DIY Roofing

Rot in roof timers is the result of damp conditions that encourage wood-rotting fungi to grow. Before rectifying the problem find the cause and ensure that an outbreak will not happen again.

Coverings of domestic pitched roofs follow a long tradition and despite the development of new materials, the older ones and the ways of using them have not changed radically.

Materials used to roof are natural slate, machine-made slate, plain clay tile, plain concrete tile, plain clay pantile and interlocking concrete pantile.

Most roofing materials are laid across the roof in rows known as courses so that the bottom of each course overlaps the top of the one below. They are laid from the eves up the slope of the roof. Specially shaped tiles are available for capping the ridge or hips in order to weatherproof the junctions of the slopes. Where the roof covering meets a wall or chimney it is protected with flashings.

Felt Underlay: To comply with building regulations new roofs or recovered roofs have to be lined with some kind of weatherproof underlay.

Roof Battens: The roof covering is supported on sawn softwood battens that are nailed across the rafters over the underlay. The battens should be pretreated with a preserver.

Fixings: Most roof coverings are fixed in place with nails or clips. Slates are fixed individually, usually with a pair of nails placed halfway up each slate. Some howeer are nailed near the top.

Double-lap Coverings: Plain tiles and slates are double-lap coverings meaning that each course is lapped partly by two courses above it. If you do not double-lap these tiles water will get in.

Single-lap Coverings: Nearly all tiles made from moulded clay and concrete are single-lap coverings. Each tile overlaps it’s neighbour on one side and each course overlaps the one below.