A self build house project diary
by Oliver Cannell

Main roof structure is all done and looking great

It really is a work of art - it's almost a shame to hide it behind plasterboard and insulation.

There have been a lot of man-hours put into the making of the roof structure so far, and I'm sure there will be a whole lot more to come. The outcome is looking fantastic!

There are approximately 50 trusses along the rear roof section and probably 30 or so along the front section. This gives it plenty of strength to support the weight of the all the roofing materials (boarding, insulation, rubber membrane)... as well as the sedum layer in the future and any snow loading which might fall in the winter.

It's only a bungalow, which means the roof is much lower than for a normal house, but the guys still have to be very careful when moving around on top - although they seem to do it without any issues and certainly withouth any fear of heights. But I still I don't think I'd like to be up there lifting trusses and joists into position and hammering large nails into chunking sections of timber, no matter how much I love the smell of wood.

Timber preservation

You might notice there is a slight green hue to some of the timbers in the roof - especially in the knots you can see on the porch detail. This is the wood preservative, which has been used to help protect it from damp and ultimately rot, and should mean the timber lasts a lot longer. The green colouring occurs due to the combination of ingredients which include copper. This type of timber, is referred to as being "Tanalised".

Next entry: Boarding out and insulating the roof (Friday 7th November 2014)

Previous entry: Time for some timber (Friday 10th October 2014)

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