Slating and tiling embraces a vast area of materials and situations, from re-tiling a front door porch to the restoration of a cathedral and everything in between. To cover all of these crafts and techniques and to make the text appropriate for the many types of person who potentially make up its readership could take many volumes to complete. Thus to cover the basics has proved quite difficult to do within one book of manageable size, but you will find that most of the common skills required in roof slating and tiling are covered in chapter 6, dealing with interlocking tiles, since these are by far the most frequently used material. To get the most out of the book you should read it as it has been printed, at least until the end of chapter 6.

This book is aimed at serious DIYers, self-builders, students, improvers and those new to the trade, but it may also prove useful for more experienced roofers. It covers the tools, techniques and tips needed to install common materials, interlocking and plain tiles, natural and artificial slates on small to medium-sized projects with standard roof shapes and details. The book provides easy-to-follow instructions and techniques, tips on what to do (and what to avoid) and, above all, guidance on good practice. Its purpose is to help the reader to achieve a good quality roof, which will be durable, looks professional and, above all, keeps the water out.

While I have tried to ensure that the methods are in line with all the current British Standards (BS) and Health and Safety requirements, the book is not meant to be a substitute for them. Had I done so, it would have turned into a very long, vague, highly technical and possibly very dull piece of work, full of ifs, buts and maybes. Professional roofers and those who are intending to work on commercial projects should refer to the following publications as a minimum:

BS 5534: Code of practice for slating and tiling (including shingles)

BS 8000, Workmanship on building sites Part 6: Code of practice for slating and tiling of roofs and claddings (under revision at the time of writing) Health and Safety in Roof Work – Health and Safety Guidance 33 (HSG33)

The first two are produced by the British Standards Institute and the third by the Health and Safety Executive. If you are intending to do your own lead work in a commercial environment I would also recommend a fourth publication – the Lead Sheet Manual produced by the Lead Sheet Association (LSA). I have provided details on how to get all these publications in the contacts list at the back of the book.

THE FUNCTION AND PURPOSE OF SLATING AND TILING

The main function of slating and tiling is, of course, to keep the building watertight, to give it a good hat if you like. But slating and tiling are about much more than that, they are highly visual parts of a building, which add to the character of our townscapes in every aspect, from domestic dwellings to buildings of high historical importance.

One side effect of reading this book, I hope, is that you will feel compelled to look up at roofs and to comment on them in your daily life and wherever you go. Those of us in roofing will recognize this affliction (and so, I suspect, would our partners). If you travel about this country extensively you start to notice the character that roofing materials add to places. For example, the clay pantile roofs in areas such as Norfolk and Lincolnshire, the stone slates in the Yorkshire Dales, the different types of natural slate found in Wales, Scotland and the South-West, and the clay plain tiles that give so much character to many of our older domestic properties. Sometimes these materials are deemed to be so important to a building that they are relaid wherever possible, a process that I and other supporters of our heritage just love to see.

While much of what we do has not changed perhaps for hundreds of years, there is another side to roof slating and tiling and that is the new materials and techniques that have emerged and continue to do so. Concrete interlocking tiles and artificial slates have provided a cost-effective range available in a variety of finishes and colours for the new build and refurbishment market, we have modern roof windows which are relatively easy to install, dry-fix systems that replace sand/cement mortar with plastic alternatives, and high-tech roofing felts (underlay) that can ‘breathe’ to help to combat condensation. These new materials are also shaping our townscapes and have added enormously to the ‘pallet’ of roofing materials that can now be offered by the roofing industry.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

What roofing materials you use depends on how much you want to spend, how you want the roof to look and, in many cases, what the local authority will allow you to do.

Cost

With regards to cost, it is not just the price per tile or slate that matters, it is how long it will take to lay it and the other materials that go with it. In general, concrete, interlocking, tiled roofs are at the cheaper end, with clay plain tiles and natural slates being the most expensive. Somewhere in the middle are concrete plain tiles, artificial slates and a range of interlocking and traditional clay roof tiles. All the roofing materials sold by reputable merchants and manufacturers in the United Kingdom have to pass stringent tests so all should provide you with a sound weatherproof covering; provided, of course, that they are fixed properly.

Quality

What you will pay extra for is mainly to do with aesthetics and long-term durability. A good quality slate or clay tile, for example – apart from perhaps darkening – will change little in appearance throughout its useful life and can normally be reused (hence there is also an environmental recycling factor with some materials). Cheaper materials tend to become discoloured and hosts for moss, lichen and other plant growths, some within just a few years of being laid and are rarely, if ever, reused. However, some roof-tile manufacturers do have the facility to recycle old tiles.

Planning Issues

If you are re-roofing then the first thing you need to do is to approach your local authority and ask to speak to the planning department and building control. There are three important reasons why you should do this.

Restrictions

The first is that your property may be in a conservation area or there may be restrictions on the range of materials you can use for aesthetic reasons. This does not necessarily mean that the property has to be hundreds of years old or be listed, it may well be that local authority policy is to retain a certain look to the buildings in a particular area.

Structural Issues

The second is that the roof structure may need to be inspected and approved to ensure that it is of an adequate strength and condition to be re-roofed with the new materials, especially, of course, if there is a suspicion that the new materials will be heavier than the existing ones.

