The scaffolding is down!!

At last!! We can now see what the barn looks like without the scaffolding that was hiding it for the last couple years. Now it is time to hang rain gutters, and windows, a door and repoint. Don't hold your breath...We still have to work so we can get the ££ to make the improvements! But first, we have to stop the mice from chewing on the Tyvek from underneath the slates!

A minor distraction...

A new addition to our family, Siarli, took a while to settle in the Welsh mountains, as he originates from the East Anglian flat lands. A touch of separation anxiety was evident when we were working on the peak of the roof... he did not like being left on the ground! Hence his new found climbing skills came to the fore!

Sadly, our original builder's helper, Haf, succumbed to a nasty cancer... he has been buried in his beloved mountains not far from his favourite building site. What fond memories we are left with!

The ridge is on the horizon!

It has been a very long and difficult job getting the last couple of rows in place. We are having to cut slates to fit as there are not many left to choose from. The question is, will we run out of reclaimed slates before we finish? According to our calculations, we will just have enough!

Fitting around the roof light and stove pipe has been tricky as well. The next challenge is....how do we balance buckets of mortar on the ridge so we can secure the ridge tiles?



A debate has begun on what job will be next....rebuild the pig sty? repoint? install new windows and door? One thing it will not be for quite a while is slating a diminishing course roof!

Rooflights and rain

We ordered the only rooflight we could find to fit between the peak and the purlin. It has to be used as an emergency escape hatch, so must be a 'top hung' design. It will have to do, even though a fairly wide person would have to turn sideways to get through it!

The moment the hole was cut in the Tyvek, the rain came down. There was no stopping us now. I had waited over a year to get to this point so was not planning on stopping because of a little rain.

The window fitted perfectly into the framed area of the rafters, thanks to the husband's careful planning and the friendly voices on the other end of Velux's technical support line.

It was secured into place and then caught the strength of the north-easterly wind and hail that night. It proved to be very watertight even before we could finish slating around it. It is amazing how

much light is let in from such a small window.

Our dog has found a way to get up on the scaffolding. He collected all the scrap wood and kept it safe! The Health and Safety Exec would not be pleased!

Working at the Peak!

More slates have been re-positioned to make the whole roof lie flatter. Amazingly, the barn stayed dry and all the slates stayed intact during the 8 weeks of crazy Welsh mountain weather.





A friend visiting from Washington state came up for the weekend and helped lug the slates up to the peak. It is so wonderful having extra help as it keeps the momentum going. I myself am too short to be able to push the slates up to the top.

The front side is just about finished. A builder friend was surprised that none of the slates had to be cut to fit. We had painstakingly measure each slate and put them is piles that equalled the length of the roof. The attention to that detail paid off.

Wild, Wet, Windy, Welsh Wales

It has been an unusually wet and windy December in North Wales. Or should we say wetter and windier than usual!

We tried to work on the barn but the wind (at 50mph) was knocking us off our feet. So we felt it was best to weigh ourselves down...with rocks. The dry stone wall surrounding the barn was nearly finished and only needed the coping stones laid into place. So we lugged them out of the field in the fierce wind and finished the wall.





Our dog 'Haf' found it a bit easier going, staying naturally low to the ground!

The extreme weather did not let up until February, making the whole project slow down to a halt!

The upper courses

As autumn comes to a close....

Laying slates has begun again in ernest. The top courses are proving to be a challenge for many reasons. First they are awfully heavy to push up the sloping roof one by one. We don't want to slide a load up all at once as we are concerned that the stack could damage the ones already in place. As this type of roof does not lay as flat as a modern version, it is easy to chip off the corner of a slate.

Secondly, they don't seem to be fitting in place as easily as the lower courses. At one point it took 4 hours to fit 9 slates! Tedious!

It is now becoming evident that the new roof still maintains the quirky bulges that the old roof had. This will be because the original beams and purlins were not replaced. The Building regs inspector has asked for a few to be re-positioned as they tip up when the weight of the upper courses sit on them. Trying not to be discouraged by how long this is taking.

We have left the original wooden pegs in some of them, so that the next owner can find them and 'read' the story of this building. My time capsule is now well imbedded under the slate within the eaves and walls. I hope that in 50 years or more, the next owner will marvel at the contents....including an electicity bill from 2006.

There has also been another clear out of the garden around the barn and cottage before winter sets in. A chance to stock up on firewood and make the place look somewhat presentable again.

Taking a break

August -

Family descended from the four corners of the earth for a summer holiday. Time was spent at the seaside and basking in the glorious Welsh sun. So the roof remained unchanged for most of the summer apart from a couple days when the temperature was cooler when I did some multitasking - sunbathing and slating at once.

I also went on a course at Ty Mawr, in the Brecon Beacons, to learn how to use lime in repointing, plastering and lime washing. See, http://www.lime.org.uk/

It was a fascinating and informative time for me. I hope the use of lime products will allow this poor old building to breathe. Years of having concrete thrown at it have made it sweat and has contributed to the moisture problem inside.

I took along a sample of the old mortar to have it analysed and matched to make the new pointing blend in better.