Asking for help is something most of us are disinclined to do. This is largely because we, incorrectly, view the inability to carry on alone as a weakness. Yet, there are plenty of tasks that are simply easier, and lighter, when shared. Such as renovating a house.

We were lucky to have many extra pairs of hands over these last few tasks, helping both with larger and smaller jobs. My best friend Becky stopped in for several days on her way to Scotland, and offered help with work. Over her weekend stay this included finally clearing the ivy off the outside of the house, a task that had been right at the start of our planner but we still hadn’t gotten round to, taking more plaster off the internal walls, and sorting more slates into piles ready to return to the roof.

For myself and Chris, our work focused on getting the house ready to receive the new steel purlins. This included several evenings filling in the stonework around the padstones, and moving a section of scaffolding.

How to go about installing the purlins was something we had discussed and debated several times. The weight of each steel is 150kg, significant enough that we doubted we could lift them between the two of us, let alone bring them up to the top of the scaffolding and into the roof.

It was pure luck that our neighbour introduced himself to us as a farmer and roofer. After hearing he had a machine that could possibly help lift our purlins into place we asked him if he would be willing to let us rent it. Unfortunately, it turned out this machinery was on loan and shortly heading back to its owners. However, he kindly offered to lift our purlin up onto the scaffolding with his tractor, at no cost.

With this generous offer of help, and the extra muscle of Chris’s brother Rich, we felt we might actually have a chance of completing the work without death or disaster.

The evening came when everything was ready and in place to begin. Watching the large steel purlin being lifted up on the forks of the tractor it was surprising how light and delicate they looked. Placing them up onto the specially erected scaffolding was the relatively easy part of the job. I must admit, of the four people heaving the purlin into place, I was definitely the least useful… but I still wasn’t useless. Many hands make light work.

Our first task was to post the purlin through the opening into the loft. Next we had to thread it passed the central wall into the second loft space. This required a fair bit of chisling and manuvering to achieve. Finally we had to get it sitting across the two opposite padstones. Moving it into place within the loft wasn’t without its difficulties. With four people squashed into a space where you couldn’t stand up, and can only place your feet on certain beams without falling through the ceiling, while trying to muster the strength to heave a heavy beam about the place, was certainly no easy feat.

Finally, we managed to get the beam securely resting, only to have to head out and do the whole thing all over again. It was a relief when both were done. This certainly was the most difficult and technical aspect of our whole renovation project. There’s simply no way we could have done it without the extra help, and particularly not without the kindness of our neighbour.

Once in place more work was needed to raise up the rafters that had sunken down without the support of the old purlins. For Chris, this meant at hot and taxing day wedging rafters with pieces of wood, while slowly shimmying the purlins into place. Once everything was better aligned Chris cut bird mouths (notches out of the wood) into the rafters to allow them to sit on the purlin itself.

Though there is a long way to go with the roof, having completed this aspect of the work we have finally got to the heart of the problem, reinforcing the rafters with a new and stable resting point. With this done we can finally build back a better, stronger roof. Hopefully one that will last us a long way in to the future.