Friday, November 22, 2013

"A slate roof is a piece of art." John 11-22

It rained all day yesterday. It's raining all day today. The tapping on the roof just goes on and on. Occasionally I pass a cheerful young man in the hall way. "Oh, it's not bad," in response to my sympathy for the weather.


Unremitting cheerfulness. I hear them in the halls. (The walls and floors of the brick school house are brick. There is no private conversation in a hall.) "Hey, Dude." (They call each other Dude.) "Warm crappers!"


Green baseball cap hasn't been on the job for days. The "dudes" up there all wave at me when I come out with my camera.


John here is the foreman of the shingles. He joined me on the sidewalk after this load went up. "You guys sure are singing in the rain up there," I observed. John grinned. This is his slate team. "We're in the groove." He tells me how slate is laid, how the nail holes from the copper flashing are protected from water, how the tacks go in....."


I don't get any of it; I'm just the smiling fool with the camera. "Yea," John said. "A slate roof is a piece of art."


"Thanks for coming out to admire it again. Excuse me now, Joanne, I have to send another load up now."




24 comments:

  1. Nice to see young folks cheerful while doing a job.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've noticed that about construction dudes, too - they are so cheerful! Maybe it's a requirement for the job.

    My husband would love to be there to figure out what they're doing, how they're doing it, and how to replicate it if he ever needed to :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is going to be beautiful. Thank you for the various updates. We have the impression that it is all happening next door!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How satisfying to be able to point to the roof and say ,"I did that".
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have the impression these men live for slate jobs, which are infrequent. In between, it's just shingles.

      Delete
    2. I think you nailed it. No pun intended.

      Delete
  5. The dudes are doing a fantastic job

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is amazing! For one who prefers being on the ground, I am proud of anyone who climbs around like that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "They call each other Dude."

    Dude, that's an awesome line. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful. And I am certain that your appreciation puts a smile in their hearts too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. From what I can see from your photos, John is right. That slate roof is looking superb. Skilled roofers are amazing. I'm really enjoying your posts on the project.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We are having our nearly 100 year old picture window replaced on Monday. I sincerely hope that our workers are as cheerful and hardworking as yours!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is nice to see such a great attitude through the rain and inclement weather. Soon it looks like the work will be finished. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is great. I love to watch things like this in progress.

    ReplyDelete
  13. It looks like you are making some new friends, Joanne. Yes, there is nothing like a slate roof.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It looks beautiful! Not nearly as daunting, but i thought of when we were replacing our kitchen flooring at the other house. I wanted a dark blue and white checkerboard, which i couldn't find anywhere, so settled for dark blue tiles and cream tiles. The crew of two showed up to do the job, and the one guy told me he hadn't seen his coworker so happy in months. The other coworker said that so many people just pick sheet lino or hardwood, that to get a chance to play with the tiles was great. We loved how it turned out.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are an honorary " Dude " Joanne !

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hari OM
    "excuse me Joanne..." - respect!!!! This is a delightful story to track and it is already looking good.

    This may be my last visit before landing in UK so do have a great week and I expect to be reading about completion by next weekend!!! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. That must be a really strong, heavy roof and yes, a work of art! I'm sure they appreciate your appreciating their hard work.

    ReplyDelete
  18. "a slate roof is a piece of art"
    Yes it is, done properly as this one clearly is, a slate roof is a beautiful work of art.
    It's nice they're such a friendly bunch, explaining their process, waving and smiling, appreciating the warm crappers.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love slate roofs!! Roofing always looks like such hard work, especially in summer.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy slate roofers are good slate roofers. Unless they’re happy because they’re slacking off, which wasn’t the case for these guys. And it does look amazing by just going with the pictures. Hopefully the rain won’t affect their finished work. Have a good one!

    Kent @ Knox’s

    ReplyDelete
  21. I think the weather just didn't want to cooperate with your roofing project, Joanne. Good thing these roofers managed to finish the task amidst the harsh weather. Well, the slate roof is, indeed, a piece of art. And they definitely did a great job with their artwork! :)

    Toby Almy @ TittleBrothers

    ReplyDelete