I have a stone-built outhouse, used to be the outdoor toilet, ex-coalhouse, in which I keep my e-mountain bike. Unheated, concrete floor, pre dpc days. The roof is slate, single pitch, like a lean-to, but it doesn’t “lean to” anything. Some of the slates need refixing, the ‘ridge’ capping too, and there are visible gaps (no underlay, felt or membrane.) Roof area is about 8 feet square I’d like to remove the slates, replace what timbers need doing, and relay the slates. Q: should I lay a membrane under the slate battens? I intend to fix some Kingspan insulation between the roof joists. Q: do I need to lay a board deck too? All advice welcomed. Thanks in advance.
Strip it off keep the ridge tiles safe and keep and slates that are in a good condition- when you tap them with a chisel they should ‘ring’- duff ones don’t if the timber is in good nick leave it in place Use a breathable ‘felt’ membrane and re batten with new tantalised battens then re-slate using reclaimed slate for colour and size if needed Re bedding the ridge as you finish. New guttering and down pipe? A small scaffold lift would be very helpful
How are you stripping the slates. The old method was to use a ripper, but now they use a slate hammer around the nail.
Thanks for this. I’m glad I don’t need to have a ‘deck’ too. The ‘ridge’ is currently just a cement strip along the top of the wall where the slates stop. I have some ridge tiles that could form a ridge… Hopefully the underlying joists will be in good nick.
