Summer project: Installing the rooflight

We have this proverb in Finnish: Vaikeuksien kautta voittoon (Through difficulties we shall conquer). That pretty much sums up the latest truck project. Instead of painting the container, as we thought we'd do when I last posted in January, we decided to install the rooflight (or hatch) and windows first.

Dometic / Seitz Heki, ordered from Germany.

We had a minor side project during this spring, which delayed our plans for a few months. We bought a building plot, sold our house and moved. That meant we had to move the truck quickly and we ended up moving it to our off-road-guru's yard in Tuusula (40 minutes drive form our new place). Out of sight, out of mind, we concentrated on planning the new house and getting our stuff together in the new place.

We had quite a miserable summer here in terms of weather, but of course it was one of the only hot days when we drove to see the truck and get started. No ventilation or holes - so it was enjoyable. The next two project days were ominously rainy, but miraculously we succeeded in the end without a total heat exhaustion or water on the floor.

So, what happened? First we just assessed the situation and cleaned up a bit (of course this vacant space filled pretty quickly during the move), and got ourselves some new tools.  Then we started by measuring the hole and drilling 12 mm diameter holes in the corners.

 

Then we cut along the lines from corner to corner with a metal sandwich saw blade. We drew the lines on the inside too to be able to check the straightness of the cut.

 A-ha, the clouds!

Then we took off 3 cm of filling out from the sides of the hole to make room for the enforcing wood pieces. The wood we had oiled for better weather proof.

After this we had to leave and let the hatch on the roof to protect the hole. We decided to come back soon to finish the installment. This, turned out, wasn't as easy as we'd hoped...

There is no photographic documentation of this next phase, for an obvious reason. We were being extra careful to avoid any cold bridges and moisture problems, so we decided to add a little bit of sealant behind the wood. Of course it kept on growing and growing and we feared the wooden pieces would come out too much and make it impossible to install the hatch. We tried to install the hatch anyway, but decided against it. After a lot of sweating and good old Finnish cursing, we left the part of the roof we had cut out inside the hole and left, defeated. We had met our first real obstacle, it seemed!

But with the sisu of a true Finn, Riku returned for the fourth time (!), to check on the situation. And it was worth it, he got it installed!

It opens wonderfully, there is a mosquito net and a curtain to keep the light out and it's right where we wanted it, on top of our bed. So Loppu hyvin, kaikki hyvin - all's well that ends well. Next project? We shall see!

- Tiina

And almost everytime I say we, I mean he :)