I needed to clear up the house. It was a complete mess. Having finished work in the dark last night, I was exhausted. I managed to pack a few things and make some dinner (Cassoulet … for ease). At this point an early start was more appealing than clearing up in the evening.
The morning’s jobs included tiling the dormer ridge and tiling over the tin to complete the roof’s cover. None of this should have been difficult – bar dragging the tiles up.
At 5am I put the coffee on and went back to bed. I manage to haul myself up by 5:30 and started to clear up as best I could. At first light I needed to get out onto the roof and finish the tiles. I started heaving bundles of tiles, adding to the stacks left ready the night before. The sky was clear, but the sun too low to dry the tin to allow me to walk on it.
I managed to tile out the dormer and add a batten at the top of the tin on the unfinished side. From this I hung a row of tiles and finished off the with the ridge tiles, all screwed down.
A few bits of batten later and I could tile over on the main roof to create an overlap with the tin. The roof was then sealed and looked solid. Finally I nailed the old tin ridge on and all was finished. Snow proof, rain proof.
Back on the ground I rushed about as best I could clearing up inside and out. I took some eggs and surplus food to Gilbert down the road. It was on the way back that I realised I hadn’t fixed the plastic sheet into the front of the dormer. At that point I knew I was short of time. Whilst repeatedly recalculating the latest departure time, I screwed battens up to hold the sheet whilst I wobbled atop the ladder. I finished the job in time and was soon in the car.
I arrived at the airport with 8 minutes to spare. But, the job was done.