July 26th - Velux

We were joined on site today by the usual random gaggle of kids - who spent the day making a boat from a pallet and OSB offcuts, and also by nephew Mick, a builder from Wiltshire on strict instrustions from his missus not to work, as he's trying to sort out a bad back.
A full consignment of velux rooflights arrived from Rembrand Timber in the morning, and once we'd lugged them down onto the plot (where the driver was unwilling to drive), I set about fitting the five in the north side of the house. Melvin was doing sterling work installing the last couple of rows of sarking on this pitch, having to work from a ladder, which slowed the process enormously and made it a frustrating and pretty tiring day for him. In typical fashion, though, he stuck at it without a breath of complaint and remained cheerful throughout, and fitted the last board around 5pm. Mal was working on the east gable wall and framing up the window in the south-east bedroom, where I've done away with the "waterfall window" and opted instead for a standard velux rooflight and a small window in the wall. Mick pottered about making encouraging noises, cutting the odd timber to order and offering valuable titbits of advice.
Fitting the velux into pre-framed apertures was a very rewarding exercise. Progress is rapid and the results very nice to look at. The five frames went in in an hour or two (slowed a bit by one slightly undersized hole that need planing and jigsawing.)
Having installed all the frames I could then fit the breathable membrane around them. The last act of the day was to fit the windows in the frames with Mal.
The result was a dramatically different back of the house, as the photos show.

Velux & membrane 260707