Evicted!!

With the last of the roof sheeting being removed today, we said goodbye to a number of church 'residents.' The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat (Brachyphylla cavernarum) have for years now (judging by the thick layer of guano they left in the ceiling) been living in the roof of our beloved Cathedral. 

Brachyphylla cavernarum in action

These creatures have on occaision intruded in services, especially night and early morning ones, and buzzed and dive bombed the congregation.  But these intrusions were rare and not the greater of their many sins.  Their greatest? They are not toilet trained!  And while we are sure that our Heavenly Father created them for a special and unique purpose, defecating in His holy house cannot be one of them.  Maybe He just likes to keep us on our toes or He has an incredible sense of humour.  Thank You God. 

So farewell winged creatures and please, .....please, ......please find lodging elsewhere.  We will be doing our best to ensure you cannot get back in. 

A face that God loves?

A joke that the contractor shared with me was that he had a dream that when we removed the first sheet from the roof a swarm of bats would exit through that hole and blot out the sky over St. John's.  We had a good laugh over it but I am sure both he and I were a little apprehensive today.

Bat swarm

View of St. John's harbour from the Cathedral

Whew! No swarm today.  Thank You God!

Roof Works - Sheeting removal

We have begun to demolish the remainder of the roof.  The metal roof sheeting over the transcept has been removed.  The transcept is the portion of the Cathedral that forms the 'arms' of its cruciform floor plan.  It runs north to south for this cathedral.

Radiant Barriers

Radiant barriers or reflective barriers inhibit heat transfer by thermal radiation. Thermal energy may also be transferred via conduction or convection, however, and radiant barriers do not necessarily protect against heat transfer via conduction or convection.

Construction

Solar energy is absorbed by a roof, heating the roof sheathing and causing the underside of the sheathing and the roof framing to radiate heat downward toward the attic floor. When a radiant barrier is placed directly underneath the roofing material incorporating an air gap, much of the heat radiated from the hot roof is reflected back toward the roof and the low emissivity of the underside of the radiant barrier means very little radiant heat is emitted downwards. This makes the top surface of the insulation cooler than it would have been without a radiant barrier and thus reduces the amount of heat that moves through the insulation into the rooms below the ceiling.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_barrier)

Radiant Barrier Installed - Roof Works cont'd.

The radiant barrier has been installed.  This will help to make the Cathedral cooler.

Roof Works cont'd.

Common rafters installed

Roof Sheeting installed

View from underneath by the south balcony looking west

View from underneath by the south balcony looking east

Roof sheeting almost complete

View from inside