Replacing large area of tiles.

[Moondance]

I have a 1930's bungalow (I would never go on the roof of a taller house) which has never been re-roofed. I need to replace about a third of the roof although I may do the rest if I find the job straight forward and easy enough .
It is covered with Redland 10" X 6.5" tiles (or what ever they were back then). These have become very tapered and need renewing.
Obviously I will replace the battern and fit underfelt.
I just have a few questions that I can't find answers for if some one is kind enough to answer.

What size batten? I know it needs to be pressure treated.

What type and size of nails to hold the felt?

What type and size of nails to hold the batten?

What type and size of nails to hold the tiles?

where should I get the supplies from?


Many thanks for any info given...

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

Sounds like you are looking to save some money by doing it yourself but unless you are very good at DIY you'd prob be best employing a roofer to do the work, by the time you have had scaffold erected, skips ordered etc the cost of the labour won't increase the cost by huge amounts. Plain tiles (which is what you have) aren't the easiest if the roof is anything other than very straight forward.

To keep costs down you can buy all the materials yourself and sort out scaffold and skips (though skips can be VERY expensive for non-account customers, eg, we pay around £175 for a 6 yard skip but you could pay twice that (due to a recent tax issue)). There are plenty of good roofers around who can price you a labour only rate.

Remember also that you will need to inform Building Control if you are re-covering more than 25% of the roof and they will tell you if you need any upgrade of insulation to meet building regs (and they will charge for this)

 

[Moondance]

Thanks for the reply. Yes want to save some money and yes I'm a very good DIY'er. Have pretty much done most things from complete rewires, new kitchens, bathrooms, full plumbing, central heating. I generally know my limits which is why I was going to start with the part of the roof easiest to get to and in the worst state.
Just need to know a few things before I started. Just wanted to make sure it is right.

 

[cumbrianroofer]

if your going to renew the whole roof id use
50x25mm battens you may have thiner on at the moment but would advise on 50x25 i use 40mm alloy nails as felt tacs with a 50x25mm batten 65mm galvanised nails to fix them if they are 10x6 plain tiles use 40mm alloys to fix them supplies you can get from any good builders merchants but as surreyroofingestimater said it is quite a big job and most roofers would give you a labour only price

 

[Moondance]

Cheers for that information. I had read about using alloy nails and galvanised for different jobs on the roof. Thought it strange that just galvanised aren't used for everything..
I will take your advise and start with a smaller area and see how it goes.

THanks again....

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

Don't like to contradict Cumbrian here but 25x50 battens would make it bloody hard to work on them giving a smaller gap to stand on whilst working up the roof, 25x38 batten is to manufacturers recommendations and to British Standard for plain tiles.

 

[JohnD]

I live near the sea, and the roofers here use bronze nails (or sometimes stainless). Galvanising erodes faster than a roof should last.

 

[BethesdaSlate]

Agree with Surrey, 38x25 battens for plain tiles.
Tile nails would normally be 38x3.35mm alloy, or copper if on sea coast (or stainless or bronze, but they are much more expensive)
And don't forget your insulation issue if doing more than 25%!

Galv nails are no longer recommended for slating & tiling as they loose their dipped coating when squeezing through the slate & tile nail holes, and consequently rust!

 

[cumbrianroofer]

completley agree with surrey 38x25 but was thinking 38x25 for a begginer to walk on would be a bit risky didnt want moondance ending up on the floor of his bungalow via the ceiling lol and hope i wasnt misunderstood i meant galvanised for the battens not for the tiles never use galvs for slating or tiling it boils my pi**