![\"View](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/2016-11-25-at-11-41-03-1.jpg\")
<\/a>View from my\u00a0rooftop workplace.<\/p><\/div>\n
Only\u00a0before I so much as\u00a0pried the top off a can\u00a0of\u00a0Resene paint, I\u00a0thought I’d better check what needed sorting out up there. When the sweep did his big repair to the flue<\/a> he noticed an area near\u00a0the chimney which looked like it might be starting to rust, and pointed out that some of the flashing was, well, not all that\u00a0flash. We also knew from the pre-purchase\u00a0building inspection\u00a0that some of the roof nails needed resetting.<\/p>\n The\u00a0lovely builder who did that pre-purchase inspection\u00a0popped around to have a look\u00a0and confirmed his original findings.\u00a0The roof is\u00a0generally in\u00a0good condition. A\u00a0couple of\u00a0areas\u00a0of surface rust\u00a0were easily\u00a0fixed with rust conversion primer.\u00a0Apart from the flashing replacement, the main work was to replace about 200 old\u00a0spring-head roof nails<\/a>\u00a0which had worked loose over the last 30 years.<\/p>\n After spending part of a day on the roof helping\u00a0the builder I decided that I could take out and replace\u00a0nails with the best of them. I’ve always wanted to do a building course and this seemed like a great chance to learn a few skills. So there I was for a \u00a0couple of\u00a0weeks, sweating, hammering, and\u00a0doing a bit of pop riveting<\/a> in places where there was\u00a0nothing solid to nail into.<\/p>\n After re-nailing, before painting.<\/p><\/div>\n That was late last year, and since then an arm sprain (some people fall on their sword; I fell on my arm), and a busy social calendar<\/a>, kept me off the roof for a while. In the end I was very grateful for the hiatus. All the\u00a0water we use in this\u00a0house\u00a0is collected off the\u00a0roof. Painting said roof requires\u00a0disconnecting the\u00a0guttering before applying paint, and then waiting for a couple of decent downpours to flush\u00a0any nasty chemical residues before starting up collection again. Northland has\u00a0had only two rain events since the end of December, so I’m thankful\u00a0we’ve been\u00a0able to collect all of that\u00a0water. I’m sure otherwise we\u00a0would have either needed to buy\u00a0water<\/a> to refill the tank, or taken to drinking and showering in gin.<\/p>\n As of last week work is back in progress. Having completed the new bridge<\/a>, (bar the decorative flourishes), Deborah and I clambered\u00a0up to wash down and paint the\u00a0first section of roof last Thursday. Yesterday\u00a0I applied the\u00a0second coat. Both house roofs\u00a0are to be the same colour, and after everyone squinting at paint charts we decided on a neutral mid grey. It is a practical colour from a paint longevity\u00a0perspective, and fairly unobtrusive in the landscape. After two coats though\u00a0I am rather\u00a0wishing we’d gone for something more exciting. It might not blend so well into the countryside, but it would make the job so much more enjoyable to be slapping on bright orange or ‘the navy blue of India’<\/a>*.<\/p>\n * I once painted the hallway at our old house lipstick pink which was quite a test for the equanimity\u00a0of the Forbearing Husband. He passed with flying colours.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Due to some unfortunate goings-on with my technology, this post is coming to you from a different and unfamiliar device. Let’s see how we get on shall we? For the last couple of weeks\u00a0my farm workplace has been the roof.… Continue Reading ![\"Roof](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/2016-11-25-at-11-38-00-1.jpg\")
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