Day 132 - 135. Tiling, Lenny the Lead, Electrics, Parging Pug and EDF Trench

Busy few days on site.....Lots of vans. Lots of BarnBoys.  

BarnGirl and Inspector Walt arrived on site, to find the drive full of vehicles and the barn full of men: Neil and team tiling, Mark and Sean wiring for lights and general electrics, Lenny the lead 'dressing' the flat roof canopy with hand-beaten lead and Boss Jon, Matt, Tim and Shepherd Howard digging a trench nearby, in preparation for Power Networks.

'You can have any colour van you like, as long as it's silver'

Finishing off on the north

Lenny the Lead

Bottom's up. Lenny the Lead man and Danny applying lead to the canopy of the recessed porch

Rolls of lead. They weigh a ton!

'Roll and Drip' lead work on the flat roof canopy

Electrical plans. Sean and Mark make a start on the wire maze

Wires and cables here, there and everywhere

Electrician Mark

Tinted parging cement. Do I go for blond, light or dark grey?

Neil and Ging(?) tiling the South side

patch left for arrival of Solar Slate tiles

Air vent for slates

Roof wing man Danny

Boss Jon, Matt and Tim prepare trench for EDF cable

Ugh. Soil is SO wet, the EDF trench is collapsing.
Going to need to lay a pipe for EDF cable to run through

Sorry Tim, we can see you!

On to the next......after I've delivered a large lemon sponge cake, layered with cream and lemon filling.
Love
BarnGirl
xx

Day 131 - Roof Tiling Begins

The sun finally came out and roofer Neil was able to work in the dry for a change.  With the slates all stacked and ready on the North elevation, Neil spent the day tap, tap, tapping copper nails through the prepared holes, carefully positioning the slates along the batons.  

Apparently, copper nails don't react with slate, as other metals can, causing a 'rust' which bleeds down the tile. No thanks.

Roofer Neil makes hay.....and tiles m'roof

North upperdeck

Small slates for the ends of rows, where a tile and half is required because of the weird roof dimensions

Slate Cutter. 'This is not a toy'

Canopy of the porch awaiting Lenny the Lead

Wow. BarnGirl has a quarter of a roof tiled!

Batons on the sunny South. Do I see roof lights too?

If you're wondering what's going on along the open section of the South Elevation, it's the BarnBoys knocking up a temporary hoarding, to protect the inside of the South Elevation from further rainfall.  The weather forecast is horrendous, with another severe storm expected. So, the decision was made to close up what will be glass sliding doors....assuming the company supplying them sort out their tardiness!

Roof lights are in. Yes, I thought 'lights' were things with a bulb too

Boss Jon, are you sure this is temporary?

Makita Convention

A mighty fine temporary hoarding structure. It had better rain after all this!

Closing up the South Elevation, complete with Hobbit door

 

A storm? Really?!

I'm off the check on the weather forecast. ANOTHER storm? Surely not!  
Love
BarnGirl
xx

Day 129 - Roof Slates Arrive

Thank you Huuuuuw, from Wales, for sending Barn Girl's slates on time and in good condition. We won't mention that the courier delivering them took out a bit of hedge and a lot of fence at the end of the drive.

BarnGirl chose the Prima Ultra grade, which, in the slate world, basically means 'first dibs' ie first in the quarry to cut out the best grade possible, with as few pyrites* as possible.  

See what you think?

 

Meanwhile, the BarnBoys worked on the inside, preparing hundreds of mini batons to put in between the rafters. I think this is to create a pocket of air between the Tyvek on the roof and the very thick insulation to be cut n stuffed in the gaps created by the rafters.

 

The 'John Friedas' are back to blow-dry the walls after all the rain.

On to the next......

Love 
BarnGirl
xx


If you're interested.....

*Pyrites

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide. This mineral's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold hence the well-known nickname of fool's gold. The color has also led to the nicknames brass, brazzle, and Brazil, primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal. 

Tiles made of natural slate have been used extensively throughout the UK. They offer a relatively light, impermeable roof covering, that readily sheds water with a very traditional appearance. 

Roofing slates come in a wide range of colours that are mainly blues, greys, blacks and greens. The colour and texture is a reflection of the natural origin of the slate and varies from deposit to deposit and also within individual quarries. Similarly the quality of the tiles can vary substantially.

Recently there has been an increase in the interest of the presence of pyrite within slates. Pyrite (FeS₂) is a mineral that can occur naturally in slates. Weathering of pyrite can result in the formation of iron oxide causing unsightly rust stains on the surfaces of tiles and runoff water or degradation due to expansive oxidation of pyrite.