The Icing on The Cake

In the two weeks since the last post, not only has the weather been yet again so kind (and as always that makes life in a caravan so bearable) but that old agricultural hanger we bought is now finally starting to look like a home.

We knew that the next big push was to be the gables, and as this was one area that I knew I had badly detailed on the drawings we have been looking at every gable we pass in the car to get ideas. Originally we had agreed with Dave that curved detail on the projecting timbers (that I now know to be the purlins) should be curved, but Kate and I had a lovely Sunday walk around Biddenham with Andrew looking at all the details there. I firmly warmed to a protruding diamond style, with a smaller one to the top, and Kate being the diplomat she is let me have my own way. The lads built up the blockwork for the gables up to the top of the trusses (a real task and a half), and I made up the purlins for them to set in to it, and Dave and J then cut and set the ends of the gables onto which the final barge-boards sit. Dave and J have been hand cutting all the 'loose timbers' that form the supports for the glazed lightwells and to support the slates opposite the lightwells.
The blockwork gable with unfinished purlins.

Gable one blocked up, with the ends ready to be matchboarded.

Kate cutting the matchboarding.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the last few weeks is that now Dave is nearing completion on the hard elements (brick and block, lintels etc) there is far more carpentry going on, and that means far more jobs we can help out with. As ever Dave seems quite happy to run through how and why each element needs to be done, and how and when he wants us to do our bits.

We spent a great weekend putting up the matchboarding on the first gable, Kate cutting all 100 odd pieces, and when Seamus and Cathy popped in to see us, rather than wanting to stop us, they both mucked in and helped finish the whole thing.

Seamus fixing the last of the matchboarding.

Alas when Troy showed up on the Monday he said that we weren't ready for him, whether we were or not the lads really got the bit between their teeth and worked up the three remaining blockwork gables, and Dave and J did all the timber work. Alas this week there were more than a few false starts, and I was really beginning to think I was about to be let down, but this has all been forgotten with the results of just two days of roofing. Troy and his slater Mark felted the first roof on day one, and today has been an absolute joy to see the slates going up. We thought they looked good in the pallets, but up on the roof they are a revelation. They look absolutely fabulous, everybody has been walking round with a smile on their faces.

The first batch of slates (at dusk) I'll get a better picture in the morning.
Another truly good bit of fortune is that we have managed to get the cast iron effect conservation rainwater goods that I was so desperate to have, but at a price that really wasn't a great deal more than conventional rainwater goods. Despite much haggling our end supplier couldn't negotiate sufficient discount for it to work out to a point that would have been fair and equatable to Paul and Cathy. In a strange twist of fate I got an email last week from a guy called Richard White who I'd spoken to last year about conservation pipes, simply saying 'Sorry to bother you Rob, do you still want me to quote on your gutters' Indeed I did, when he gave me a few metre rates I knew it was game on. This is great news for everyone. Dave and co. have spent all these months shaping the building with so much care, its seems only right to use these type of materials to finish.

Another good piece of news is that Tony from DTM recommended a trade timber contact who has quoted our oak cladding at £6/m less than anyone else, which is nearly a £600 saving, which will help to offset overruns on other items.

Another view of the slates.

Solar: adj. Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from the sun.

I'll have to add the text later, but suffice to say, thanks to Harvey the solar panels went up with a lot less hassle than expected. The instructions were absolutely dire, almost all the flashing screws were missing and the picture references were not consistent to the parts in the boxes we unpacked, but by mid-afternoon we had them in place.

Its forward march with gables, rafters and all the decorative timbers so Troy (who we've had to put back a week, alas) can start on Monday.

And then there was a roof (of sorts)

Again the weather has been quite fantastic this week. It didn't take Dave and the boys long to get Tom's trusses and the family bathroom ones up on Tuesday, plus strapping those up ready for the crane on Wednesday. We can't believe how tall our ceilings are, after the compromise we had to make downstairs. Tom's ceiling is a revelation, the fact that his vault runs the lenth of his room, (rather than across as with ours) give the most cathedral like effect.

You can see Tom's ceiling on the left.

Come Wednesday Malcolm and his crane turned up. I could see why he was so cheap. His crane looked like it was on its way to a historical vehicle rally. However, appearances are deceptive, and one by one he dropped each truss down with perfect precision.

I'm afraid a couple of my shoes were not in the right place, but by and large the rest seemed spot on. If they weren't Daves been too polite to say otherwise. If we were pleased with our ceilings on Tuesday, seeing our bedroom ceiling was even better. We'd asked Stuart, the truss designer to make our bedroom ceiling as high as possible, by placing more trusses of bigger overall timber size at closer centres he's managed to get a much greater vault. Kate and I are delighted with the result.

This image clearly shows the height of the vault in our room, and behind the quite respectable height of the other ceilings.

Friday saw the resumption of blockwork to bring the gables up to the top of the trusses, and Troy came over to felt the area where the solar panels are to go. Its my intention to try and get the solar panels up on Saturday, and long term colleague Harvey is coming over to assist. I say assist, the instructions that come with the solar kit are far from helpful, so I'm hoping his lateral thinking will come in handy.

A view from the rear, showing the roof end-on. If you look back in the blog, I feel that these steeper pitches are far more flattering than the original.

Swallows, Cuckoos and Nearly A Roof

This week the weather has sprung the most wonderful surprise, it has been unseasonably warm, with sunshine from dawn until dusk. To our delight we've had the company of the swallows for the last couple of weeks, and as suburbanites its the sound you expect to hear on holiday, not every time you step out the door. Especially in the warmth of the evening.

By Friday Dave and crew had put up all of Paul's trusses, and suddenly the barn looks huge (especially from the A47, its great to see the barn now as you come down Wardley Hill, especially as the trees behind are now in leaf).

The only catch it seems is that whilst the lads have successfully put up all of Paul's trusses, (except two that are too heavy to manhandle) each one had an average weight of 27kg. Because we have chosen to have vaulted roofs our trusses are made from much larger timbers, with the single trusses weighing in at 87kg and the huge ones that edge the light-well nearly 300kg they are hardly safe to manhandle. When they arrived 7 of us had trouble moving the large ones around the yard. 'We'll need a crane' said Dave. At first I thought, 'more costs' but it looks like if we do get a crane in we can cut the erection time by a couple of days which is actually a nett saving of some £500 and more importantly for all of us buys us extra time in getting the roof ready for Troy to slate. I rang around all the nearest crane operators until I came across Malcolm who at £280 was by far the best value, and have booked him for Wednesday.

Further to this, as all my trusses sit on a plate and shoe system it means that I could spend the weekend working out the shoe positions and nailing them myself, which again helps to gain a little time toward getting ready for Troy next week.

The shoes went on quite successfully (but we'll have to see just how well when the crane turns up!) and it was great to spend a bank holiday weekend on the barn again. Come Tuesday the lads spent little time getting Tom's roof up and fixing all the strappings to the wall plate.