Is This Topping Out ?

Work has proceeded on the chimney this week. Here is how it looked on Wednesday :

Notice how the ridgeboard was cut in order to build the stack, and that the rafters now terminate on a horizontal board attached to the side of the chimney. I am not sure whether or not I have mentioned this before, but notice also how the last rafter is inside the cavity. This is standard practice apparently - the idea being to get the last point of roof attachment as close to the outer wall skin as possible.

By Friday, the chimney was complete, resplendent with three new pots :

As this is the highest point of the build, my guess is that this should have been the basis for the traditional "topping out" ceremony. However, the builder did not appear to be a big fan of this particular tradition, so it hasn't happened. Pity really as it is supposed to be the point where evil spirits are driven from the new building. I guess we will have to live with them, or drive them out ourselves !

In order to fit the chimney pots in, one of the scaffold poles holding the big tin roof together had to have a section cut out of it. Hopefully it won't be weakened too much !

A start has also been made on constructing a plywood base for the lead valleys between the gables and the main roof. There are 4 of these that need to be completed prior to felt and battening. One of them is complete :

I am not sure how these are going to work yet. There is a plank on each slope, that meet at an obtuse angle. On the outer edge of both planks is nailed a parallel batten, which will presumably meet with the horizontal felting battens. Let's hope I am around when the next stage is constructed. I will be surprised if the lead is simply moulded into this vee shape. I am sure lead valleys that I have seen before are not like this. Time will tell...

Of course, we also had more stone chipping and laying going on throughout the week. As I have said before, this is a slow process, but there is not too much more to do now.