Normally, when a contractor says they will be somewhere on a certain day at a certain time, they are late. However, due to a change in a job for ours, he called in the morning and asked if it was okay to start our patio area. It was meant to be a beach day, but since I am the labourer who carries heavy things while the contractor does the real work, instead of laying on the beach by the lake, I have been carrying pavers and shovelling gravel n the sticky heat.
The girls went to the beach.
As the thunder and lightning is right overhead now (no rain yet at least), the contractor took the opportunity to head home for lunch and will come back later. This gives me the chance to write a little and let the sweat slowly dry. Most Finnish homes are not air-conditioned, and our home is like most Finnish homes. When it gets warm outside for a few days, it gets warm and uncomfortable inside - but it really is only for a few days of the year, so it isn't worth worrying too much about.
Sleeping isn't as pleasant though.
I have never built or been part of building a patio before, so it is going to be interesting to see how they do it here. It is a little different than in many other places I guess, since the ground has to be prepared to ensure it doesn't move in the extreme changes in temperature and warp the decking. Underneath this square is insulating foam to stop it from freezing and moving, but it doesn't extend all the way, as we had originally planned a smaller deck. I think it will be okay, but time will tell.
It is because of the prep work that we are only doing half the patio this year, and hopefully next year we will do the rest, which will be a landing at the bottom of the front door stairs, and a pathway that extends and connects up to the main area. The additional challenge with the path is that the snow falls off the roof and hits around that area, so we are going to have to make sure there is a fair amount of reinforcement, since the roof is large, high - and the snow can be incredibly heavy. We also don't have the "snow breaker" bars on this roof to separate it before it hits the ground. All new homes have them, but ours is so old and, we need a new roof at some point.
Sounds cheap.
The wood we have bought is a treated wood that should withstand the elements for some time. Normally, they just use the treated wood in green or brown, but it has to be oiled every year. We have instead gone with a different one called "kivipuu" which translates as stone wood, but it isn't about the hardness, though I think it is a slightly harder wood. It has been treated with something that turns it a greyish colour over time and looks like stone. But the best part is, it doesn't need to be oiled (supposedly), just brushed with a stiff broom occasionally.
It will look a bit weird for a season or two when we do the next instalment.
While it is hard work today for me, we will take a few days off and the tradie will work alone until Thursday, and then I will join in again. Hopefully, a lot of it is done by then, but I actually don't mind this kind of mindless work. It gives me time to not think about anything of consequence, or important things if I choose. And, it has the satisfaction of seeing what is accomplished as the work gets done. Even shovelling the gravel was somewhat enjoyable.
But now, the contractor is back from lunch and it is time for the grunt (me) to get back to work, and lift heavy things.
Taraz
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