MAYHEM

It has been windy in Sydney over the last few days. I don't like the wind...no, not at all - not since the 'ridgebeam' incident...

...the winds typically come in the month of August. With a ferocity, they scream across the valley with nothing to slow them before they slam into my house which sits atop a ridge.
I have built this house with my very own hands - and with no power tools. It has an enormous cathedral ceiling, all crafted from oregon timber, the rafters stained and varnished. It really does look very nice and I feel an amount of satisfaction.

Anyway, the ridgebeam incident occurred on one such windy night; the wind blew with a force that threatened to lift the house like Dorothy's from that much loved film, The Wizard of Oz. The very floor shifted under my feet an inch or so - it was an anxious time.

Ridge beam refers to the large beam of timber running the length of the roof and to which the tops of the rafters are fixed (usually nailed). Myself and an associate had struggled on ricketty ladder and hastily constructed platform (that swayed and trembled under the weight of man and beam), to hoist this 7 metre long, 150 by 75 mm beam into place. This in itself was so 'playing with fire' that if Workcover had have witnessed us using such inadequate safety gear, i.e. none, they would've locked us up for our own good. Step by step, I, with my end of the heavy beam on my shoulder mounted the steps of the ladder which bent and flexed under the weight also.
Anway, to cut a long one short, we were successful with the installation, and the beam was in place supported by four rafters (120 by 47mm - big lumps of timber).
Feeling secure that nothing short of a gale would even begin to shift the significant amount of nails, and with night time closing in, I retired to the living room.

To be followed shortly by the aforementioned gale. As I sat in the room, the veritable ground under my feet began to shake. The howl as the wind raced through the timbers was like something from your average horror movie. I sat and freaked out, trying my best to relax, (unsuccessfully I might add).
The gale hammered the building as it attempted to force it from its foundations and just when I had decided that my work was going to survive, there was a tremendous blast of a gust, follwed by a large bang.
I heard it, and I knew something disastrous had occurred, but as it was still blowing like hell, I figured there was nothing I could do til the wind abated and daylight prevailed. So I went to bed that night troubled - just knowing I was to awake to destruction.

And I was right!

What I feared had occured; the force of (God, some would maintain) had somehow separated the supporting rafters from the large beam - one end of which subsequently fell to earth like an enormous pendulum.
And everything it hit - it destroyed. The scene that faced me the next morning was one of mayhem. The two supporting rafters on the eastern side had shattered - and I mean shattered. One may assume the wind with its buffeting had loosened the nails and the beam under the force had slipped their grasp. No. What had happened and in an indication of the sheer power of the gale, was that the rafters - had snapped in half, four spears remained, the splintered wood testament to the awesome power of mother nature.
The brunt of the damage was taken by my bay window which was rammed apart from the main wall to which it was fixed. I had to use a threaded bar to realign the window the next day, after setting up once again, the test of mountain goat sureness of balance that constituted my shakey ladder was once again called upon.
Anyway, I replaced the fallen ridgebeam and to this day it sits in place with the entire roof now holding it there. The wind has blown since but the structure seems sound now.

No no - I don't like the wind!