Thursday 16 July 2009

The Roof: Episode III

So with the physical structure of the roof in place it was time to get fibreglassing.

We'd got all the matting and resin and everything ages ago but due to a series of events, including moving the boat to central london and then having a major rethink of how we were going to do the roof, we had never actually started the fibreglassing process. This was actually great as it meant that we hadn't fibreglassed the roof and then wished we had insulated it first.

So we got outour matting etc.

and started laying it on the panels, a laborious and time consuming process. On the first day we got two panels done and then gel coated (which protects them from UV light and provides the final finish that we wanted),


and while Lorna was out (it's a two man job) i also finished insulating inside the central walkway.


But then, after days and days of sunshine, the weather broke, the clouds gathered, the sky went dark and the rains fell




It was frustrating to not be able to continue making everything watertight, after so much planning and preparation, but we had sealed all the joins in the roof with flashing tape, the OSB coped really really well with the water and didn't swell or fall apart, and with a couple of long sessions whenever there WAS a break in the weather long enough for the roof to dry out, including a night time work session until midnight lit by one of my photography lights,


we continued to make progress and get more and more panels fibreglassed and then gel coated.


It's finally coming together...

6 comments:

IsmilebecauseIhavenoideawhatsgoingon said...

Bit late I know, but epoxy rather than polyester is waterproof right from the off, therefore doesn't require gel coat palaver. Worked for me. If you wanna fry yer heid, seek out "The gougeon brothers on boat construction using west system epoxy" at your local library.

Melissa Fehr Trade said...

very impressive! if you guys ever need it, you're more than welcome to borrow our giant halogen work light...

rob said...

What a really great and neat job.Such energy and entheusiasm?

Anonymous said...

It all looks great - I like the chalk line idea.

Kasserina said...

Looking great! The flash-head lighting is familiar too, Simon's Hansels and my redheads used to be our main sources or working lights.

Hope all well with you both,

Take care, Kass.

IsmilebecauseIhavenoideawhatsgoingon said...

Hi Steve and Lorna

My computer has recently developed a severe attitude problem, one consequence of which being that I no longer have an e-mail address for you. Please could you send me a brief message at sebpattenden aT hotmail DoT com when you've got a mo? then I can get in touch regarding something or other which may be interesting...

Nice one, hope things are going well.

Seb. Wendyann2