Bruce has done a fair bit of work in the few days since I was last here. He’s installed the beams for the new room and added purlins and rafter brackets and screwed in carriage bolts to make things more secure. More to be added next week. Enough to withstand a hurricane and a mega earthquake. This new part of the house should hold the rest of the house up in anything short of a flaming meteorite strike. Bruce says that over the past few years there’s been a vast increase in the requirements for various reinforcements, steel strappings, fastenings, etc. Though he says he’s always used a lot of strapping to keep roofs in place in this windy environment.

As well as the beams and reinforcement work, Bruce has started to build the roof in its new angle above the roof covering the existing lean-to part of the house. Only temporary at this stage, but the photos below give the idea. He’s recycled the relative new roofing iron that was already there.

The perfect time to finish this work would be now, while the weather looks calm and settled for several days, but first the electrician needs to put cables through the roof area and that can’t be until next Monday. So Bruce did a small amount of work today (Friday), then went off to a maintenance job at the Martinborough Hotel.

The dining room end of the new room, showing the beams in place. Liz and I will be staining and polyurethaning them.

The building inspector.

View from the west

Rafter brackets.

Chino’s playground has been further enhanced.

Watching Chino climbing into the roof cavity is scary because he could easily fall three metres onto concrete. We’ve decided that next weekend we’ll staple builder’s paper everywhere so hopefully he’s not tempted to climb around. And his rafter perambulations may be completely restricted if Bruce gets all the roofing iron on, as expected. Here’s an example of Chino’s climbing. He finds it much easier to climb up than get down again. We rescued him several times.

Bruce and Chino are great buddies, but sometimes Chino gets in the way.

But who can stay mad at Chino for long? Certainly not Bruce.

Later in the weekend…me painting rafters and purlins on the north-facing verandah, so Bruce can put the corrugated iron roof on in the coming week. I had to do this nearly all the way across the north side of the house, as well as above the eastern decking. Three coats plus stopping holes and sanding has had me up on a ladder for the best part of two weekends.  Tiring work and I decided I’m too old for that sort of thing. Unfortunately over the next couple of months there will be plenty more painting, at both of our houses. The outrigger plank florward of my painting hand will be cut flush with the side rafter.

#*