Slate Roof Partially stripped: Taken during a large Loft conversion to convert an existing two story property up to three stories, creating a master suite with on suite bathroom to the top floor. You can see the various components of the timber structure that make up the basic design of many period property roofs. Most prominent are the rafters that run from the ridge board down to the wall plate at the eves. The span of the rafters is split by the single large purlin (timber beam) below the purlin you can see the two ceiling binders above the ceiling joists. You can see the ceiling joists meet the rafters above the wall plate to complete the triangulation of the roof.

Once the roof was completely stripped of its original slates and batons we could work to remove as much of the “roof sag” from the original structure as possible. You can see the new roof batons and breathable membrane starting to be fitted; this stage of a re-roof is often referred to as “getting the roof weathered”..

This shows the roofing batons, notice the batons meet on this rafter, it is important to stagger the baton joints with each new run of felt or breathable membrane underlay. This helps to prevent the roof sagging in the future.

New roof window during fitting, one of our experienced joiners prepares to install the additional trimming rafters and heading and footing timbers or noggins. These add additional strength to compensate for the added load that the weight of the window places on the roof structure.

This property is thought to be over 150 years old but a lot of the original parts of the building are in great condition. The owner has made the wise choice of having the property re-roofed before the existing roof caused damage to any structural timbers or the masonry. The property has even retained its original cast iron guttering, seen to the bottom left corner of this picture.

Roof window during fitting as part of the loft conversion.

Batons, breathable felt membrane and roof window fitted; once the roof window flashing kit is fitted the original slates can be relayed. We can supply and fit new slates, re-claimed slates, clay tiles, concrete tiles, pan tiles, re-claimed tiles, Staffordshire blues or any finishing of your choice that is suitable for your roof.

This picture shows we have how flat and neatly the roofing batons have been fitted.

This picture shows a finished slate roof in reclaimed Welsh slates, if you look closely you can see we have pointed the collared Blue Ridge tiles. Most roofers simply mix up sand and cement and point the ridge tiles. This is often why the cement falls out and can often be see slipping down the roof. We carefully prepare both the slates and the ridge tiles to ensure all moss or dirt is removed and then apply a adhesive to help the cement stay in place. The reason you have to look closely to see we have pointed the ridge tiles is because we have added a black cement die to the mortar to match in to the rest of the roof color. This avoids the cheap and nasty looking "White Stripes", of mortar that can be seen on many re roofed properties. How many other companies would pay this level of attention to the final finishing of a roof, we always say "you are only as good as your last job", we take our reputation very seriously and treat every job as an opportunity to showcase our skills and high standards of building work.