Overhangs, barge boards, fascias and topping out!!

I know, I know we missed a week.... but here we are back in action! 

Lots to report on... when you last left us Mr M had his overhang brackets all lined up and ready to go....

 

So this week we start off with getting them in place... ohhhh it's high up there right?

 

Mr M taking safety seriously and wearing his harness....

But he got them all up with minimal swearing....

Next job was to get the "rafter tails" in place, the reason for these will become clear as we move along....  Rafter tails are big chunky pieces of wood that are bolted to the roof rafters...

And then proceed to stick out from around the house...

 

The fascias are screwed onto the front of the rafter tails (I painted said fascias), and the gaps are where the porches will go, the front porch for the front door and the back porch which will run almost the entire length of the house.



So now that the overhangs are up Mr M was able to start on the roof - wait - What? the roof? yep!

Mr M scored a bargain with some cedar tongue and groove, and with a little help from a friend was able to get it delivered and ready to be installed.  This cedar sits on top of the rafter tails and the overhang brackets, the roof sheathing will sit on top of the cedar and the final roof shingles on top of the sheathing...

 

 

It looks so much better in real life, the roof is starting to take shape...



We actually had a day of rain this week, first day of rain for over 2 months, and with 177,000 acres burning just 50 miles south of us we were grateful for every drop that fell, as Mr M said "other people need it more than we don't", but it was a stark reminder that we are now into September and still not quite water tight.  So being the good wife that I am I mucked in a bit this weekend and did some painting, I am good at painting as you all know.... Today I did some fascias and some of the overhangs above the big dormer, it's high up there donchanknow!

Other jobs that have been completed? well the final set of roof rafters got installed....

And the big dormer walls got built....

Regular inspections have been carried out by the inspectors.... "you know these stairs only just meet code!!"

 

 

We are all excited about the next big milestone soon to be completed, but, we had another big milestone to celebrate this weekend.. now that the final roof rafter is in place we were able to have our "topping out" ceremony.

From Wikipedia.....
"In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. 
The practice of "topping out" a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced in its construction.^[2] Long an important component of timber frame building,^[3] it migrated initially to England and Northern Europe, thence to the Americas.
A tree or leafy branch is placed on the topmost wood or iron beam, often with flags and streamers tied to it. A toast is usually drunk and sometimes workers are treated to a meal. In masonry construction the rite celebrates the bedding of the last block or brick."

So hopefully the tree-dwelling spirits at Wern y Wylan are happy with us and our house, we celebrated by both heading to the top, no toast (do you count a cuppa tea) no meal but a rare "PDA" (Public Display of  Affection") from Mr and Mrs M....

 

Amongst everything else that is going on the world keeps on turning and the veggies still keep growing and the garden continues to fill the harvest basket on a daily basis....

I promise we will be back next week!