First of all we would like to apologise for slacking with our updates! Since Christmas we’ve been hard at it working on the removal and now installation of our new roof over the old stable/mill area at the back of the house, and on top of that, we have also been busy with our other work – the sky digital tv installations for all those Brits out here who just can’t live without Big Brother! However, at last I have found time to put fingers to keyboard and update you all on progress.
After a quiet Christmas Day here in Spain with us just lounging around the house, drinking, eating and watching TV, Boxing Day saw the start of work on the roof! As luck would have it the 3/4 weeks after Christmas were lovely and sunny here with clear blue skies and temperatures resembling Spring so we cracked on with removing the old roofs (half was the old tile, wooden beams, mud construction and the other half being corrugated pannels.) It took us 4 weeks to get all the roof off, rubble loaded into yet another massive skip, another ton of sand moved to the house and all the heavy concrete beams up into position. However just when we thought things were going so well the weather changed! Yep – the snow came along with high winds and then rain. The day the wind & snow hit was the day we’d just got the last big beam in place and the polystyrene insulating blocks in place. Hubby was up top desparately trying to get the huge tarpaulin in place to cover the exposed area whilst I was hanging on to the edges trying to stop the wind lifting it off up into the sky like a massive kite! Eventually by 7pm we had it in place (in a fashion) with bricks hanging down from the eyelets on the edges trying to weight it down and stop it taking off. We then went inside and hoped it would be there the next day. The next day arrived still wet and windy but luckily the tarp was still there, however after a couple of days with the wind whiping around it parts of it ended up shredding on the edges of the beams. A little more modification and we had it secured. There are still some gaps so when it rains we get a few leaks but luckily the workshop machinery seems to be under the driest bit on the ground floor. We’re just on the last stage of building up the remaining wall to take the last few small supporting beams and then fingers crossed we’ll be able to get the steel mesh up and start laying the concrete to seal it. However at the moment the weather for this week is not looking good with lots more rain forecast so we may not get around to the concreting until mid February. Oh well, we do what we can and will get there in the end.
Well that’s about all for now folks – keep your fingers crossed the weather doesn’t cause us too many problems and we’ll let you know when the roof is actually finished!
Hasta luego