Over-sized kick in eaves course

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Afternoon again…and again apologies if this appears somewhere, I just couldn’t find anything to match this specific issue.

Our roof has been battened and and fitted with facia by our builders, and I’m due to slate it over Christmas. I have, however, run into an issue around fixing the eaves courses in that the odd combo of insulated (Actis) felting, counter-battens, short slates and quite a large spring in the way the facia has been fitted mean that the standard double-batten and head-fixed eaves course won’t work.

I’ve done a little head scratching, and have mocked up two solutions. I was interested in hearing opinions?

Option 1…largely the standard way, but I’m limited to only 1 first batten due to the way they’ve formed the rafter/facia interface. It means the eaves course nails to the same batten as the first full course. (Ignore the screws…temporary fixes!
AA194A30-5F6A-497B-9AA0-3CDF4DDD4E30.jpeg


Option 1 from side on: the packers under that first batten are needed to keep some clearance between the felt and the batten, otherwise the batten is hard-pressed against the felt and some ply boxing beneath it. It moves the gap/bridge (circled) back a couple of courses which makes me a little nervous…but should be ok? The spring up onto the facia is enough to keep the eaves course tight.
077F1B75-2FEB-49FE-8F26-A80DC8CEFCC0.jpeg


Option 2, with the traditional double-batten, but needing to use a longer slate to get from the first row of battens over into the gutter.
7D477A36-A026-4C48-8480-4AE039AC908E.jpeg


Plan view of option 2, with the re-holed longer slate showing what I needed to do to get everything to fit, and the extra length that will be on show in that first row.
CBEAB5AE-E503-4290-B39C-CE10A2AA6134.jpeg


Im open to all comments, thoughts and suggestions on this-thank you in advance!

Lee
 

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You can see at the chamfered ends of the battens in picture 3 that water pools around them/concentrates at them (because the rest of the felt is relatively dry and it's still wet there

Winding a screw through the felt in that particular location is not ideal, though perhaps by the time water has reached there the chances it will ingress into the house are minimal

The way the felt is bulging indicates to me that the arctic insulation has been pushed up tight against its underside; there is supposed to be a gap on the underside of breathable felt if it could end up being a surface that condensation will form on, and also a gap next to actis for it to thermally perform as advertised - you may not be bothered about these

The gap you've circled isn't really supposed to exist on a roof where the batten projection and the fascia projection align correctly. In practice, and particularly when new 19mm battens are fitted to a roof that was originally laid out for 25mm (worsening on a roof where an original fascia has had felt support trays fitted over without being cut down) it appears in the first few courses because the lowest courses are at the wrong angle and it takes a few courses to feather out and disappear

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If you prefer the looks of 1 but have fixing concerns you could rip wider strips of ply to use as battens; they can be fixed higher up the soaked batten and be long enough to allow slates be fixed near the bottom edge

If the concern is purely about the gap circled I'd say don't worry about it, but try not to stand on slates in that region; they flex a little bit a gap like that would make it easier to snap them, especially if it's reclaimed going back on

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Another small tip; lots of roofers like to fit the bottom course upside down so the dressing ends up looking like a bullnose(left) rather than a saw tooth(right):
 

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Thanks for the input Robin-appreciate you taking the time to reply.

You’ve confirmed what I thought with regards the pooling and lack of alignment. Hadn’t thought about using the wider strip of ply on top of the batten to give me a wider surface for fixing.
 
Also, with the insulation bulging your felt up towards the horizontal battens like that, take care to use fixings of a length that won't puncture the felt
 
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I'm sure that they all sound like bathroom tiles when tapped with a hammer..
 
Option 2
isn't a good idea because the fixings are too far from the gutter which is where on a windy day will try and rip them off. Where the green circle is can you not either pack that baton up of turn a baton on edge to support that slate course better.
 
Option 2
isn't a good idea because the fixings are too far from the gutter which is where on a windy day will try and rip them off. Where the green circle is can you not either pack that baton up of turn a baton on edge to support that slate course better.
Picking individual battens up is a bad idea in my book as it has an unwanted knock-on effect for the other battens/courses.

It may be better to say fix a piece of 3" or 4" x1" in place of the eaves batten, allowing it to drape down further, thus allowing for a lower fixing. It may help reduce the eaves kick too.
 
Catlad/Noseall: Thanks for the suggestions-I’ll look at ripping some strips of ply as packing pieces to sit on top of the battens.

Robin: Thanks for the continued thoughts…and sadly I read your comments on the fixings lengths just a little late! I noticed this afternoon part way through fitting the eaves course that my 38mm nails were poking though, so fitted the rest with 30mms, then got busy with the file to take the tips off the rest rather than risking more breakages by pulling slates off and nailing again.

Datarebal: Great input, thanks for all the thought that went into that. Yes, we’re using them, and yes, as per Robins comment, the ones that are being nailed back down ring like bells, with the dull ones put aside. When you’re on a ridiculously tight budget (hence having to do the job yourself and not pay professionals) and wanting to maintain as much of the original 200 year old character as possible, you make calls that those in more privileged positions may not have to make. For what it’s worth, we’ve had to buy some new slates, and these are being fitted in the first few rows so the strongest/newest are sitting in the most vulnerable position’s.

Thanks all,

Lee
 
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Picking individual battens up is a bad idea in my book as it has an unwanted knock-on effect for the other battens/courses.

It may be better to say fix a piece of 3" or 4" x1" in place of the eaves batten, allowing it to drape down further, thus allowing for a lower fixing. It may help reduce the eaves kick too.
Virtually everything you do in roofing has a knock on effect and teaches you to plan ahead. The baton the eaves course is sat on nearly always needs packing up to some degree depending on the kick on the fascia board, this is best done in my opinion with something easy to use and inert like lead strips.
 

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