Since my last post at the beginning of June, Devon has had more wet weather than anyone can remember.  One result of this is that progress on the build has been (much) slower than we had hoped.

The Roof

At the time of the last post, the groundworkers had done (just) enough to permit the scaffolders to do their work, and for the frame to be completed. What we had then was a shell with a nearly-weatherproof roof, covered with felt and battens.  The most significant piece of progress on this front was getting most of the roof tiles on.

Even this seemed to take for ever, as the rain kept the roofers from working, and water dripped into the house through the incomplete roof.  The ridge tiles and some tiles around the (still to be built) chimney remain to be fixed, but the roof is now pretty much watertight, though this did rely on Mark (handyman, UFH installer) taking his life in his hands one wet day to put the ridge tiles temporarily in place.  This seems to have dealt with water leaks around two of the Velux roof windows.

Finishing the Velux windows was a saga in its own right, taking 3 goes to get the right flashings.  They are now fitted, and look good.

Groundworks

The groundworks (still) go on.  Again, the weather didn’t help, but excavation of the space under the garage was next

followed by the construction of still more retaining wall, and the formation of a (nuclear weapons-proof) bunker under the garage base.

Finally, the construction of the simpler retaining walls that bound the driveway, and the steps to the front door.

There are still more groundworks to do, but they will have to wait for the removal of the scaffolding.