I always like to hear about things going on in the world of energy policy, central heating & boilers, renewables, home insulation, roofing and house building in general.
I can be contacted at jon.davies@great-home.co.uk
Alternatively, snail mail will get to me at:
Jon Davies
44 Albion Close
Lincoln
LN1 1ED
Hi Jon,
We have a bungalow with two rooms facing north, when the rooms warm up in the evening the next morning when it’s been a very frosty night the ceiling above the radiators which are on the window wall are quite wet, enough to take the emulsion off on your hand! Just for about 12 inches into the room, which is below where the roof tiles come right down to the guttering. I checked the loft insulation which is ok and the loft side of the plasterboard ceiling and this was as well dry. I take it the cause is the hot air from the rads hitting the cold ceiling roof? Do you think buying some Jablite insulation board and laying it in the loft above the problem area would help eliminate the problem? Many thanks for any advice.
The slate roof on my bungalow is being renewed and the roof says that it is not necessary to apply mortar to the verges on the gable end. Is he correct? What purpose does the mortar verge serve?
Hi, This may not be the right place to ask but…
I have had a survey done on a property and it says that we need to replace a rotten rafter as well as add support to a separate displaced rear hip rafter due to a chimney stack removal. I am unsure whether to contact roofers or builders about this but wonder if you have any advice or can give me a rough guide on price (or know someone who can!)?
Hi Leoma
Sorry for the delay in replying. It’s hard to visualise the specific repair work required on the hip rafter and whether it just needs more support or physically needs to be jacked up. If all the work can be done from inside the roof space without the removal of any roofing membrane and tiles and provided you can physically get the timber into the loft then the jobs do not sound like major ones. You are talking some basic materials plus a day’s labour maybe. If the work has to be done from outside then this is going to be more costly in terms of scaffolding and the removal and replacement of hip tiles, battens and roofing membrane. A scaffold tower would bump the cost up by £200 and removing and replacing elements of the roof adds to the labour (another day) and materials (new battens and membrane plus mortaring would maybe add another £100). These are by no means precise figures!
Many general builders are happy to do roofing work; if you are having a whole roof done with leadwork etc then specialist roofers can often be quicker and cheaper. For a quotation like this I would be looking for local roofers and builders recommended by family and friends as a start.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Jon