Today we topped out on the main roof of Speckled Wood, quite an occasion.We still have some work to go on the link and the verandah to be completely finished, but that should all get completed tommorow.
The last of the cleft shingles went on this morning.
And then it was on to the ridge. We are using what Chris tells me he has decided should be called a pie crust closure on the ridge. We were trying to avoid using any materials other than sweet chestnut, but we needed something a bit more close fitting than our hand cleaved shingles, so some were machined out of chestnut from the woodland you can see in the background of some of these pictures.
The idea is that these sawn shingles run horizontally along the top of the ridge with a slight vertical overlap so that they shed the water without allowing any in. We have also run a small strip of waterproof membrane under them just in case. I realise that description might not make much sense, but hope the pictures give an idea of how it works.
The pie crust ridge worked its way across the building throughout the day with everyone on the team taking a turn. Towards the end of the afternoon Sam nailed the last one on.
We’d had a target of four weeks to finish the roof, and frankly after week one it was looking pretty unlikely. But with lots of hard work from Chris, Sam, the Black Down team, Justin and his crew, our many fantastic volunteers and all those who came along to help out it has all fallen into place. I couldn’t be more chuffed, the roof is a thing of absolute beauty, reptilian in texture it wraps the building and keeps the elements at bay.
There are still a few more shingles to nail onto the verandah roof, but I suspect they will be a pleasure.
