"news.aaisp.net.uk" NoSpam wrote in message
...
Hi

Sorry in advance that this is similar to many other posts. It just seemed
that there were so many variables that each case seemed to have a slightly
different answer.

I have a small roof space which I would like to use to store 'essential
junk' i.e. things that I will probably never use but just can't bring
myself
to throw away!

At the moment, the insulation is all 'horizontal'. That is to say, there
is
no insulation in the roof itself, it is all above the ceiling of the
upstairs rooms.
The roof is terracotta clay(?) tiles layed over a black waterproof sheet.

There are no header tanks.

Ideally, at the end, it would be lovely to have a space that was not too
damp. Temperature doesn't matter because none of the things to be stored
are
heat or cold intollerent. A finness would be some suggestion of how the
end
walls and/or roof inner might be covered to try to keep dust down a
little.

The muck of sixty years was a problem in our loft when we floored it. The
tiles had been back pointed and were sound but thee was no other protection
from the sky. I think the muck was largely fine mortar dust, it was
certainly heavy.

We saved expanded polystyrene sheets from packing, cut them into slabs and
fitted them between the wooden members holding the roof. They fitted so well
that they stayed up by themselves but eventually they were all covered with
large pieces of cardboard, again from packing. I thought it might get damp
but it hasn't. That was painted white so reflect light and help to find
things stored up there. It made quite a difference to the warmth of the
house, we thought (although we did no tests) even thought the floor of the
loft had already been heavily insulated.

... has anyone had any
success in training squirels to apply a coat of tar based roofing paint
over
such areas using their tails (and what is the RSPCA's view of this)

I don't think you can train squirrels to do anything they don't want to
:-( They're a menace in roof spaces ... and if they die in there and you
find it some time afterwards it's not pleasant to remove it ...

You can tell that's the voice of experience.

Mary