and everyone is happy with the progress so far.
I’ve decided to do two days on site before driving home for a shower, change and a hot meal, returning first thing the following morning to do the same again so heading home, knackered, stinking and looking forward to seeing Rachel and the kids, I’m absolutely buzzing.