There are rotten roof rafters with woodworm because of decades of leaks,
so i think the whole lot of slates should come off
and the wood be patched, replaced, and sprayed.

It's quite a steep roof, half of a large victorian house.
We're half way up a hill, wth trees behind the house,
so i dont think that sarking/boarding will be necessary.

The advantage of having no felting seems to me to be that
when there is a small leak I can find it from underneath,
damp patches in the attic and ceilings,
whereas with felt the damp problem would be hidden, and may be rotting wood
away secretly.

But most of you recommend a modern felting material.
There are a few roof spaces that could in future be converted to living
spaces,
that's a future project,
this summer I just want to get the roof derotted and watertight.
And maybe get the hot water working.

--

[george]

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~ 07970 378 572 ~
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wrote in message
...
blue wrote:
On 28 Apr, 16:56, "George \(dicegeorge\)"
wrote:

There are lots of slipped slates on my roof, with rusty nails,
the local builder recommends reslating the whole roof
rather than patching it again and again.

Its always in the builder's interest to recommend this, as they get
4 figures rather than 3. IMLE most of these recommendations have
been inappropriate. Slate roofs shed slates over time, and the point
at which its best to reslate is purely economic, ie when the cost of
replacing a handful of slates every so many years works out to
more than the cost of a reroof. One house had around 20 slates
replaced several years ago after decades of neglect, and hasnt
had any more work needed since. I havent seen or know the
history of the roof, but more often than not just replacing missing
slates is the more economic and satisfactory option.



At the moment there is no felt, he advises felt,
is there any reason not to use felt?

felt is a good backup, though not essential functionally.

or is there an even better option?

yes, fibre cement. But it costs, and the cost isnt normally
warranted.

I hope you stay well away from foam. There are more probems with
it, such as the fact that it becomes impossible to inspect the roof
structure, hence if structural rot occurs, you wont know until there
is an eventual complete collapse. And it does significantly raise the
chance of rot.


NT