Bay window roof.

[plasticpigeon]

This is what I've been up to over the last few days. I am not very good at compromising, so i went for this design which has some local precedent, though not on my road, despite this roof needing to have every slate cut to size (they are 6 x 12) and needing the triangles cut too. For some reason the roof seems to have gained universal praise from my neighbours, whereas the wall and window hardly drew any comment when I finished it, so perhaps it was worth it. It would be great if it inspired some of my neighbours to do things in a more traditional way.

 

[mims&pip]

That is looking super PP, no wonder your neighbours are full of praise Your whole front elevation is going to look fab by the time you've finished.....very well done!

It's that old adage again "If you want something doing properly, do it yourself" :roll:

Mims x

 

[Zebra]

Yes, very good. That looks great! I suppose it is a bit more "ta-daaa" than the window and the wall, so perhaps that's why your neighbours have admired it.

 

[LadyArowana]

That looks really beautiful and I can understand why people notice more than the window or the wall, it is rather special!

 

[TheRoost]

Perfect. I don't think many roofers would of achieved anything as nice looking. It would of looked a bit heavy with their 10 x 20 slates!

 

[Feltwell]

Lovely looking job PP. How are you cutting the slates?

Must do my bay roof - just wrestling between felt (as it is now) or lead. Felt - cheaper, unattractive to thieving little gits, unattractive visually to me too. Lead - looks nicer, theft risk, price, harder to find someone to do a decent job (although Doug put me onto a contact).

Or there's the imitation option - fake lead. I'm sure it will work very well and keep the weather out, it's claimed to be breathable and Sika are an excellent manufacturer of sealants, and from a distance could *even* look OK. Ohh dear, what am I saying, many would say UPVC windows look OK......

http://www.roofassured.co.uk

Annoying thing is my current roof doesn't leak, it just slopes the wrong way so all the water drips onto the cill below and the splash rots the window frame.

 

[Feltwell]

Oops, double post.

 

[plasticpigeon]

My roof was originally zinc, but it had lost its hip rolls and there was no bullnose detail on the top. It had many sticking plasters of flashband and was covered in bitumen, so i decided to slate it as I like the look of slate even though it is not original. Could your roof be slated feltwell, or is it a flat roof???

I cut the slates with slate cutting shears which are a bit like large secateurs but with 2 blades one side and one blade the other, it gives a nice look to the edge, not too clean. I cut a few of the large end slates with a grinder, the edges are more square but they will be under lead.

 

[MatthewC]

...
I cut the slates with slate cutting shears which are a bit like large secateurs but with 2 blades one side and one blade the other, it gives a nice look to the edge, not too clean. I cut a few of the large end slates with a grinder, the edges are more square but they will be under lead.

With the slate shears I have, there are two supports on one side, and a single blade cuts between them - is that what you mean? You have to make sure you cut from the right side - the side uppermost (which will be the underside of the fitted slate) has a clean cut and the lower side gets the authentic trimmed slate look from the action of the upper blade as it breaks through. You just have to remember to mark the cut on the back of the slate and not the front - and it's really annoying when you do it wrong.

 

[malcolm]

Annoying thing is my current roof doesn't leak, it just slopes the wrong way so all the water drips onto the cill below and the splash rots the window frame.

I had been thinking about sloping mine the other way, but the guttering would be expensive as it is a curved bay with curved glass. How would you drain the bay if you sloped it the other way? I would go with lead. It's much nicer, and people don't tend to steal lead from occupied buildings.

Your bay roof is an inspiration plasticpigeon. Really nice.

 

[Feltwell]

a curved bay with curved glass.

Sounds lovely. There's a pub near me with a lovely big curved bay with Victorian acid-etched glass, amazing that it's survived as it's not a well cared for building overall.

My bay was always supposed to drain to the rear. There is a rear trough in the roof, which slopes to one side and drains into a hopper. Trouble is, the roof has been felted and front 9" or so now slopes towards the front, meaning it drips over the edge, hence the rot in the base of the frame and the bay wall being damp.

I could make it drain to front and put guttering up, but prefer to keep it as it was if I can.

 

[malcolm]

Sorry to hijack plasticpigeon. Mine looks like it has always drained to the rear where it puddles. I had a look around the internet and it seems drainage strategies are rare on bay windows.

I think the reason pubs tend to be well preserved is they are tenanted buildings. There isn't the money to replace the horrible old windows with nice new uPVC, so instead they get gummed up with cement and repainted. Much easier to repair stuff when it is still there.

 

[Feltwell]

Am I going soft in the head Malcolm? I could have sworn you posted up a picture of your bay roof and wanted more detail on how mine drained, but I now can't see the post.

Anyway, here it is. Draining to the front into a gutter is a better idea really - if the trough at the back of mine failed it could potentially rot the beam that supports the wall above the bay. The problem with mine at the moment is the slope of the roof - the black tarred bit is about level, and the felt bit on the outside edge slopes away. It needs rebuilding so the whole thing slopes to the back edge, and the trough slopes towards the hopper - if in lead I may even put a small rolled upstand on the front edge. The current flashing is awful as well!

 

[malcolm]

Thanks for posting the photos. They are useful. Lead isn't crazy expensive. Quotes for mine came in between £1k and £2k. Though it's only the edge of yours that is likely to be visible from below.

Mine seems to have been built without any drainage at all, but that was 100 years ago so it hasn't done too badly despite the obvious design issues. The rear drain approach on yours might work for mine. Curved gutters that conservation officers like run from pricey to impossible.

I did post a longer thread but removed some of it as I realised the bay would be easier to access without the scaffolding so would be best worried about later. It doesn't actually leak but does slope towards a bit of timber that will need checking. Here's one of the photos taken after a number of dry days.

 

[plasticpigeon]

I've just had two quotes for the leadwork on my bay after the old chap I was going to use went awol. One is £460; £250 labout and £210 lead. The other was around £1400 and he wanted scaffolding too. i think the more expensive one might do a neater job, but at that price difference so long as it is watertight and looks ok from the road I'll be happy with the quote that doesn't hit my wallet so hard, though even £460 isn't exactly cheap! There don't seem to be many leadworkers around.

 

[mims&pip]

Ours is in lead - one of the better decisions made by the previous owner* :roll: - and looks very well-executed when viewed from our drive (it's a double-height bay and as the house is built into an escarpment the road/drive is on a somewhat higher level).....

*unlike his decision to cover some of the external window sills in duct tape :lol:

Mims x

 

[plasticpigeon]

It's got some lead on now. I took a chance on a guy off t'internet. The lead is quite deep but perhaps that is necessary for decent protection. It looks a decent job anyway, I seem to be having more luck with tradespeople these days which is nice.

 

[Feltwell]

Who did you use PP?

 

[plasticpigeon]

I used a guy called Andrew Rose. I wouldn't say he is artist, there are a few bits that could be neater, but he is obviously someone who knows what he is doing, and i'm sure he was working pretty quickly, and he was friendly and punctual etc. If you are looking for someone, there was a chap called Quinn Bytheway from Stourbridge that looks to do very nice work, but he ballsed up my quote, so it came out very expensive, and then he contacted me to say he had sent me a quote meant for someone else but by then I had asked Andrew Rose. There don'r seem to be too many leadworkers around.

 

[DJH]

That looks neat enough PP. I'm glad you got sorted. Have you got a photo from the window above?

Doug