Stormsail

Pheebs and I paid a visit to the Stoop in Twickenham to watch the Harlequins versus Gloucester match which was very entertaining as there were 7 tries rather than a ping-pong kicking game. Glad we didn’t pay to see any of the England matches this Autumn (although I’d like to go next year!). It was also nice to see the Quins beat Gloucester 35-29 as last time I came they lost to Saracens! It was shame Ed couldn’t make it due but it was good to catch up with Ryan and Liz who I’ve not seen for a long time.

On Monday I got round to doing some work in the loft as I had a day off in lieu from my day job. The aim for the loft project was to board the entire loft and insulate the tunnel which provides light into the bathroom via the Velux window in the roof. The Velux got fitted on the 10th November by G & N roofing who did a good job despite the weather outside. Still, a good supply of tea helps to keep spirits high…….anyway back to the loft. Once the roof light tunnel was insulated I moved into some re-wiring which involved moving the light switch from the old loft access hatch to the new one + fitting an additional florescent tube light. That actually took me an entire two days during a previous weekend but at least I can see a little better up there. With that complete, I was then able to get some loft boards from Wickes and spend some time slotting them together over the rafters to form a decent platform. The idea is to provide some additional insulation, some storage space and a platform to finish the firewall ( I didn’t fancy balancing on the rafters whilst bricklaying…). So, a day later and 200 odd screws (to secure the boards) I finished. I just need to complete the other half and do some bricklaying to completely finish the job. Let’s hope I find some time……

Having spent the week off work, I managed to finish the shed roof in slate which was a remarkable improvement from the corrigated iron roof before. I essentially built a wooden frame on top of the brickwork and then put on some roofing felt. Once that was tacked onto the frame, I then put some battons before laying the slate tiles on top. I managed to cut the tiles using an angle grinder with a brick/tile disk as I couldn’t complete a row with whole tiles. Once the last layer was on it was only a matter of finishing it off with the flashing. For this I cheated and got some cheaper flashing as lead was about £50 for a very small amount. Now, it’s just a question of finding time to build the door…..