Week Beginning Monday 1st December
As December rolled in, so did the festive chaos, roof leaks, chimney dramas, missing cleats, and the odd squirrel eviction. It’s all part of the job when you’re the Cherry Picker Man and this week absolutely delivered.
🌧️ Monday – Gutters, Slate, and a Village Christmas Tree
I shot out of the house early to get over to West Bridgford for a gutter repair on a three-storey apartment building. Nothing like a crisp Monday morning dangling over the edge of a roof to kickstart the week. Thankfully, the job was simple: clean out a section of gutter, realign some parts that had slipped, reconnect everything, and boom, leak sorted.
Then it was into Nottingham city centre for a large hole in a slate roof. Again, straightforward. One slate swapped out and secured, and the roof was watertight once more.
Back home, I switched from tradesman to domestic elf, helping Hannah prep the house for my father-in-law’s 70th birthday party. I also set the timers for the Christmas lights.
And yes, the house is now visible from the International Space Station, Check out the video I made of my Christmas lights . My hard work paid off. Tim Peake would be proud.
At 1:30pm I hopped back into the cherry picker and headed to Farnsfield to help the Parish Council decorate the village Christmas tree. A bit of community spirit (and free labour) never hurt anyone.
The day ended with a lovely family celebration, and I may or may not have eaten my body weight in party food.
🔩 Tuesday – Missing Cleats and a Leaky Chimney
Tuesday took me to Mapperley Top to re-point and re-flaunch a chimney.
Parking the truck and trailer was… memorable. Think “tight space ballet” but with more danger and less grace.
During setup, I realised one of the metal cleats on the cherry picker track had gone missing. Mild panic.
A quick call to Mark at Promax, though, and I learned it’s not the end of the world or the track. Apparently, losing the odd cleat is fine. (If you’re reading this, Mark, thank you for talking me off the ledge.)
With reassurance in hand, I cracked on and got the chimney sorted. Leak gone. Customer happy. Cleat still missing but apparently harmless. Onward!
🚗 Wednesday – Stratford-upon-Avon and the Marathon Shift
Alarm screaming at 5:30am, truck loaded, coffee inhaled, I headed for Stratford-upon-Avon.
Despite the early start, traffic laughed in my face and I didn’t arrive until 9am.
The task?
- Remove 15 metres of ridge tiles
- Rebed them using flexum roof putty
- Repair several valleys
- Get it all done in one go
And I did. From 9am to 4pm without stopping. A full day on the roof with barely a break.
Of course, traffic on the way home was no kinder. I finally walked through the door at 7pm exhausted but satisfied.
Hannah had dinner waiting, I grabbed a shower, and the evening was saved.
🔥 Thursday – A Dirty Trowel, a No-Show Tenant, and Squirrel Eviction
First job of the day was in Thulston Derbyshire, installing a gas chimney liner. Smooth sailing until it came to flaunching around the gas cowl using a trowel from the fitter that looked like it had last been cleaned during the Bronze Age.
Lesson learned: always use your own tools.
Next was Loughborough to install an air vent with a sparky.
I arrived early, caught up on invoices in the truck… and then discovered the tenant wasn’t home, despite everything being arranged. No tenant = no extractor fan installation = no idea where the vent needed to go. So the job was abandoned.
Final job of the day took me to Radcliffe-on-Trent to squirrel-proof a dormer roof. The little troublemakers had been evicted by a pest controller, and it was my job to wire-mesh every entrance point to stop them moving back in.
Mission accomplished and I even got home in time to pick Robyn up from school.
Winner winner chicken dinner.
🏰 Friday – Kingston Hall, Lead Work and a Two-Man Dream Team
Friday’s job took me to Kingston Hall, where I had the pleasure of working with Neil and Daz from Wrights Roofing. Legends, both of them.
The leak we were tackling came from some dodgy lead work way up the building, perfect cherry picker territory.
We also had a slipped slate that had left a hole big enough to cause serious inside damage.
To reach it all, we had to navigate around the back of the hall, build ramps down a retaining wall, and stretch the boom to its full reach. Proper interesting job, but between the three of us, we nailed it.
On the way out, we fixed a few loose slates for good measure and called it an early finish.
Job’s a fish.
🔥 Saturday – A Tall Chimney, A Tricky Liner, and a Lunchtime Victory
Saturday morning found me back in Radcliffe-on-Trent, helping the lads from Stonebridge install a chimney liner on a very tall chimney on Cropwell Road.
This was supposed to be simple…
But Saturday mornings love drama.
The existing liner was mounted to a plate underneath the pot and chimney flange meaning the pot and half the concrete chimney flauncing had to be removed just to get the old liner out.
Once that was done, though, the new gas liner dropped in beautifully.
Pot re-bedded, flaunce repaired, cowl on top and we were done before lunchtime.
Happy days.
And that wraps up the week!
From Christmas lights to missing cleats, from Stratford valleys to squirrel eviction notices it’s just another week in the life of the Cherry Picker Man.
📣 Keep Up With Me Online
If you want to follow more of my adventures, catch new videos, or keep up with the rooftops and pit stops of my working week, you can find me here:
- 🌐 Website: www.dji-uk.co.uk
- 🎥 YouTube: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 🎵 TikTok: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 📸 Instagram: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 👍 Facebook: Dan the Cherry Picker Man
- Google Business page: dji high access services – Google Search
- Amazon shop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/danthecherrypickerman?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_0H3MM4YGDVAPRTXQJAYV_1
👕 Workwear Shoutout
A big thank you to Granite Workwear for keeping me kitted out while I’m climbing rooftops, dodging squirrels, and lighting up villages.
