Cushion of bales to helpwhile working on the roof

We had a problem last year when the snow blew under the old roof tiles and settled on the top of the open bins. Once the snow melted, the moisture and the heat from the herd who are in the foldyard next to the shed, germinated the top layer of barley. A bit of a waste and not what John wanted at all.

The pantiles on the roof just rested on wooden laths. Over the years many of these had rotted and this had added to the weatherproofing issue with the roof. A few years ago Geoff, my brother-in-law had repaired half of the roof, but now it was John’s turn to take up his ladders and get up there to finish the job off.

I feel most uneasy about him working on the roof, but he has been very careful and systematic about the job. He has built himself a cushion of big bales around the base of the building so that he has something substantial to rest his ladders against, and, if necessary, break any falls.

To do the job properly he is felting the underside of the roof so that even if the snow gets under this winter, the felt will keep the roof watertight. So far he has had three days on the job and one side of the roof is now felted and there are laths on to hold the felt in place and keep the rain off until the tiles go on. Although we are forecast a dry week the barley bins are all covered with tarpaulins.

What surprised John when he went to the builder merchants to buy timber battens was how empty the merchants was. Normally you are waiting in a queue. No-one there at all. A real sign of the times and the slow down in the housing market.

John is hoping that he can re-use three quarters of the pantiles but will be forced to buy new ones to replace damaged and cracked tiles.

He is hoping to mix replacement pantiles with old ones across the roof, although as the roof is out of sight on one side, it will not matter too much aesthetically if all the new ones go on together.

Most important though is the spacing of the laths and battens to make sure that the pantiles seat properly over each other. The pantiles themselves are S-shaped, side lapping and the ends overlap only the tiles immediately below them.

As the laths have rotted, the occasional pantile would slither off the roof, landing with a crash and a grateful thanks on our part that no-one had been standing in that particular spot.

All I want is for the job to get completed in safety and that John himself does not slide off the roof and land with a bump on the bales.