rotten old roof comes good- hooray!

[jess marley]

Wanted to share this as it's cheered me up no end.
The roof to our small back extension is covered in a thick layer of tar, and lets a fair amount of water in..

[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]
But LOOK how lovely the old slates are still underneath! (Almost as if they were designed for the job...)
[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]
It only took half an hour with a wall-paper scraper to get that bit cleaned off, and means I can re-lay them instead of, as my roofer told me, 'chuck the lot out an' start over'
Sorry if this sounds a bit triumphalist, but I can't tell you how GOOD it feels to know that I might be able to sort this place out after all without recourse to big hairy builders and, in the process, ridding it of the very charms I bought it for.
So there.

 

[middi]

Well done.

Confuse your roofer even further, if you get the chance, tell him you decided to get a professional restoration firm to sort the roof out.

He will wreck his brains to find out how they did it, I believe the wallpaper scraper was beyond him. :wink:

 

[Nemesis]

That's great work!

All you need now is Plumber's Mate to tell you which quarry they come from...

 

[Lime]

The modern roofing trade pays little or no heed to some old ways of roofing.
One of them makes all the difference to the appearance of a slate roof.
The old roofers always sorted out their slates according to their thickness.
The thick slates near the gutter and the thin ones near the ridge.

Well done!

 

[jess marley]

Thanks both.
The slates will be from the Delabole quarry, which is still working- they've just sent me a quote for flags for the floor.hmmmm.maybe next year.
Am going to get the rest of the gunk off today, probably as my roofer watches pityingly..
Must also investigate the library for info on roofing, I have the David and Charles complete guide, but it just tells me to leave it to the professionals, red flag to a bull that.