DIY Home Improvement

Repairing Slates To repair slate roof  it is first necessary to remove the nails with a slate ripper. The nails may be forced out upwards by positioning the ripper in front of the nail, downwards by positioning behind the nails or by using a combination of the two. I have marked the nail positions and the … Read moreSlate Roof Repair – Repairing Slates

Detecting Roof Leak Some are obvious, but others are less so, and often a process of elimination is needed. When dealing with water ingress the leak may have started in a completely different place from where it shows up. When faced with a roof leak there are a few tips to help in finding the … Read moreHow to Find Roof Leak & Other Roof Defects

Overview: What Is Roof Flashing? Roof flashing is impervious (watertight) sheet of lead, copper, zinc, rigid bitumen sheet, tin, plastic or aluminium, shaped and installed at roof junctions to prevent the penetration of rain and snow. The most commonly used material is sheet lead, and it will be on this material that this chapter will mainly … Read moreWhat Is Roof Flashing?

Roof Undercloak Installation Overview Bargeboards and, in some cases, gable end brickwork are prone to deviation in their length, just like the fascia boards at the eaves, and this can transfer itself to the verge detail when installing the undercloak. For this reason it is advisable to lay undercloak to a line, especially on longer … Read moreRoof Undercloak Installation

Overview: Roof Underlayment Installation It is important to understand that modern underlays are proprietary products, so the fixing instructions should be checked with the manufacturer’s information. However, in general, all underlay should be laid with a slight sag (nominally 10mm) to allow any water trapped in the roof to drain away to the eaves. It is … Read moreRoof Underlayment Installation

Marking up Gauges (in Sets) One of the biggest mistakes that people make when marking up gauges is to do them one at a time. I have seen many trainees and inexperienced roofers scratching their heads and wondering why the top roof batten is running out by 30 or 40mm when they have checked the … Read moreInstalling Roof Battens

Overview This article deals with the different roof types of pitched roof, such as mono-pitch, duo-pitch, lean-to, gables, hips and valleys, and also raises the need to consider weight, pitch, planning and exposure when choosing materials and suitable fixing methods. Roof Types and Terminology Single-Pitched Roofs Mono-Pitched Roof type. The main aspect to consider with single-pitched roofs … Read moreRoof Types and Shapes, Design Considerations

You keep asking yourself – Where to buy roofing materials? Here are the common places to check for. DIY Superstores Increasingly now, well-known DIY superstores are stocking more and more specialist products and can prove to be very handy for last-minute items and general materials. There will be sand, cement, timber battens and some of the more … Read moreWhere to Buy Roofing Materials

Concrete Interlocking Roof Tiles These are the most popular in Britain because they are relatively cheap, quick to lay and come in a range of colours, finishes (that is, smooth or granular) and profiles (shapes). The profiles shown here are among the most commonly found in Britain although it is important to note that each … Read moreRoof Slates & Tiles – Roofing

Underlay Felt For many years the most common type of underlay used under slates and tiles was the bituminous felt Type 1F. This is still widely used in the domestic sector, but it has all but totally been replaced on new sites by a range of high-tech, plastic underlays. 1F felt typically comes in 1m … Read moreRoof Repair Materials – Roofing