On the evening of 26th November 2021 Storm Arwen hit Scotland. This cottage roof was one of the affected structures. Our task was to fix the damage. In the pictures below you will see the various steps involved.
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This picture shows the main area of damage. The slates had been completely stripped here by the wind.
Another angle showing the storm damage.
The storm damaged area from above.
Looking along the roof ridge here you can see that the old zinc roof ridge has been completely ripped off. Sections of the old timber ridge pole are gone too, and the top slates have been stripped by the wind all the way along the roof (on the left side of the ridge – it’s the side that was getting hit with the wind).
The upper coping stones have come away from their mortar bed and are, consequently, very unstable. Also, the mortar skew is missing or badly shattered.
Work now started. All the old nails have been removed and a layer of underslate breathable membrane has been fitted (it’s the modern version of underslate felt).
The loose coping stones have been removed, and the bed is being cleaned ready for application of a new mortar bed.
Slating work in progress. Copper nails are being used. Also note that to prevent these slates being ripped off again in future they are all double nailed and side nailed.
Looking down on the slating work from above.
Now working along the full length of the ridge replacing all of the missing top slates.
Fitting the new timber roof ridge poles. Six inch coachscrews were used to ensure it will withstand future winds.
Fitting ridge poles.
Getting the new zinc roof ridges on.
Applying mortar under the ends of the zinc ridges. This ensures there are no leaks at the point where the ridge meets the brick chimneys (it was done at both ends of the roof).
Fully clipped zinc ridges. Stainless screws were used for the ridge clips – to stop them rusting away in future.
Looking along the new ridge.
Remember the unstable coping stones and shattered skew farther up the page. This picture shows the newly built stones, and the new mortar skew.
Looking up at the repaired roof from ground level.