Pixie5740 Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 I realise this is potentially a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question. I'm a couple of years off starting my self-build so I need to maintain the property I currently have. It's a top floor Aberdeen flat built circa 1885. At some point a previous owner put in dormer extensions for which I cannot find any planning permission for on the council's website...maybe it predates online submissions but I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure when the dormer extensions were built but at a guess I'd say 30+ years ago. Is there a way of getting a better estimate? I would not be in the least bit surprised if the flat felt roof is still the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 We had a house in Elgin, built in 1830, with dormers from day one. But the original ones had lead covers, and at some point two had been replaced with felt. So could they be original build, if they are lathe and plaster good chance they are original, if plasterboard they could have added after the original build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 5 minutes ago, JohnMo said: We had a house in Elgin, built in 1830, with dormers from day one. But the original ones had lead covers, and at some point two had been replaced with felt. So could they be original build, if they are lathe and plaster good chance they are original, if plasterboard they could have added after the original build. It's plasterboard although I wonder if that could be because the lathe and plaster came off when a previous owner removed woodchip wallpaper. At some point in its history the entire flat appears to have been covered in woodchis. I left the remaining woodchip on a couple of ceilings as it seemed more hassle than it was worth to remove and just painted it white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 Also, all the buildings in the street look like they were built around the same time and not all have flat roof dormer extensions which is why I suspect they were a later addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyshouse Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 I repaired a large single garage roof built by a builder in 1919 on his own house, the roof has a nice fall, 1:40, on big joists nine by two and a half with inch x seven inch boards. what he next did was remarkable, a single layer of bitumen felt laid dry no tar, no clout nails with three inch overlaps turned down into a cast iron gutter clout nailed in the face. There was an ornate zinc trim nailed 3/4” back retaining a two inch thick layer of pea shingle over the whole roof, by then full of moss and sedum, the trim was designed to allow water to drain out into the gutter I replaced the roof in 1999, eighty years after it had been installed ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 18 hours ago, tonyshouse said: I repaired a large single garage roof built by a builder in 1919 on his own house, the roof has a nice fall, 1:40, on big joists nine by two and a half with inch x seven inch boards. what he next did was remarkable, a single layer of bitumen felt laid dry no tar, no clout nails with three inch overlaps turned down into a cast iron gutter clout nailed in the face. There was an ornate zinc trim nailed 3/4” back retaining a two inch thick layer of pea shingle over the whole roof, by then full of moss and sedum, the trim was designed to allow water to drain out into the gutter I replaced the roof in 1999, eighty years after it had been installed ! Going by the rest of my property I have zero confidence that what was installed was half as good as your 80 year old flat roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Replace it with GRP. If done correctly, will outlast us all. Was looking at some GRP work I did back in the mid 80's. Still working as intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 21 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: GRP. If done correctly, will outlast us all. +1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 Thanks for tip @SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) I suppose that brings me on to my next question which is, can anyone recommend a roofer that offers GRP in the Aberdeen area? Edited January 1, 2022 by Pixie5740 typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Just now, Pixie5740 said: I suppose that brings me on to my next question which is, can anyone recommend a roofer that offers GPR in the Aberdeen area? No. Can't even recommend one down here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I know one in Bristol ?♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 That’s maybe a tad far away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 How large is the area. Takes an hour to tell someone how to do it. After that it is just practice. 100 quid of materials and 5 attempts for practice and you are ready to do it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie5740 Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 On 02/01/2022 at 16:30, SteamyTea said: How large is the area. Takes an hour to tell someone how to do it. After that it is just practice. 100 quid of materials and 5 attempts for practice and you are ready to do it yourself. I have no idea. The property is currently being rented out so I'll need to wait until I can get back inside to estimate. My main two concerns about DIY-ing this are a) I dread to think what I will find underneath the current roofing so it might turn into a much larger job, b) I will need to get scaffolding because it is a second story flat. Also, I have no idea who is responsible for the flat roof. There are 3 flats in the block and our deeds say that each flat is responsible for a third of the roofing costs. Does that still hold when a historical owner of my flat added these dormer extensions? Do I just suck it up because my flat is on the top floor and if I can get the roof re-roofed and better insulated I can enjoy the heat rising from my downstairs neighbours even better? I'm leaning towards the latter because I'm reasonably sure the ground floor will politely tell me to bog off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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