This area of roof was stuffed with rotten, cracked and broken Burlington slates.
A view of the area before work started.
Ripping out the old to replace with new.
This is how it looked after the work was completed.
This page shows the fabrication and installation of a lead roof vent which will, once a plumber has been to site, vent two bathrooms.
The vent was installed on a high castle roof but no scaffold costs were incurred as we do not need scaffold for this kind of work.
Access, leadwork and slating were all handled by BCM Steeplejacks – no subcontractors were required, which helps to keep costs down.
This picture shows the vent on the bench during fabrication. The plastic pipe inside the outer lead pipe is there to give the plumber something to connect onto inside the attic.
Still on the bench but nearly complete.
We added a lead cowl to keep the rain out. The vent is now complete and ready to be installed into the roof.
Vent in position.
Slating around the vent.
These two pictures show the completed job.
Finally, here is the internal plastic pipe. This is what the plumber will connect the bathroom ventilation system onto.
There was a small sandstone turret to be raked out and pointed with hydraulic lime mortar. The picture below shows it fully raked out.
This one shows it fully pointed.
Pointing was also needed to the adjacent small set of crow steps and the mortar skew between them and the turret.
A view up from the base of the turret.
Looking down on the turret, crow steps, and skew.
All of the new lime work was wrapped in hessian sheeting to protect it from the weather, and slow down the initial curing phase.
A much larger set of crow steps that was also raked out and lime pointed. The following two pictures were taken after pointing had been completed.
New lime protected by heavy hessian sheeting.
In one corner of the roof a long term leak had completely rotted the sarking boards and the joist below them. These obviously had to be replaced.
This was taken after all rotten timbers had been removed and a replacement joist had been spliced in.
Getting the sarking boards on.
Breathable membrane fitted.
Slating up now.
Corner fully repaired.
There were a lot of large hoppers on the castle and they tended to get blocked. One was a particular problem as birds kept building a nest in it. All of the hoppers were capped with stainless steel 1 inch x 1 inch mesh to prevent these problems.
Abseil access saves a fortune on scaffold costs on jobs like this.
Just a few shots showing a small slate patching job on a slated spire in Perthshire, Scotland.
The final shot shows the nuisance factor of having a smartphone at work – too many emails that have to be answered.
Contact Details
BCM Steeplejacks Ltd
21 St. Dunstans Park
Melrose
Roxburghshire
TD6 9LF
