Shingles - We Have a Roof!

The House From The Road

Well, the house is looking wonderful!! Notice the boy hanging on the pole! :o) Typical boy, as I am taking a picture he decides to climb up the hydro pole! There is one more window that will be on the upper floor where the wall is bare.

It is amazing to me to see how much Ray can get done in such a little amount of time. He is like a machine!!! His crew is Colt (15) and an employee (about 55). We don't usually hire people, but since he had so much work and knew this guy was looking for some parttime work, he hired him for a few months.

He is managing to work fulltime at other jobs - long 12 hour days and yet take Saturdays and Sundays at our house, plus sometimes an extra day off the week, and maybe a few hours in the evenings. It is because of this that he was able to get to the stage we are at in about 3 weeks! Here are some pictures of the house with the shingles on. Unfortunately my camera decided to die during the roofing stages and I do not have pictures showing much.

Oldest Son Working On The Roof

Next week the siding arrives and Ray figures he will get the siding done in September while the plumber and electrician are in the house. I should just mention that since mid June Ray has built three foundations, one tiny house, and two large houses! He has just begun a very large house, that thankfully is located only miles from our house so he can work on both in one day.

So during September Ray will build a house for another customer and spend his weekends and evenings doing the siding. This means that by the end of September we will have the outside finished and the electricals, rough in plumbing, roof, framing all done! This is months ahead of schedule. PLUS he was able to keep working on his regular jobs, so we have not had to pay him for his trades, as we would pay a regular tradesman! We are very blessed!!

Roofing Plywood Arrives and Goes On

Hubby was able to sneak another few days away from work on the 17th of August. After the trusses arrived Ray had to lay the plywood on the roof for the shingles.

The next few days(Friday through Sunday) were spent building the roof. This means he was laying all the plywood on the trusses and creating a surface that he would lay the shingles on. The first day he was able to put up a row or two of plywood.

He then had to have a truck deliver the rest of the order on the Saturday. He had to bring in 90 sheets of plywood. He also had all the roofing shingles delivered at the same time.

Roofing Shingles - 80lb a Bundle

Beginning the Lift

First the lumber arrived in the morning and the forklift had to lift up a pallet of about 30 sheets to the roof.

The Little Lumber Seat

Ray had already created a little seat for them at a 45 degree angle. This was up on the roof, so that he could work from there. After he had used up all of that wood he and Colt would have to haul the rest by hand. Much harder on the body!

I do not like watching them do the roof! There is a reason I bought harnesses! And you know guys.... harnesses? What are they for. Oh, well, mother prevailed.

All day long as we were raking and hauling, raking and hauling, I would have a son say, "Mum, do you know what they are doing up there...." It made them nervous to see them prancing around on this roof as if it were the ground. Unfortunately son #1 has the same dare devil attitude as his dad! Needless, to say, *I* kept my eyes on the ground working rather than stressing myself out! *smile*

Laying the Plywood

Monkey Bars

During our lunch break the boys decided to try out the interior ceiling trusses as monkey bars. It was like a zoo!




By the end of Sunday the roof had its plywood. The roofing shingles would begin being put on the following Saturday, the 26th. The boys bedroom and playroom end of the house would be done later.

Never Try Swimming Alone When You Are Little

Our little guy who was having so much fun learning to swim decided to wander into the deeper water a week or so ago. He told me later he wanted to swim.

Boy, did we all have a fright!!! He hit the drop off and was under and had swallowed water before anyone could get out to him! The scary thing is they say drownings are silent.... well, when we got out there he was not fighting. We could just see the top of his head. Thankfully when I got to him he had on an all over body sun protector swim suit and I was able to grasp his shoulder and haul him up.

When asked later, he said "I tried to get back", and then when he couldn't he just "waited for you to get me mummy"!! Praise God I saw him in time and that he was not further under the water! It only takes a second!! And I was only five feet from the waters edge so I could keep a close eye on them all. But you know, you turn your head to deal with another child...