Thursday, January 18, 2018

Lifting the Roof - Again

A week ago they came to lift the roof onto the house under construction next door to us.  If you remember, they built the roof at ground level (on the foundation) and lifted it off to build the walls.

I thought I heard a noisier truck than usual, so I poked my head out and there was the crane, just getting set up - here with it's front end entirely off the ground.
It took them about 6 hours.  They started with this big piece that had been sitting beside our driveway.

And on it goes.

Then they moved to the other large piece that had been sitting in the back yard.  Up it went.

Very strange to look up at a moving roof over your head!

But at this point the wind was fairly fierce across the golf course behind us.  Take a close look at the angle of that chunk of roof.

It swung back and forth a couple of times, and I heard a resounding 'crunch' as it bumped.  The builder later told me that was no problem.  Took a little trouble to fit that piece in though.

But at length they got it in place.

The last smaller piece had been parked down the street on a vacant lot.  Not every day you look out and see a roof driving down your street.

They swung it more or less right over my head, but got it in place before it got totally dark.  I had a video of that, but it's too large for Blogger to handle.  But once I try to load it, apparently I can't delete it.



Bu the end of the afternoon, although it was almost dark, the roof was on the house.  As you can see, they leave gaps to allow for fitting, and for stringing the cables used to lift it.  Today it's all finished off and they're starting the shingling.  Must be cold for these guys at this time of year!

That's the last of the roof lifting and the big crane that I'm going to show you.  It's been fascinating to me to watch this way of building the roof on a house!

16 comments:

  1. Yes, it is a fascinating project and you told the story well! Thanks for the great pictures. :-)

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  2. That is an amazing process. I have never heard of it before but it all does make sense. I am anxious to see if some of those gaps will be filled in. I guess the shingles would make it too heave and they would have to weave in shingles to get a good seal.

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  3. I think I would be out there all day watching like you were! Amazing!

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  4. Having done a fair bit of roofing in an earlier life I wouldn't want to shingle on a snowy, perhaps icy, roof -- and I wouldn't want my house shingled with a bit of snow and ice beneath the shingles. Yes, it would melt, but the shingles might not lay flat and they might not seal down before the winds of March begin.

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  5. amazing to watch and document the way that you did!!

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  6. Wow, what a way to have the roof fitted. Well done to all those brave men in that cold, and the wind.

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  7. Such an interesting process and so unusual!

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  8. What an interesting way to bio;d s house, nice that they can finish it up that way.

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  9. Hello, it is amazing how fast houses go up. Especially in the winter months. Happy Friday, enjoy your day and weekend!

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  10. I love seeing your title in my blogger feed...haha...furry gnome

    I've written a fantasy series about gnomes who visit from the ethereal...ogres are my fav characters though :)

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  11. That is definitely a more accurate way of building Roofs. The cost of that crane must be high but if it offsets labour costs it must be worth it.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  12. Amazing they work in this weather. They deserve their paychecks!!

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  13. This whole process seems pretty strange to me. Certainly interesting.

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