The main supporting structure finally is finished now. All the welding to prepare roof installation is done and all the steel got an anticorrosion coating.
A hard job. We only work about five hours a day because of the tremendous high temperatures. Many times wearing a safety harness with a line to secure (that does not make working very easy but still) and climbing up and down the ladders many times a day. The work asked for some creativity to reach all places. Happy, already for around forty years I can make use of my Dutch Altrex stepladder.
Last week I thought I felt rain on the back of my work shirt. I was wrong. It was sweat dripping from my head into my welding helmet and on my back. And also my shirt and trousers are wet all through after around thirty minutes working with thick clothes and long leather gloves.
After weeks of this hot and sweating work I am really in to do something else again than welding. Happy the time for that is there now although the next few weeks the temperatures will not only rise even more but also the humidity will be higher. Sauna work is waiting again for several months.
Still we have to do some welding to create and finish the downstairs veranda and the lower sunroof/screens. Not sure yet when that will be. Maybe beginning next year.
Tomorrow morning only some small repairs and after that 'shopping' for new construction materials again.
The next day I want to strengthen some connections between the steel base and load bearing wall in the center of the house. Just to be sure the weight of the roof spreads equally over the walls finally to the foundation. For that I will use general purpose hydraulic grout.
First we need to buy the roof moldings. We will prepare and paint them downstairs. After that we have to install them at the steel roof beam ends. Before we can do this we have to rent extra scaffoldings and platforms. The moldings are too heavy and we cannot install them with stepladders. I already have two sets of scaffoldings but we need at least four sets more for about one month to create the ability to work safe at around 6 meters high.
We already bought the first amount of galvanized (SCG) battens but need more of them in some weeks.
The Green Jadeite, SCG, Excella Classic ceramic rooftiles, a collection of round ridges and fittings are already waiting one year at our land. We ordered them more than a year ago because of expected high rising prices.
The first rains and (thunder)storms will arrive soon. We hope the rooftiles are installed before the real rainy season starts (around May).
But still... no hurry. We have to listen to our bodies first. Today we installed a new water cooler (the old one I repaired several times but could not do anymore) and we also have plenty of sport (isotone) drinks to keep our bodies ongoing hydrated.
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