Starting Up Again!

Since we have just adored doing the construction, it was obviously time to do more! Just kidding. But we had a problem that the lintel over the master bedroom was degraded (it's pietra serena, which is essentially sandstone...not a great building material for exteriors) and funneling water into the master bedroom. We had known this from early on, and had planned to do two phases in the construction in order to spread things out a little bit.

In typical give-a-mouse-a-cookie style,

If you want to repair the lintel, you'll need scaffolding.

If you're putting up scaffolding, chance are you'll want to repoint the mortar joints in the entire facade

AND

since you already have the scaffolding, you'll want to extend it a bit higher so you can retile the roof.

If you're retiling the roof, you'll want to put in insulation.

The facade we're talking about is on an alley, which meant that we have to have "flying" scaffolding. This is the most fun ever! We had to close the road for two days (only during work hours, though, so anything blocking the alley had to be moved outside of those hours), and they had the most wonderful large-scale erector-set!

To install the scaffolding, they had to erect temporary freestanding scaffolding from which they could drill into our walls and install anchors. The anchors were then used to attache the floating scaffolds from which they will do the work when they (finally!) get started. The scaffolding alone has taken three days so far, two of which have involved a complete road (alley) closure.

Warnings in Piazza Jacopone that the alley would be closed

First morning, from my bedroom window

Temporary freestanding scaffolding
 from which to anchor the floating scaffolding

From the downhill side of the alley

Pieces and parts!

Second layer of the temporary scaffolding

Second morning, from our bedroom

Getting higher!

Now we're disconnected!