Can something be 'felted' or has the roof been 'felt' and battened? I know Womble loves his job but I don't want to confuse anyone about what he was doing while he was up on the roof. He certainly wasn't feeling the roof although he may have been feeling the cold. Anyway the roof is now covered with a breathable membrane which probably isn't even called felt anymore (so I'm not sure what I'm worried about) and the membrane has been secured with battens.
Anyone still paying attention who is knowledgeable about roofing will know that fixing the battens means we've decided which slates to use. Yes Brazilian, Sally is not too happy with the Brazilian as they look a little too trimmed and tidy and she prefers the natural English variety. The main argument against going for a Brazilian is obviously the pain that is involved... indeed, the pain of all those miles that the slates have traveled. While it does gnaw slightly at my conscience we have to remember that these slates will last a lifetime and the house is going to have an extremely small carbon running cost. Eventually the slates will weather and we'll be able to absorb the carbon costs through the running of the house and the planting of trees. In short... Sally please forgive me for not finding suitable Cornish slates in time.
Our solar thermal panel has arrived and fitting has been re-scheduled from today to Monday when the wind will be less severe. The coast is getting battered by a big swell with wind and rain and the solar panel can act as a 2m wide sail when up on a roof so there is a degree of understanding that the installers needed to re-schedule for Monday.
Structural timbers for the front door and patio doors are arriving on Tuesday next week. This means that we can complete the extension of the main roof and fit the new slates. In the mean time Stuart, Dave and Womble are doing the stud-work on the the first floor so we're starting to get a better idea of room sizes and locations.
Speaking of trees, we've applied for a grant as part of the Woodland Trust's MOREwoods scheme. Basically we agree to plant 2.5acres of trees and look after them while they grant us around 50% of the cost. Thank you Katie & Mark for putting us on to this.
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/plant-trees/plant-a-wood/Pages/morewoods.aspx
