Today I’m back on the rear extension roof with Steve, and I’ve got my eldest boy Kai on site as well—proper proud moment. We’re cracking on with battens for the tile spacing, loading out tiles, and getting the fiddly stuff done that always gets put off. One of those is the cross braces: they’re there to stop the roof racking, and you can’t just leave them on a couple of screws. I drill through and clamp them up with coach bolts because building regs are building regs—do it once, do it right. The main focus is the awkward valley area and getting it properly layered so water’s always got somewhere to go. We’re thinking like water: breathable membrane, DPC tucked under, then code 4 lead dressed into a trough, all worked from the lowest point upwards. I show how I cut lead without wrecking it (it’s mental money, so mistakes hurt), and we patination-oil it to stop that white crusty staining you see on naff leadwork. We also make the call to get it watertight first—because underneath is the kitchen and I’m not flooding someone’s house for the sake of rushing. Plus, a new bit of kit turns up: a Milwaukee battery cut-off saw, which makes cutting tiles a lot less painful (and a lot less noisy than running a petrol saw all day).