Loft conversion day three - today is the day that the
crane comes.
Note: Sorry this is not a minute-by-minute account today. It's been quite hectic, really...
It was after 7.30pm that Martin turned up, contrary to his promise, which wasn't too troublesome. He got back to clearing out the loft after a long chat to explain how today's main event fit into the overall scheme of things. We need, it seems, three RSJs install to support the new and changed structure of the roof-space. One will be at the apex, holding everything together. One will be under the floor, holding everything up. I didn't quite understand where the third went - just below the escape Velux, I think.
About 12.30pm, one of the loft firm's bosses turned up for the second staged payment. Ouch... Well, my current account balance will look normal again in a few days...
We had a number of stories about when the crane was due. Eventually, everyone settled on 1pm. At 1pm the crane turned up. It spent the next two hours hoisting everything up onto the scaffolding and into the loft space. We watched from outside while the RSJs were being lifted.
Around 2.30pm, the plumber (and mate) turned up - unannounced - for a site visit. This provided an ideal opportunity for everyone to take a tea break. It also proved fortuitous as none of the plumbing materials had been organised! After some last minute changes to accomodate stock levels, we arranged for everything to turn up on Friday.
It's 6.10pm now and they've just stopped making large, metallic clangs. These had been going on for about two hours. Maybe they've nearly finished... (we wish). They're clearing up, at least.
Just before 7pm, Martin said he was off. He then explained his "10 days on, 4 days off" shift pattern. I'm sure it works out 9 & 5 not 10 & 4... He's got another job he needs to put windows in then he'll be with us again next Friday. Unless the windows don't turn up, in which case it'll be a week today. Apart from Friday - when the plumber's bits are coming - we should have some nice normal days for a while! He's replaced all the roof tiles, so we should be safe from weather.