Post
by Perry525 »
Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:59 am
The first thing to do is, go up in the loft and take a careful look at the timbers and slates, look for signs of wet wood, look round the chimney to see if its wet, look up to see if the flashing is in place.
If you find signs of wet wood, go outside with a pair of binoculars and check all the roof that you can see, for slipped, cracked or missing slates.
Now you have an idea of the state of your roof.
Better still use a ladder to take a closer look!
The English language is an interesting thing, it is very easy to misunderstand a verbal description, when you are not familiar with the thing in question, you could end up paying a lot of money for work that is not necessary.
If I understand correctly you are writing to say that your roof was made in the 1870's and while it has sagged because the timbers were not sized correctly, it is in most respects still sound?
A slate roof may be expected to last for four hundred years.
In that time, one can accept that some nails will rust and need replacing, and the wind will have rattled some of the slates a few thousand times and some of the softer ones will have enlarged holes causing slates to slip.
All that is normal, as is the practice of torching, where wind blown rain is forced up between the slates and torching helps to overcome bad design.
A well designed roof takes into account the hight and exposure of the building, and allows for wind blown rain. Preferably, by making the roof steeper or by increasing the slate overlap, thereby making it harder for the wind to push the rain into the building.
None of which would lead me to expect that the whole roof needs repair or replacing.
If you are OK with heights and have the correct gear, get up and fix it. Or get someone in to repair it, looked after it will go on for many more years.
When your house was built, most builders did not have access to waterproof materials except for copper, which has always been expensive and lead.
Houses were not made of waterproof materials, merely of bricks, slates and tiles. Things designed to shed water, it was accepted that some water would get in, but they were designed to dry out with the effects of wind and rain.
You mention spray foam, this is the flavor of the year in the USA and Canada, as it has the best and most permanent insulation properties, far better, far more reliable than fibre glass.
Some people in this country don't like it.
Used on the underside of a roof, it can disguise leaks and lead to wood rot, where the rain gets in and because all the holes are sealed, the wind cannot get through and dry the wood. A lot of roofers don't like it, as its hard to remove and makes repairs harder.
I would not use it for this reason, however, if you want to use it to keep your home warm then by all means pour it between the joists of your ceiling, where it will do a very fine job.
Perry.
