It's Swallowing Timber! Priory Progress Report

 

 "It's swallowed half a forest!" That was the verdict of one of our volunteers while being shown the progress in our attic conversion. We had thought that this week would see the remaining two Velux windows go in and the plastboarding started but, as it turns out, the job of strengthening the roof is taking longer than expected.

As you can see here, almost every single one of the old rafters has needed a new one putting in at its side. Meanwhile, triangular supports inserted at the apex of the roof add strength which the old ridge board couldn't provide. With the flitch beams already in place, these final improvements are what has allowed us to take out the old purlins in this room, gaining us the vital extra space to make this a set of really useful extra rooms.

Another glimpse of the amount of new wood that's gone in this week can be seen in the structure of the stud walls, which have also come on leaps and bounds. Surely, these are NOW ready for the plastboard and panelling we've got lined up? We really are looking forward to showing you when that gets done, because everything will suddenly come together at that stage.

Even in our picture through from the room where the final work on the roof is still to be done (George is actually on this job as we write you this report), you can see yet more new wood. As you probably know, softwood like this isn't the most expensive material on the building site, but it is all properly pressure-treated, and the sheer amount of it going in means it all adds up.

Plus, of course, while George is very sympathetic and great value, he also has to be paid. Of course, we help carry all the new material up there, and take all the old rubbish out, but it costs money to keep this project moving forward.