Tuesday 22 February 2011

Up on the roof!

If I'm honest it's been a while since I've done any proper roofing (besides sheds and porches) so I was quite keen when I got offered a days work giving a mate a hand to finish putting a roof on. He'd put all of the large trusses on the previous two days, but due to there being a large open plan area in the middle of the house, the central section had to be "cut on" as the large attic trusses couldn't span across this as it would close it in. This would be really difficult on your own as holding and fixing these rafters is nearly impossible without a little help.
We also added a gable over the front door and used diminishing trusses to cut it back into the main roof, this goes on faster than you'd think. Lastly we added the gable ladders so the roof can stick out past the brick work. These were really awkward to fit as we had little to stand on and ended up like a couple of monkeys working across the roof. It was the first time I'd worked with this mate and I was quite impressed with him and the amount he'd managed to do on his own the days before (he's also working with a broken wrist!)
This weeks work has not been so glamours. doing some maintenance work on a school in Sutton Coldfield replacing two rotten "beams" for a company I've not worked for before (although one of my best mates now works there - hence getting the couple of days work). In the end the job wasn't as bad as we thought as the beams were just a 3x2 frame clad in ply, it was tricky not to do any more damage to the old perspex roof but we managed it in two days when the firm we were working for had allowed quite a bit more time than that.
I think the whole lean-to should come down as the rest of it wasn't in a much better state. I really felt for this school, all the buildings were wooden and everything was rotten, you could easily kick your was through a wall if you wanted to.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Avalti looks like you got a dry day for your days roofing .I worked for 18 month's making roof trusses. Making the gable ladders, spandrel panels and cutting and pressing the trusses. I enjoyed it, but a chance to go back to run the sawmill I started work in was too much of a lure. Hope the work keeps coming in Brian:)

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  2. I hope when you made your trusses the gable ladders were better than the ones we were using as ours last week only had one side of the ladder and would fall apart as we carried them across site!
    I think I'd love the process of converting the timber from tree to board, I love going to a timber mill rather than a builders yard.
    Next week I think I'm working with my brother felling trees on a local farm so I'll be getting back to the raw material.

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  3. I like the timber you used in making the roof foundation. It's so smooth and fine. Did you sand that wood to achieve that fine color? What type of shingles will you use for your house?


    Renetta Aper

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  4. Renetta-
    No shingles here in the UK (or not many) this roof was to be tiled. The timber is like that when it comes off the machine as its been regularised so its all the same dimention, its not quite as smooth as it looks, and it will all be hidden beind plasterboard or in the loft so not many people will see it again.
    Thanks for your interest

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