A Quarter of the Roof, Off in Two Hours

Day seven. Roof structure and tile removal in parallel — plus the meeting that shaped how our new roof would actually be built.

Rafter grinding: done. The last full session on the interior rafters. What remains are a few awkward bays — four rafters behind a wall stub that’s coming down anyway, six hidden above a light fixture — and those will be dressed just before painting. With this, the ceiling is ready for insulation and plaster.

25% of the roof stripped. Tile demolition began in earnest, working from the eaves upward, one tile at a time by hand. The correct order is edge → lower slope → ridge, but with rain forecast for the weekend we deliberately stopped at the line we could cover with tarps over the annex. Thanks to yesterday’s slide and the interlocking behavior of the tiles, a quarter of the entire roof came off in about two hours.

The arithmetic of tile waste. Today’s debris alone filled a one-ton truck: broken tiles, stones, rubble — ₩60,000 disposal plus ₩50,000 transport. Extrapolating: this 32-pyeong hanok’s roof holds about four truckloads of tile. Tiles are also brutally heavy — five per carry is a real struggle, and fingers get pinched. Sort out your cart and your walking route before you begin.

Meeting the roofing company. The roofer walked the site with us and laid out the modern hanok roof stack, bottom to top: seal any holes with foam → thermal blanket over the structure → battens → tiles. We discussed drainage falls, standing-water details, where the boiler flue penetrates, and the height of the ridge line — where we made our one aesthetic demand: raise the ridge, make it imposing. Schedule and materials agreed.

The house is now bones and open sky in equal measure.