So some time has elapsed since I last posted any progress, but I think its fair to say im a fair weather builder! In honesty there is no fun in messing about in the snow so I didn't bother!
Ive also been busy with a job change and lots of other nonsense so heres what ive been up to in the last few weeks.
Some will remember the horrible climbing frame that was left intact in front of the shed, well that is now gone, all the poles dug out with a lump of concrete on the end of each one, lots of work and sweat but got there in the end. There was also about 5 tonnes of soil to flatten that had come out of the soakaway at that location. This first photo is just for comparison as to whats moved...
The plan was to grass it but when my wife suggested some decking I thought that it wasn't a bad idea, its facing a different direction to the patio so between them we should have somewhere to sit in the sun all day long. Last job on the list though.
Ive also done lots of research and planning re a wood burning stove. Its been one of the bits that I am most looking forward to. But I cant afford the thousands that a HETAS install would be, so its going to have to be little old me with a HETAS 'connect up' at the end.
The hole in the roof is the only visual change re the wood burner, but believe me it taken quite a bit of working out to get it right. Ive essentially done none of the actual work but planned it out fully, and given that I am roofing, I needed to cut the hole through the roof and when I lay the slates I will be installing a gasket for the stove pipe in the roof.
Its actually quite difficult to cut a hole in the roof. First one has to work out how big it needs to be. 6 inch twin wall is actually 8 inches across plus clearance from combustibles, and then trying to work out the shape of the oval created when a circle passes through an angled plane.....very difficult; eventually stumbled across a website that would calculate the oval/ellipse for me. Then trying to print it out at 100% on A3 as a template was actually quite complicated, but all done now, and when viewed from directly above is indeed a circle.
I have since framed the hole so its rock solid sturdy enough and the lead flashing with gasket will be supported all around.
The eagle eyed will be able to spy the short piece of twin wall that is poking out of the hole, its old used twin wall that I was considering reusing, but think I will go for new.
Its an interesting dilemma trying to work this out to be planning/regs complaint as far as height goes. 4m total limit to permitted development and part J guidance to be 4m over the height of the stove! (I will work something out
)
Anyway the main event in the offing is the roofing, Ive ordered 700 slates, and 16 ridge caps, a dry ridge system and a load of battening screws and copper clout nails.
The cheeky monkeys sent me 50 odd slates short and a broken ridge cap, so the following day another pallet arrived with the remaining lot after me moaning about it. Joking aside its easy to safely assume that one gets what one ordered but experience has taught me to double check everything, the person at the supplier end promised me that they had been triple counted and that they were all there......its only that given my inexperience with this I may need every one, and I had paid for them.
So first job was waiting for a day with no wind no rain and a mate on hand to help, this didn't materialize so I got on with it on my lonesome. Hard work with a long sheet of membrane, I nearly paraglided off the roof a few times...but with a staple gun and some perseverance I got the first sheet on.
I then started to get the battening on bit by bit. Ive watched every video on youtube that relates to slating a roof, there is a cracking one with a fella from Leicester who makes everything look really easy.
I haven't laid the slate yet, but I'm hoping the complicated bit is done by working out the batten spacing.
I basically worked up from the roof bottom, with a 2 inch overhang into my guttering and a row of eaves slates which I will have to cut myself. You can buy them, as you can slate and a halfs' but the cost starts to spiral. I'm happy cutting them myself. I just might have to take a bit longer. My slate cutter has a handy slate punch also. Its imperative apparently that I punch instead of drill as this apparently leaves a sort of countersink to hide clout nail head.
I previously posted a mock up of a bit of roof with the batten spacings worked out. I took all this apart and remade it with the new slates so that should they be a different size, the spacings were accurate. I then made a couple of templates so I didn't need to measure. From the bottom up one needs a batten for the eaves course, a batten next to it for the first full course and then evenly spaced up to the ridge. The last batten needs to be within 2-3 inches of the ridge. On here will sit the last row of ridge slates. This then means that ones ridge cap will span the distance across the two sides. I need to add a couple of battens on the top of the ridge to support the ridge caps and give something to screw into.
So the battening is finished, on both sides and im happy with it. EXCEPT... I made one major cock up, and I am so frustrated that I did it as it would have been so easy to have got it right. When I was working out the edge detail, so that the battens finish an inch or so back from the edge so as not to blow mortar when wet or similar... I measured an inch back from the edge of the building, but I should have measured an inch back from the edge of the undercloaking!!! So they are all about 2 inches too short. I cant tell you how irritated I was. I know this doesn't sound much of a drama, but im conscious that at the edge there will be some half-slates that are against the edge so ive only got 125mm to nail to the batten that is too short.
Really frustrated... So remedy's welcome. All I can think of is to run a piece of batten along the edge from top to bottom that may just give me enough to put a clout nail into and keep the half slate stable.
Ive since done the undercloaking, and it worked fine, slates snipped in half, and then battens screwed down to hold them tight.
The photos were difficult given the suns position, but can take more when I get time.
So thats where im up to. I need to work out how many battens go on the ridge, work out how far up I need to move the facia's, work out a remedy for the gable edge batten shortage, and then pop the slates on!
I did have one moment of satisfaction, I had to take the corner posts off to cut them to correct length. And I caught sight of this...
Which is not a view ive had before, but shows exactly the spacing I was looking for between the respective boards and the fixing, also the painted end grain....quite sad I know, but satisfying nonetheless!
...time is precious; waste it wisely...