The Roof of the Shed

Sorry about the lack of posts here, I guess this posting has been brewing in my mind for a few months now and kept me from posting other stuff. Let me begin with showing our shed as viewed from our second floor during the winter.


The story began last year when we agreed with our (new) neighours that the roof of our adjoining sheds needed work. There were some leaks and even I could tell from a distance that things were getting bad (I also knew that during the eighteen years we live here, we never did anything about that roof). Little did we know how long the work was going to take.

At the beginning of october the first work was done: we added new rain-pipes at the back. The pipes on the front just ended a foot in the ground on some rocks which meant that when it was raining pools would start forming around the shed.


At the back our gardens is an alley on which there is right of way for all houses that border to it. The good thing about it is the sewer that ends excactly behind our sheds, we should be able to connect to it.


You connect to such a sewer using a 'schuifmof'. I never knew that. Fortunately my neighbour and his dad know about this kind of stuff. When finished it looks like this:


After connecting the pipes and putting back the sand and bricks the first stage was complete.


Sooooo... forward two months to december when the new roofing stuff was agreed on, bought or ordered and when everyone had time again. On a thursday we started to break away the old roofing which meant lots of gravel stones and old asphalt to scoop up and bring to the waste disposal site (you have to pay a little because it's 'dirty waste' but it's still cheaper than renting a waste container). We could borrow a big four wheel trailer so a few rides was enough.
(Unfortunately, I had no time and/or had forgotten to make pictures that day.)

Aaaaanyway, we covered the roof as good as we could (with some old tarps) but of course nature chose that night to have one of the heaviest rainfalls of the month. Here's the inside of the shed; almost just as wet as the outside...


Once you have started on a job like this there's no other option than to keep going. So, the next morning (friday) we removed the covering, dried the roof and added new boards on the side.


Then you nail 'spijkerrollen' (nail rolls) on the top. This involves nailing a lot of nails.


After all this it was time to call it a day again so we covered the roof with a new tarpaulin as more rain was underway. The next day (saturday) we were getting to the point when we could attempt to lay the first roofing roll when rain came (again). We covered the roof and had some more coffee. After the shower we had to dry the roof first.


After drying we managed to get one roll on there before we had to cancel and cover things up again. We had to wait until next weekend.


Next week I got sick (no surprise there, remembering all this). But our neighbour's father was just retired and kindly finished the job for us. Here he is with a fellow pensioner (his neighbour) putting on the roofing rolls.


Watching from behind the window, still not able to lend a hand, here he is next day, melting the side pieces in place. Of course we rewarded him with a nice bottle of whiskey.


As you can guess by now, the roof was still not rainproof. The edges still needed to be sealed and in order to do that one needs to have time and it has to be dry (both at the same time). By now it was halfway december so the roof stayed covered for the rest of the winter. And what a winter it was! The coldest and most snow in decades. So here we are at the end of march. With a private swimming pool for ducks on the roof.


Finally in april the weather was good enough and the job was finished. Completely finished? Well, not completely as both sheds still have a bit of leakage. But it's good enough for now and finally the blue tarp is put away.