Tuesday, November 12, 2013

How do you put a slate roof on an old schoolhouse?

One step at a time

The slate was delivered and staged in the yard last August. A slate roof for the old girl.


Green trees and everything. 


Vermont black.


Monday morning. Yesterday.

No green trees.

The white truck has the yellow uprights.

The green truck bed is full to the top with parts to hold them together.

I said hello, but didn't intrude on their space.

They carried on like men with a job to do.


Progress when I left around noon, Monday.


The view down my ravine, leaving for work this morning.

Up to three inches, where squalls set up and persist. (Weather speak for "You may get a lot of this stuff." We're up to three inches now, at one in the afternoon.)


Tuesday morning.


Laying boards on the scaffold levels. That's the end of my expertise.

This is the west side of the building.


Staging scaffolding to the east side of the building.


The slate now.


The snow the men are working in.

Also the view out my office window.


Not bad. Lovely on a summer day.










18 comments:

  1. They can have that job....freezing cold, up high, heavy slate....yikes.

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  2. A slate roof is really expensive. They are great, but I hate to tell you, in 125 years it will only have to be replaced again!

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    1. Actually the slate lasts forever, it's the nails that go bad...they probably make them much better today.

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  3. I didn't know slate roofs were even available these days. I think I still have a pile of slate left over from my Mom's house which was re-roofed (not slate) nearly 50 years ago. There are still old buildings with slate roofs in the area, but not very many. That might be a forgotten art one of these days.

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  4. A slate roof sounds so European. Nothing at all like that around here unless it is for someone with the money to have slate shipped across the country. Looks beautiful!

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  5. Oooh. How beautiful - sad about the timing though. The weather HAS to have made a difficult job even harder.

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  6. I do like a good slate roof but that stuff is deadly in the wet it's so slippery, not a job I would like to be doing.
    Merle.................

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  7. We lived in slate roof country...and knew the slate works around Angers...but it was getting too expensive - mostly cost of labour - so most of the slate being used came up from Spain.
    A roofer friend used to say that the best way to have an accident was to put up or repair a slate roof when conditions were wet...

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  8. It's going to look lovely...once the snow melts.
    Jane x

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  9. Wow that is a lot of building to put in a roof! I'm not sure I would like the working conditions with the snow and being on that scaffolding, got to admire those that like to do that sort of work. Seems a bit early in the season for snow, but I guess it is November. Stay warm :)

    betyt

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  10. I will hope for safe days and going home each night for those workers.

    We had our first snowfall today too. Seems too early for it.

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  11. Magnificent building.
    Snow ! Yours is the first Blog I've seen with snow this year. We had our first frost this morning. It's chilly but bright - lovely x

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  12. Might have made more sense to lay the roof before everything became slippery with frost and snow, but I guess (hope) they know what they are doing.

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  13. they've had the material since August and they waited til mid-November to start...on purpose? and why is there no snow inside the square?

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  14. Looks like a lot of hard work.

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  15. Takes time - you can't rush these things - but an excellent job in progress

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  16. Hari OM
    Oh dear... but how pretty it looks!! YAM xx

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  17. Oh no! You already have snow! So did Chicago. I hope the workers are safe and wear harnesses.

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