Finishing the roof

In April winter came back from time to time, so there where no weekends to take on another part of the roof. We did some pruning of the apple trees, but nothing major. On April 24th we had a surprise 10 cm of snow, but on May 1st, it was as if a switch was flicked and it seemed like summer.

In shorts and t-shirt Anton, Glenn and me took on the first part of the main roof. Here I had to replace the feather board as well. With the new feather board on it showed that roof had sagged a bit over the past 70 years. Since the construction is otherwise fine, I left it like that and will see if or what I will do about it. At the end of the weekend the first part was done.
This screams even more then before for a fresh coat of paint to compliment the new roof.

The next weekend I spend on some details. Skirting around the chimneys and the finishing strip between the small roof and the house. I always enjoy these type of puzzles and the results are also rewarding. I also added the roof ladder to reach the chimney sweep platform.

The weather was very stable, so another weekend, some more roof work. The last part of the roof around the dormer was more puzzling. It also was a good moment to insulate and finish the dormer with the same wood profile the main house has. Labor intensive so after the weekend it was not done yet and it took a few nights after work to finish the last part of the roof. But when that was done… It looks like a brand new house, well, almost.
We still need to paint. Let’s see when we get to that.

On of the last days of the month I rented a machine to turn all the pruned branches into mulch. A nice day of working on a tan while cleaning up the garden.

Building the porch

During the cold season I had noticed some cooler spots in the floor heating. I figured it had to do with the proximity of the stone foundation, so to improve that one of the next steps would be to insulate the foundation.

Since I wanted to get the back porch ready before winter, it made sense to insulate the foundation under the porch before I would start building it. So I started digging until I found the bottom of the foundation -which sure wasn’t as deep as I had thought- and place the insulation against the stones. The insulation cut surprisingly good on the table saw, so I could put a slight taper on it for the water to easy flow off, though at some point a metal slate might be even better.

With the insulation in place, I was able to build the frame and finish off with the decking. The garden bench of my grandparents fit exactly on the wall side and the barbecue fit nicely on the other side.

Learning to weld the back gate

When we drove out the Volvo to drive it to the Netherlands, I noticed again the side gate is in need of some fixing up. Since it is mainly a welded construction it would need to be welded. As it is something I’d like to learn I checked out a bunch of videos and looked into the tools I would need.

I found out K-Rauta sold a -welding machine for 60 euro after a double discount. I contacted Jeff, as he had told he could teach me some basic welding skills and for this money and this project there was little that could go wrong. So we went shopping at K-Rauta and came home with a welding set.

After trying out some settings, Jeff welded the first beams together to show me how to do it. It is simple and tricky at the same time. After a weekend of trying and welding stuff together the gate opened and closes a lot better then before. But a bit later when it was windy, a few welds did break again. So time for more practice, and by the end of the day the gate stayed up, opened and closed and could be locked.
I learned how to ‘bake’. In a next project I will try to learn how to weld better.

Vacation and finishing things

The biggest part of July we were in Sweden for vacation. There we saw a lot of wooden houses and of course the majority of those houses are painted in Swedish red. But a handful are painted in a soft yellow. Combined with the white details as also seen with the Swedish red, it was a very nice combination. We made several pictures of houses painted that way and were starting to get convinced this would be the colour combination for our house. 

Back in Tallinn the issues with the electrical system were fixed and I also cleaned up the last few wires in a cable duct after which the system was approved.

Next was finishing the construction for the roof over the back porch.

Electrical audit and start of porch

In the beginning of June we visited Ikea, I wanted to check out some curtains and especially the electric ones, as they could be added to the home automation. We found the price of the electric curtains was not worth it, but we did find the very nice Hoppvall cellular pocket curtains that would fit exactly between the windows  in the studio. Because of the air pockets, it has an insulating effect, both against heat and against cold. We also found a nice rainbow coloured mat to replace a pretty worn mat at the backdoor.

Then finally the electrical system and solar panels were tested, so we can finally get some money back for the solar energy produced. It seemed they did not like it that an amateur had done the system, so they were really looking for issues. They only thing they could find was:

  • the switch cabinet was not grounded
  • the main switch and main fuse (which are in the same spot in every house) were not marked as such (I checked several houses afterwards but I have not found any markings).
  • I had made a 5 wire system (3 x phase, Neutral and (own) Earth) while in Estonia they use the 4 wire system, where there is a combined Neutral and Earth. Just a bridge between the two solved that issue.
  • The main switch for the solar system had to be next to the inverter, not in the meter closet, so now I can disconnect the system in two spots. 

