Mid-August we got back to the island for three nights. For the second trip in a row the weather was very warm and dry. Too warm at times for any serious work.
On arrival I immediately got stuck into finishing the insulation in the loft.
I had been collecting discarded rigid eps insulation foam from skips for a good while. Initially the plan was to just use it as between the rafters where they met the wall as a barrier and then use sheep wool above that. However, the sheep wool experiment didn’t work out and I ended up collecting plenty of the rigid insulation, so decided to use it for the entire loft roof.
The rafters are all a little wonky so each piece of foam had to be cut and trimmed to fit. A messy job and it was very warm in the loft, but I got it done. Well nearly, I need a bit more foam to finish it.
On the Friday before we picked up our guests we went to Kelly’s to get a half dozen sheets of 6mm ply for the ceiling of the loft.
On the left is the solar system which I moved from the l-parlour to the main room. The compressor fridge is excellent, so much more efficient that the peltier coolbox I had before. You can see some batteries being charged via an inverter (cheaper to buy an inverter than a DeWalt 12v charger!).
To the right is the gas cooker which is very efficient, probably only need to refill the gas every 5 years or so.
On Saturday morning we headed over to a nearby island to check out a deserted cottage we had heard about. It was hard work to find, hidden in the middle of dense thicket. But it was immaculately preserved inside. Very spooky even on a warm summer day.
That afternoon we tackled the roof. Getting the corrugated all the way to the east gable wall and covering it with one sheet of flashing was a big step.
We then put up the rest of the sheets that we had on the north side. A few hours will get the north side covered and the flashing on the gable. Leaving the final task of getting the ridge capping on and adding a good few more screws to the roof in general. A weekend should see the roof finished finished which would be a major, and long anticipated, step!
