| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Merlinn |
RoofingHiI need to re-roof my house here in France. Like a lot of people I cannot afford to get the whole job completed at once. I have some minor leaks in two parts of the roof, which really dont cause a big problem. But they have to be attended to as soon as the weather gets better. I have thought about doing the roof in 2 stages. The first is after stripping it of all its old terracotta tiles, boarding the entire roof in weatherproof boards and then covering all the roof in roofing felt. At least then the roof will be watertight until I can afford to buy the tiles. For the tiles I have been thinking of buying tiles made from recycled tyres. The present tiles cannot be reused. I want to be as 'enviromentally friendly' as I can, but keeping a serious eye on the costs of it all. Does anyone have any advice on the matter, maybe with alternative suggestions? All advice gratefully received.... Merlinn |
| madmonk |
Hi Merllin, have you costed the price of weatherboards etc., it may be cheaper in the long run to get a roofer in to do the repairs, at least you won't have a lot of stuff you can't use when you get around to doing the re-roof, and have you spoken to the mayor? he might not like the idea of a temp job. Since starting on my place in France I have been careful not to upset him you don't know when you might need him. Hope this sounds constuctive. |
| dougal |
I'm sure there will be someone along in a minute with more experience than mine - however, I hope my observations will be helpful !! 
- its an excellent time to attend to insulation. Having a well insulated roof is important in summer as well as winter. - if you are working on the roof (with scaffolding) you can get solar water heating installed more cheaply. The same goes for solar electric ("pv") but I note that you want to keep costs down, and solar pv is not cheap. - I've not come across rubber roof tiles, but my first thought is that they would collect a phenomenal amount of heat in summer... The paler the tiles the cooler the house will be in mid-summer! (It'll pick up less heat in winter too, but there's very much less to be picked up!) - as regards roofing felt, especially if it is to be left exposed for any length of time before tiling, I'd suggest that you seriously consider the use of a high performance synthetic material that should last much much much longer than felt. There are lots of such membranes made of Tyvek. |
| Gervase |
Don't use roofing felt on a pitched roof, it's horrible stuff, leaks like beggary and if it rips in the wind (which it surely will), the whole thing will fly off.
Strip the roof, repair your timbers and then use a breathable Tyvek membrane before battening. Like that a roof will be sound for a few months before you need to put the tiles back on - provided it's not subjected to gale-force winds. What's the problem with the old terracotta tiles - they would be the cheapest and greenest option? And is it possible to find some more from a reclaim yard or demolition nearby if the ones you've got are shagged? Reusing old tiles is always going to be the most environmentally friendly route - and it is also aesthetically the best option. As for car tyres, the CAT has some info here, but I have heard that they can curl in sunlight and look awful. |
| Tay |
A friend here recently re-roofed his house single-handedly as he couldn't (well actually wouldn't - he's a retired accountant) pay a roofing team to do it. Because only one person was working on it, stripping the tiles off completely was not an option, so he chose to do it bit by bit. Rather than hiring scaffolding for the job or buying it, he decided to do the job from the inside.
He took off metre strips of tiles at one time and covered it with tarpaulin as he went. He also had to replace quite a lot of wood in the process, which was sourced from a local timber yard. I'm not sure where he got the tiles from, but they had been used before. I seem to recall him mentioning looking through the free-ads papers for offers. I know that he wouldn't have paid much for them! I don't know how long the process took him, especially as he had other work to do, such as replacing wood and installing dormer windows. If you are interested, I can ask him where he got the tiles from, and how long the tiling alone took him to do. |
| Merlinn |
Thanks everyone for your welcome advice. Maybe its a good idea to go down the using of recycled tiles route, rather than wasting money on boarding etc. I did think the idea of using roof felt might not be such a good idea.
Money is always such a major factor in everything we do here France - just not enough to go around!! No chance here of doing some extra work to earn a bit of cash. Too much red tape. Another problem is not knowing where to go to buy such things as recycled tiles. So much easier in England. I shall have to ask (again) on a French forum for help there. Even though there are many negatives about living in France, the positives far outweigh any negatives. We could have never afforded to buy the house we have here in France in England. We paid just 20k (pounds) for a large country cottage, ok it was in a bad state, but we now have a very comfortable house to live in, with large gardens and stunning views. No mortgage, low living expenses, virtually no council tax. Living here is like living in England 50/60 years ago. No locked doors on house, car or workshop. etc etc etc I'm starting to ramble.............. Many thanks Merlinn |
| madmonk |
Merlinn can you photograph the tiles there are a few places around our area that may have some, I am also stripping some off myself maybe the same, it's worth a try. |
| Merlinn |
Dear Madmonk Thanks for replying to my posting. As requested a pic of the tile I am looking for. Nothing special, but most of the houses around here have the same. The tiles are 22cm x 40 cm Regards |
| madmonk |
Hi Merlinn, these tiles are called "Losangee / Tuile a cote, how many do you need? |
| madmonk |
Just found some at Point P don't know the price, keep in touch they are also the same as the ones we are removing, but as yet we are not sure as to whether we are going for the same again or not. |