All in all, if those were the things they could find, I am pretty proud of myself

To be able to finish the roof over the lower part of the house and the covered veranda/shed, I had to build the veranda outside of the backdoor and replace the window from the covered veranda and put a wall there.

A very nice improvement of the covered veranda, as now finally the ugly stones got covered as well.

Raised beds and a compost bin

As the garden beds in the back of the garden have not been very successful so far, Mo asked if I could build some raised beds. I decided to use new wood for this, so after a visit to Puumarket, I could quickly build 2 raised beds lined with root cloth. They were mostly filled with the compost from the old compost pile with a top layer of peat dirt. Mo planted the first seeds in it and a week later she stained the wood with a yellow lacquer. Meanwhile I replace one of the legs of the picnic table. Now it could finally stand stable without a rock under the rotten leg.

Upon reading the final regulations regarding organic waste, we found out an open compost pile was only allowed for garden waste. Kitchen waste needed to be collected in a bought compost bin. After some online research, we got a simple one that would meet the regulations, it was delivered within a day and easy to assemble. I put it in front of the old shed next to the three stage composter and sent a picture to prove we have a compost bin and do not need a green container with a subscription for having it emptied. 

Garden works

After the snow melted the garden was asking for attention. This season I finally trimmed the apple tree near the well. We decided to give it another chance. The tree looked a bit naked after the trimming, but it sure was in a better shape than before. 

The garden furniture screamed for attention as well, so I sanded down the french bistro set and applied a fresh coat of teak oil. The set looked like new. Next was the bench of my grandparents, amazing how well that wood looked after some sanding and a layer of oil. Absolutely like new. 

We decided to move the compost from the corner of the garden, where it was next to the place the neighbours are sitting to behind the chicken coop. This is partly done because Tallinn had decided to introduce green containers to separate organic waste. An exception would be made for houses who would compost their organic waste.  After some research, the plan was to create a three stage system, again built with old pallets. Since it was getting close to the old shed in the back of the garden, I also improved that a bit. It is far from perfect, but then again, once all the wood that is stored there has been burned, this shed will be removed anyway. The total result of this build again improved the view.

Lots of stuff done

The weather is still good, and I want to have to solar panels on the roof before winter. Partly because this part of the roof still has some leakage at odd times. Besides it would be nice to have them online before January, so I will have a good start of the annual data.
We first took off half of the roof, the part that bordered the neighbors. Here would be normal roofing.
Dressed up in overalls, PF3 masks and gloves we took of the asbestos roof plates. The nails that where used came out surprisingly easy and there where no breakages. This went quicker then expected.
Under the asbestos there was asphalt. To take that off took way more time then anticipated. It seemed nail where free in the Soviet times, they used so many!
When the roof was clean, we placed the vapor barrier and the distance holders. On top of that the horizontal planks and after two days of work this part was ready for the new roof. Another two days later the roof was on and if looked fantastic! The neighbor was also very enthusiastic.

The next weekend I worked on some electrical things for the home automation without very much success and I finally placed the kitchen light in the final position.
Mo found a place that was willing to make a custom extractor hood chimney. In Tartu of all places.

The weather forecast was good again, so we decided to replace the next part of the roof that would hold the solar panels. It was easier because we did not have to work around the dormer, but connecting the panels and routing the wires took more time, so all in all it took another 4 days get the solar panels up. The roof looks absolutely amazing!

Before the winter would come in, I also upgraded the chicken coop with a door to make it easier to get in and out.

Chicken, another kitchen and planting

We finally visited Mo’s sister and her family on Hiiumaa. It has been a great weekend with a big surprise at the end. Mo’s sister gave us two chicken. So suddenly the construction works are moved outside to build a chicken coop. The base will be the old dog house that came with the house. It is great this can be reused as well. With the help of Marc and Mattias it is placed on poles and then the coop is build around it. All was build with materials already laying around the house, made to fit, the only thing we bought was netting to close the coop.

In between I went to return the help by rewiring the kitchen of Glenn and Anton. I had to cut in the concrete wall of their apartment and add wires and power sockets as preparation for their kitchen renovation.

I made a new sill for the studio doorway, as the old one was beyond repair. Nice playing with the table saw again.

Meanwhile Mo prepared the greenhouse for a new season of tomatoes. We learned from last year not to plant to many plants, as the grow big.

The chicken also are settled in and start laying eggs. It is impressive how the plow the ground. Within no time all the grass is gone and they have dug up all kinds of stones and trash.

Some repair work and more Ikea stuff

Fall is taking over summer. With it comes stormy weather. Some of the fences need some attention.

Besides there was another email from Ikea. Finally the pull out fitting for the corner cabinet came in. Installing that turned the cabinet into a useful cabinet where our pots and pans can be kept in an organized manner.

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