Conservation of Heat and Power

The third concerns a recent change in the Building Regulations in relation to the conservation of heat and power (Approved Document Part L). If you are replacing more than 50 per cent of a roof then it is very likely that you will be required to upgrade your insulation as well. Of the three reasons, this is the most current and the one most likely to have an adverse effect on you later on if you ignore it. The local authority can insist that the work is done (often more awkward or expensive later on) and you may experience problems selling the property until it has been carried out.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Working at Height

Working at heights requires special precautions for obvious reasons. Falls from height still account for one-fifth of the deaths in the construction industry; they are the biggest killer in the industry, yet still people chance their arm, especially in the domestic market. Having seen one former colleague suffer an accident that meant that he could never walk again, another break his leg and countless near misses, I can tell you that it is just not worth risking your neck to save money or to win contracts. People often say that health and safety are expensive, but there is a saying to the effect that ‘if you think health and safety are expensive then you should try accidents’, and in our litigious world it was never truer. Approximately 8.5 per cent (about £4.75bn) of tender prices are lost due to deaths and injuries and the resulting claims and court actions in the construction industry.

For any short-term work (less than an hour) the minimum safety equipment required on a pitched roof is an access ladder plus a roof ladder. However, if you have good edge protection and you can use the battens (which must be in good condition) as footholds, then normally you do not necessarily need a roof ladder.

For anything more extensive than a few roof repairs you should have a suitable working platform. This can be anything from a lightweight, quick-form tower (from a hire shop) to a full tube and fitting scaffold. The choice is based on the risks involved, but certainly for full new or re-roofs you should employ a competent scaffolder to erect a scaffold fit for purpose. The working platform should be as close to the eaves as possible (set no more than 300mm down), because you should be able to step safely on and off the roof without any risk of injury.

You should also ensure that, if there is any chance that you could fall through a roof (that is, between the rafters), you should consider the risks and put the correct controls in place. Internal protection can range from boarding out above the ceiling joists, to air bags and full safety netting on larger projects.

The following checklists should help with regard to providing a safer working environment while carrying out roofing work:

Access ladders must:

Roof ladders must:

Working platforms must:

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal protective equipment is the last resort in health and safety. This means that, if you have to put yourself at risk to do the work because there is no other way of designing out the hazards, then you need to wear the right equipment. The standard PPE for a roofer would include a pair of heavy-duty gloves to wear when loading the tiles or slates, appropriate protective footwear, a hard hat and, when mixing or using a disc cutter, eye protection, ear defenders and dust masks. When choosing PPE you should always ensure that the items are fit for purpose, especially eye protection, which should be selected to cope with any impact force that may be placed on it. If in doubt, then always buy from a reputable hire shop or DIY store and explain what you want the PPE for before buying it. But, whatever you do, do not just go for the cheapest, getting the right equipment could save you from a bad injury.

Dust Suppression

From 2012 it is a legal requirement to use dust suppression when cutting all roof tiles and related materials, due to the risks involved with the inhalation of silica and other dusts. The standard method is to use water attachments, which are available to fit most disc cutters. The appropriate PPE must also be worn by users and others who may be at risk.

Lowering and Lifting Materials

Wherever possible, you should try to avoid carrying things up or down a ladder because of the risks involved with your falling or dropping something. Often, of course, on small projects and one-offs it is not practicable to hire or buy specialist equipment, but I shall briefly cover the main ones in use for those who may be intending to work in more commercial environments.

Forklift Truck

Virtually every site will now have a forklift truck to move, load and unload lorries and raise and lower materials. Only trained and designated people should operate the forklift. Materials raised to working-platform level should be placed on special loading bays designed to take their weight, not on the main scaffolding.

Vertical Cage Hoist

Cage hoists are normally used on buildings that are of three storeys or more and, in particular, where there are many pedestrians such as a town centre or in public buildings. They should be erected and dismantled by approved, competent people only, and the user must have undergone the correct training (often training is carried out on the job, by the hire company).

Inclined Hoist

The roofs on most one- and two-storey properties can be serviced by an inclined hoist. There is a range of these available, normally they are designed to take bricks and blocks as well as slates and tiles up to the working platform and they do this via a series of raised plates attached to a belt or chain driven by a fuel-powered generator at the bottom. Unlike a cage hoist, which is for others to erect and dismantle, most inclined hoists are set up, used and taken down by the roofer. When purchasing one of these hoists the companies often offer free training on how to do this safely.

Chute

When stripping a roof it is important to ensure that you use a chute or some other safe means of lowering the materials (for example, in a container by forklift truck). This is particularly important in areas where you would expect to find many pedestrians or on a public highway. Chutes should be erected and dismantled by a competent person, normally the same one who erected the scaffold.

Gin Wheel

For small loads that can be properly secured and pulled up by hand, gin wheels can prove an effective, low-cost item. Apart from the obvious point of not trying to lift or lower more weight than you are physically comfortable with, the important things to remember are that the gin wheel should be in good condition and correctly fixed to the scaffold, the rope must be also be in good condition, the area below cordoned off (just in case), the method of hooking and unhooking pre-established and the user wearing gloves.

MEASUREMENTS

Metric vs. Imperial

Many slaters and tilers still work in imperial measurements and some (like me) switch between imperial and metric to suit the situation. But, if you are new to the trade, I would encourage you to use metric only for two main reasons: first, because converting from one to the other can cause errors, and secondly, most things (including setting and marking out) are much easier to learn in metric. By now, of course, we should all be working in metric, and so, at the risk of upsetting some of my peers, I have (apart from the occasional reference to explain a point) tried to avoid imperial measurements throughout this book.