Friday, December 30, 2011

The Fairy House Roof Takes Shape





Although the walls of the Fairy House (Part 1 of the Fairy House story here) were allowed to stand until they were well cured and sturdy, I worried that trying to top them with a concrete roof would be difficult and too heavy for me to manage. As it was, each wall was difficult to carry and get into position; I couldn't imagine moving something weighing twice as much. Therefore the decision was made to make the roof from hypertufa. My friend Frances from Fairegarden is an expert at hypertufa so I knew I could rely on her assistance, long distance, in the event of any complications. I gathered the necessary ingredients and mixed up my first batch of hypertufa! I had chosen a box that, tipped on its edge, would make the right size roof. It was at this point that the idea of the Fairy Castle changed into the Fairy House. Inspiration/desperation provided this roof idea and not one more castle-like.

The box was cut, tipped up, nestled into pea gravel in a large galvanized tub, lined with plastic, and filled with hypertufa mix. 

It was allowed to set for about a week. Although it was warm outside, the roof was large and quite solid. I did not want to risk unmolding it too soon. However, on the day I was going to find out if my experiment worked, I called in back-up help.



The problem turned out not to be with the sturdiness of the structure. The problem was that someone chose to use the plastic from a package of Costco toilet paper as the liner. Just one more step in my education!


The ink from the plastic transferred quite well into the hypertufa. My able assistant tried to calm my worries...





I did indeed try sanding the "stain" off but realized fairly quickly that it was going to take way longer to do than I could stand. Inspiration/desperation once again came to my rescue. The roof was set on the walls and  mortared in place. Green dyed mortar was mixed and applied over the entire top of the roof and brown dyed mortar was used for the gable area of the end walls.

The advantage to using the mortar here is that I was able to texture it in a decorative way that I liked. The roof was given a bit of a thatched look and the gables were textured to look somewhat shingled.

The house was coming together, step by step. The next thing needed was a front door. And I already had a plan for that. 

To be continued...


9 comments:

Gail said...

Leslie, What a treat to see Miss Sophie and hear you. Love the solution, but, was laughing the whole time at the Costco toilet paper stained roof. xoxogail

Carol Michel said...

That is a marvelous Fairy House and it is a treat to see how you made it, step by step. What great help you have, too.

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

Okay, your able helper is just precious. I wanted to talk to her too. So cute she is. Love the Fairy House. Love that you were inspired to try something different.~~Dee

Cindy, MCOK said...

Sophie is too, too cute! The Fairy House looks fabulous! I love the roof.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Your mistake is our gain. It turned out wonderfully. This is so inspiring.

Fairegarden said...

I love your helper, the roof and your solution to a sticky dilemma, Leslie! Thanks too for the linkage. Your shingles and thatching are brilliant and Miss Sophie is too, too adorable.

Frances

Commonweeder said...

Great post and directions. I want to try using hypertufa this year, too.

Unknown said...

I love your fix--that roof and gables just give the fairy house so much personality! :-)

Kathy said...

Good save! I love hearing your voice and Sophie's.