Garage post script

Now that I've replaced the guttering with lovely new stuff (because the old stuff was all floppy about the joints, having been been brutally abused with a file by whoever put it up) and got rid of the old roof, I'm declaring the garage roof project finished!  It's certainly nice and dry inside so that's a win.

New guttering!

Getting rid of the old roof proved even more expensive that expected, because I didn't see the same chap at the tip, and they basically make up their own interpretation of the rules.  This chap insisted that "£10 per package or sheet" meant "£10 per package; unless it contains more than one sheet, in which case the number of sheets", unlike the first chap who said the only constraint on a £10 package was that you had to be able to get it in the skip yourself.  Anyway, they decided to charge me £65 for 7 1/2 sheets in 4 packages, plus one bag of rubble.  Go figure, as our American cousins might say.

So now all the numbers are in and it looks like this:

actual roof material!	£210.00
tools (bolt cropper)	£9.99
trailer hire	£70.80
plastic film to wrap old roof	£53.75
sealant & foam	£12.63
J-bolts	£22.82
magic paint	£15.99
guttering	£27.11
old roof disposal	£65.00
fuel	£11.90
Total	£499.99

So, under £500 all in. Hoorah! OK, I admit that I estimated the fuel cost. Overall, I think I saved quite a lot of money over getting someone else to do it though.

And I've also got a left-over 5m x 1m piece of roof material to use to make the insulated box for the solar water heating project, which has been collecting scrap materials for several years now, to the quiet despair of the lovely Jackie, who would really prefer NOT to have such stuff (specifically, two used radiators and a double-glazed patio door, and more recently a slightly leaky water butt) littering the estate.

Left over, but still loved

Progress on the project been slightly hampered by the fact that there's really absolutely no point in doing it (see loft hatch automation), since I can't really imagine installing a tank in the loft and integrating it with the multipoint heater we use - not even sure if that's legal, you never know with plumbing these days - but I suppose it could possibly provide a warm paddling pool for Layla.  Or possibly a Legionnaires' disease incubator. Hmmm.

Meanwhile I am running again (when it's not actually raining). Nowadays I have a pair of bluetooth earbuds (super-cheap from 7-day shop) and sporty leggings (£6.99 from Ebay) under the shorts for winter weather.  I still listen to banging psy-trance, but not running in time with it - which seems to work OK, and there's more musical choice if you don't need >160bpm (which is where I run now). My last run was over my new 5km course in 34:47, for what it's worth.

Still waiting for consistently dry weather for some other projects in the pipeline - the van needs some attention, for example.  It currently produces a small cloud of vapour from the back heater vent when it gets hot, which is quite distressing.  Sometime it flashes the thermometer symbol on the dashboard when it isn't hot, and sometimes it doesn't. So, there's a bit of work to be done there...

And there are many, many more tasks in store. I know, you can hardly wait. Me neither!