Up in the roof

On the 21 March there was a slight disaster involving melting snow drifts inside our roof space. As I say it was only a slight disaster but all the extra insulation and some of the original insulation was thrown out on that day, and will now need replacing.
So today found me back up in the roof, making sure everything is Ok, which it is, and measuring up how much new insulation is required. A grill is also needed for the ventilation hole you see in this image. That lack of a grill is what allowed the snow to blow into the roof space in the first place.
You can see the original insulation here, which is a thick layer of wood shaving. Over the main house (built in 1920), above the ceilings of the upstairs the wood shavings are 30 cm thick. Here, above the staircase which was built as an extension in 1950, the shavings are only 15 cm thick so I'll have to add another layer or two, probably of rock wool or similar.
You can also see the construction methods from that time which can best be described as massive overkill. No matter how much snow lands on this roof it isn't going to collapse. This is reassuring in the winter.
As usual clambering around in that mixture of woodshavings, old rock wool and mouse droppings produced some unseasonable hay fever but I wasn't there too long and the worst of the grubby stuff was thrown out in March so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
The joys of owning a house!