Flat Tile Roof

[ggx32]

Hi All,

Our house is approximately 400 years old, the roof was refurbished around 30 years ago when some extensive alterations took place, we have owned the property for 10 years. Recently, a number of roof tiles have slide off the roof resulting in a leak or two in the upstairs bedrooms. A few roofing contractors have taken a look and commented that most of the fixings have rotted, hence the loss of tiles and they advised a complete overhaul, i.e remove all tiles, replace membrane, battens and tiles where appropriate as well as spraying and insulating the oak roof structure. This all sounds the right way to go except we can't afford it...

I am tempted to have a go myself, my plan was to hire a qualified roofer, experienced with this type of roof and use him for a week or so and then complete the project myself. Could anyone who may have attempted this type of project give me some advice on whether a regular guy who can do most ordinary DIY has a shot at making a decent go of it?

regards,
Dan.

 

[Penners]

spraying and insulating the oak roof structure.

What does the roofer mean by this? If he's talking about spray-on insulation foam, then cross that off the list right away. Your roof timbers should be well ventilated - not stifled in plastic foam. If he means soaking them in some sort of toxic chemicals, you need to know a lot more about the details of this proposal before you accept it. In my view, untreated oak roof members should last an immense length of time, provided they are kept dry and well ventilated.

The title of this thread worries me slightly! Tiling a flat roof isn't really the way to keep the weather out!

However, if the title is a bit misleading, and you simply mean an uncomplicated pitched roof, then repair/renewal work on it certainly isn't rocket science. If you're a handy DIYer anyway, and have the opportunity to learn from a professional, there no reason why you couldn't do a fair chunk of the work yourself (depending on your age and fitness!). Just be sure that your roofer has experience of the right and wrong ways to deal with a roof on a period property.

 

[plasticpigeon]

Why not? I'm not sure you wouldn't even need to get a "professional" for a week, and I can't imagine a tradesperson being too keen on this idea anyway. None of the houses in my road have the roof verge on the gable end of the back additions (in a row of terraces) finished acceptably because it seems not one roofer has heard of slate and a half width slates, which means that the slate lathes/battens extend nearly to the outside edge of the brickwork which I believe is bad practice, awkward and messy, so you cannot rely on professionals to know what they are doing either. Get a good old construction book and plan it out. The only problem could be that it will take a DIYer much longer than a tradesperson.

 

[ggx32]

spraying and insulating the oak roof structure.

Sorry I should have explained, I mean bug spray i.e wood worm treatment and perhaps some sort of under the tile insulation and definitely not spray on insulation! - who would do that to oak? and how would you ever fixed a damaged tile with all that crap under them?

The title of the thread is Flat Tile Roof not Flat Roof Tiles, i.e old flat tiles and yes the roof is pitched.

I know a roofer I think i can trust so maybe I will get him in for a few days to get me going and then get on with it, not sure how long it would take though....

Dan.

 

[Keithj]

You don't say where you are: that may be useful information. I've had the benefit of some excellent advice (and had other advice pointed out as being exceedingly bad).

When my 400 year old roof was repaired (concrete tiles replaced by clay pantiles - I couldn't quite bring myself to go back to thatch), the timbers up there were almost all in perfect condition - more like iron than wood! A couple of pieces of new oak had to be cut in. Oak is tough stuff.

The right expert could tell you what needs doing, what needs NOT doing, and so on. There are some excellent experts around, and a day of their time isn't prohibitlvely expensive. If the house is listed, the Conservation Officer may be willing to come and have a look.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Dan,

What you need is some proper advice. One way of getting this is to study a number of authoritative texts on the subject of historic roof construction, attend seminars on repair and renovation techniques, visit other properties which are having similar work done, consult with others who have experience in the field, and then devise your own specification for your works. That's the hard way.

Alternatively you could ask a builder or roofer who may or may not have a good understanding of the issues affecting 400 year old properties. Ask them for their portfolio of work on similar projects, details of their relevant qualifications and craft training, and references. If they're still there then maybe you've picked a good one.

Another alternative would be to consult an architect, surveyor or architectural technologist who is accredited in Conservation (the websites of the professional associations would be a good starting point). You could ask them for a fixed fee to survey your roof, report on its condition, make a recommendation for work required and, if necessary, provide a specification for the work which you can then use as a basis for DIY or take to your preferred roofer. Specialist advice like this is worth paying for - it means that you'll end up doing no more work than is necessary, and employ the correct materials and techniques for your particular property. The fact that you are on a tight budget means that you can't afford to get it wrong, and you don't want to be at the mercy of builders / roofers who want to replace all your tiles or use the wrong sort of nails or who can't be bothered to do the lead detailing correctly.

From personal experience I wish I'd got some professional advice before we had our re-roofing done - and that was on a bog standard Edwardian slated cottage. A properly designed specification for the job would have prevented the condensation problems that we now have, for example, thanks to our roofers ineptitude.

As I am now re-training as an architectural technologist and working for a practice specialising in historic buildings I have a wider understanding of these things now, but in the early years of our house renovation my reaction to the idea of involving an architect was "too expensive, not necessary", which I suspect is many peoples' response.

As for DIY - it's certainly dooable, but a roof is a big job - do you have the time? 4 blokes took about a week to do ours, with me doing the timber repairs. So if you're on your own that would be 5 weeks..... I considered it but decided that it was just too much to take on, even though I'd have done a much better job thatn the muppets we ended up using.