The last three weeks have rushed by so quickly and we are into August already. We have had a new roof fitted in that time. All did not go well. It all started on Friday 13th June when we went outside to find a fascia board had dropped off the front of the house. Later we noticed a leak in one of the bedrooms.
The people who came to look at it said that the whole roof would have to be replaced, temporary repairs were done in the short term. I'm not really surprised as neighbours either side have had to have replacements over the last year. The houses were built in the early 1970s. We decided to use the same firm as they were good and well recommended.
The scaffolding went up over the 16th and 17th of July and the roofers arrived on Monday 21st July. They started work on one side of the roof and stripped off the old tiles and etc. Two of them went to get some more materials leaving one man. The heavens opened, the rain was harsh, almost like hail. It came through the open roof into the loft, it soaked through the insulation and came out of the light fittings in the bedroom, bathroom and down the stairs. The brave man left on the roof was trying on his own to place batons and put down the membrane to stop the rain coming through. The others came back and secured that side but all had to go home for hot showers and a change of clothing. Day two they arrived early, thank heavens it was dry weather, they worked hard to complete everything.
In the meantime we had the job of drying things out. Some plastering and repainting had to be done. The scaffolding should have been taken down early last week but the scaffolder had to have treatment on his eye which caused him a few problems and his team were not licensed to work without him. They finally came on Saturday to take most of the scaffolding down, working over the weekend to catch up on work missed during the week.
They came back Sunday morning and we left them to it and took all the damp sheep's wool loft insulation to the local household waste and recycling centre and decided we needed a little break so we went to look for more Wallabies on the trail mentioned in my last post.
The Wallaby above is Sam, painted by Nichola Richardson in collaboration with Samaritans, Leek. It's outside Blythe Bridge Community Library.
Woosh, above, is in Cheadle market place, painted by Creative Cheadle/Tudor House.
Above is Vivienne painted by Chris Thompson in collaboration with Westwood College. It's in the grounds of Buxton and Leek College in Leek.
My favourite of these three is Sam.
This sculpture depicts the nature and beauty of the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Curlew
Lapwing
It's raining and windy outside today. I'm glad we had our little break yesterday. At least we are warm and dry under our new roof.
I'll be back with recent reading and perhaps some more Wallabies.
What an ordeal! So sorry you had all that to deal with, Rosie. I know how stressful that can be. We once had to strip our roof like that. I had bought a large plastic tarp to cover the roof overnight. The guys didn't want to use it as no rain was predicted. But they threw it on to humor me, and wouldn't you know we had a downpour in the middle of the night. So rain did get in through the seam in the middle, as the tarp could only cover half the roof at a time so there had to be two sections. But what got in was mild compared to what could have been a real disaster.
ReplyDeleteThank you Granny Sue, it's a good job you insisted on the tarpaulin or things could have been a lot worse. It was fine and warm when the roofers started and of course the tarpaulin was left in the van which had been taken away to collect the other materials, poor man left was really struggling in such heavy rain, knowing that it was coming inside:)
DeleteOh my! That was some 'excitement' you could have done without, and it must have been incredibly stressful for you. Thank goodness it got sorted in time for this latest storm. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Jules, yes I could have done without the rain getting in and the length of time we had the scaffolding across the upstairs windows. Yes, a good job it was all done and dusted before today's bad weather:)
DeleteYou are the second person that I’ve read on blogger re roof repairs! I hope that it all goes well from now on! I love the Wallaby trail! 😁
ReplyDeleteThank you Sal, the Wallabies are great. Keeping my fingers crossed as we are having a new roof on the conservatory in September, this was ordered before we knew about the house roof:)
DeleteOh my, a home repair that did not go as expected can be so stressful. It sounds like the rainfall was quite a downpour. Glad things are being sorted. The wallabies are a great antidote - so cheerful looking.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorrie, we both feel absolutely fazed by it all at the moment. Things are nearly back to normal. It was fun seeking out some of the wallabies on the trail:)
DeleteOf course you would go for the reading Wallabies. Who wouldn't?
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, oh yes, the wallaby with his book of moorland walks was my favourite:)
DeleteOh dear what a time you've had but at least you are finally warm and dry. Poor workmen, what a thing to happen just at the wrong time. Great to see the wallabies looking colourful and no doubt refreshed by the rain! 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK, it has been quite a few weeks but at least the roof is now secure for winter. I felt so sorry for the workmen who had to struggle. The wallabies are cheerful and very popular:)
DeleteOh dear Rosie what a dreadfully stressful time you have had. I am relieved for you that the roof is finished and the scaffolding has finally gone. It must have been good to get out for a short break and see more of those lovely wallabies. I look forward to perhaps seeing more photos of them and hearing what you have been reading.
ReplyDeleteThank you Caroline, I'm hoping to find a few more wallabies over the next couple of weeks, not sure I'll get to them all. Reading mostly crime fiction except an Austen/Knight family one from Gill Hornby - The Elopement. So glad the scaffolding is down we had to put off a visit from my cousins but that was good as the weather was awful on the day they should have come, we'll see them later this month:)
DeleteI think the wallabies are great fun. When I visit Liverpool I enjoy spotting the Superlambananas which are around the city.
ReplyDeleteThank you FD. The Wallabies are great fun, we found two more today. I remember the Superlambananas we saw near the Museum of Liverpool when we visited a few years ago, they too are great fun:)
DeleteOh I’m glad your roof is sorted but what a palava! Love the wallabies:). B x
ReplyDeleteThank you B. At least we now have a new house roof for winter. Next month we are having a new conservatory roof fitted - this was planned before the house roof decided to leak. The wallabies are great, we've now found all but two of them:)
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