So week two of putting on the new roof… It has been going well, but very slow at times. Most of the time has been spent cleaning up all the debris from the roof and floor. I did not realize how much there was until we actually had to get rid of it all. It has taken about 4 days and 15 truck loads full but we are almost there. I would say one more day and it will all be gone.

So the three guys have spent most of their time bagging up all the ruble and cleaning the bricks from the roof – not fun jobs at all but they needed to be done. It is a bit of a pain as big trucks are not allowed to enter the Colonial Zone so I have a local with a truck taking it out. I have so much caoba from the roof beams I have already started planning what I can use it for.

The bricks that the guys are cleaning were the ones we saved from the original roof, its a big job cleaning them all (around 2500) but I want to keep them for two reasons; one, I want the roof to look as original as possible and the bricks are probably hundreds of years old so they have a good antique look to them and second of all is the cost, as I found out yesterday bricks are not cheap here. So it works out cheaper to get the guys to clean the old ones up.

Its been an up and down week on the downside we have had a couple of rainy days which really holds you up as no work can be done, its typical, as soon as I take of the roof it rains – hasn’t rained like this for months but we will battle on through it. I have also learnt a lesson not to buy cheap tools – definitely a false economy, I bought a angle grinder 4 days ago, it was a heavy duty one but a Chinese own brand one, yep you guessed it three days later the thing breaks, no warranty! I will get it repaired but decided I would bite the bullet and get a Dewalt one, expensive but a lot better quality. That was an extra unexpected cost but I am sure there will be a few more.

One the good side the property does not look like a bomb has hit it anymore. We are almost clear of all the debris and Rudolfo has been hard at work making the beams. We have enough for one side of the roof – so just 12 more to go! He will be seeing beams in his sleep!
So I was all excited about moving on with the roof but then we had a little problem to solve… How do we get the beams up on the roof. Now I am 200 pounds and these things weigh a lot more than me. We tried to get them up on to the back balcony first but we got one up and it almost killed us to do so and that was only half way up.

I have to say Rudolfo is very clever, he built ramps and different levels so we could get them up the side of the house. Luckily next doors property is empty so he built a wooden structure on top of their roof so we can lift the beam in stages.
So it was the end of the week (they are starting to go buy very quickly). We have about 6 beams up and I nailed the slats on today so we have a secure footing up on the roof.

So next week I am hoping to have all the beams and slates up ready for building up the walls and placing the bricks ready to pour the cement on top of the roof. Thats if the rain holds off…
I also need to go and buy all the wood for the floor on Monday which I am not looking forward to as it is so expensive. We have to the get the treated wood as I don’t want it to get eaten by termites. My time scales are all messed up but I am hoping roof and floor are done in three more weeks as I need to get moving on the other areas.