COLUMN: 'The roof, the roof, the roof can't be finished cause of all the sh*t weather'

It is a widely accepted fact that I can’t hammer a nail. I can change a light bulb, but it depends on the lightbulb. I bought a bulb recently for one of the lights on the sitting room wall.

But it’s not a dimmer bulb or something and now when I turn the lights down low for ambiance, the new bulb just sits there pulsating and is brighter than the other three for some reason as well.

Something to do with watts. I can bake. I can cook. I clean. I sometimes call my wife the man of the house, she doesn't like it when I say that.

But she’s good at climbing a ladder or hanging a hook for a picture frame. Anyway, so now that I’ve given evidence as to how little I know about DIY, this next part has the required context.

I’ve come to learn over the last six months that building a house, in the early stages of roof and blockwork, is hugely dependent on weather.

Wet weather is bad. Cold weather (freezing temperatures) is bad. So in this country, between September and February, it means you’ll probably have around eight to ten full “building” days.

We endured, like everyone else, a very wet November and December was a bit drier, but it was cold, sub-zero cold. Our blocklayer, a bearded gentleman called Mick Ryan, from Garryhill in Carlow, is a blocklaying genius, but even this miracle man can’t control the weather.

Turns out, laying blocks in the rain is a no-go. The rain can get in on the cement mix and wash it out when it’s wet and basically compromise your wall, I think.

And frost too can cause problems for blocklaying and also cause issues for the walls.

So, when you have a month of rain and a month of a cold snap, you end up with a bit of a half roof on your house in January as we wait to finish the gable ends and their blockwork.

So, instead of having windows in in December and being weatherproof; we only ordered them last week. We still aim to be in for May/June, but as I now know, that’s weather dependent.

For those wondering, we ended up getting our Help to Buy refund after two audits and five or six applications. Fingers crossed we get this project over the line in 2023, we’ve a big New Year’s Eve party planned for the end of the year.

And after Christmas in Boherlahan in 2022, I’ve been told that we’re hosting the next Hassett Christmas dinner on December 25, 2023.

Well, some of the Hassett’s in-laws and out-laws. The Fogartys won’t travel.

We’ve a Christmas and New Year’s party to plan for in eleven months’ time and we’ve no roof yet. And we’re expecting our second baby in March...this year will be busy, weather permitting.