Taking roof off your house

[frank999]

I'm starting a loft conversion on a hip to gable semi.

To start I need access to the roof area to lay steels, so I will need to remove most of the roof - but retain part of the front facing pitched roof -as it has a gable section connected jutting out over the front bedroom bay window.

I'm going to strip off all the roof tiles as they are shot, prop up the short ridge with timber, remove all the rear and side joists.

Overnight I will construct a 'tent' with tarps battened to a temporary wooden frame work.

Anyone got any similar experiences of doing this, did it all blow away in a terrible storm and result in disaster ?? or stay put and keep things acceptably dry .

 

[noseall]

Any amount of wind will be a disaster unless your working canopy is both well built and well anchored.
Why not ask the scaffolder for a working canopy?

 

[catlad]

It can work but you will spend a lot of time covering and uncovering, and you will have to be prepared to get up in the middle of the night and lash it back down and get the buckets out. Time consuming.

 

[JohnD]

in scotland they habitually lay boarding under the tiles. Seems like a good idea to me. If you nailed or screwed WBP to the timbers it would be weatherproof and unlikely to blow away. You could have removable panels for working.

It will need counterbattens before finishing.

 

[noseall]

in scotland they habitually lay boarding under the tiles. Seems like a good idea to me. If you nailed or screwed WBP to the timbers it would be weatherproof and unlikely to blow away. You could have removable panels for working.

It will need counterbattens before finishing.

Thats what underslaters felt was invented for John.

 

[frank999]

I'm buying and installing scaffolding - and hoping to get away without having to construct an aircraft hanger, but yes you do see them around on such sites.

I'm going to have a tonne of timber delivered, it should be a simple matter at the end of the day totemporarily screw some timbers together, and batten down tarps on top, I could cover the 'inside' ceiling joists in tarps too - just in case.

I have visions of myself staggering around in the middle of the night - in driving rain and wind, be like piloting a yacht I guess.

Wickes Tarpaulin 4x5mt £10.20.

The front roof slope, which will be kept and added to extending the ridge from the existing hip to the gable, is boarded under the tiles, I presume that would need to be removed to match the new section of roof slope - and allow the breathable membrane to do its stuff.

 

[jeds]

I replaced my roof without a canopy so it can be done. And that was during the worst summer on record. You will spend a lot of time uncovering and battening down though, which becomes a royal pain in the end. Wind is more of a problem than rain. Even a mild breeze can cause havoc with any kind of sheeting - no matter how well you think you've battened it down. And once the canopy flies North - then of course you get rain was well. I'd probably have a canopy if I did it again. But it depends how much your time is worth.

 

[noseall]

it should be a simple matter at the end of the day totemporarily screw some timbers together, and batten down tarps on top, I could cover the 'inside' ceiling joists in tarps too - just in case.

I'm still not sure what your intentions are regards protecting from the weather??

Are you constructing a high level canopy from timber that enables you to work beneath?

If so, none of the above paragraph makes sense. It is not a simple matter especially being made out of timber and you will not be able to clamber about on top unless you build a semi-roof.

Or.......are you covering the existing roof timbers with sheeting that you will need to remove each day?

We have built a lot of roofs in all seasons and one of the most miserable jobs is sheeting up for the evening. Underestimate this at your own peril.

We had a rain storm here in Staffs yesterday that would shame Noah and make any builder wish they had never been born.

 

[joe-90]

We had someone around here try something daft like that once - he was reported to the Health and Safety Executive as soon as he finished it because the job didn't have the obligatory "scaffolding by" and within hours the site was taped 'do not cross' and dismantled. Having read a few of Franks posts - I wonder if he lives in the real world.

 

[theoldun]

Having read a few of Franks posts - I wonder if he lives in the real world.

Have read a few also Joe, and of the same opinion.
Regards oldun

 

[frank999]

I know it wont be easy, but I feel quite confident of what i am undertaking,

No I am not looking to construct a 'wooden' shelter above my head to work under.

I've thought further on how I would work this, the house is a hipped semi, so I will remove all the roof tiles, to take the majority of the weight off the roof structure. I will remove nearly all of the joists on the hipped section (ie over the flank wall) to allow me to get the steels in.

The rafters have some sort of light planking covering them so that will be left where I dont need to remove it.

I will batten the tarps to the remaining structure over night-which should still cover the whole area now exposed, for day time 'emergency cover ups - i will use tarps with shock cord and hooks - I'll have to workout what it hooks onto - maybe one end could be battened just in case.

I will judge whether to remove the Purlins and purlin strutts once the tiles are off, cant see why they would be needed once removed. If this part of the roof structure still requires support, I will use acro props to prop up the ceiling below, and transfer the pressure onto ceiling joists with temporary timbers.

Once the floor is fitted I will shore up the existing ridge member, remove the rear rafters and install the steel ridge beam. Once fitted, existing front pitched slope rafters will fixed, and the dormer frame can be started.
Temporary timbers can be run off the dormer (as it is constructed) or the new ridge to allow tarps to be battened over night.

I am buying and installing scaffolding, have read up on the requirements for standard site structures, all looks quite straight forward, although need to find out what loadings I will expect to be putting on the structure and what it can support (ie for any craned supplies to be dropped, and the steels) - I will build a deck over the front garden for supplies to be dropped onto. I will probably need to do some structural calcs, although from what I can see on other sites, standard scaffold structures look capable of supporting what I will be expecting it to support.

I understand as this is a self build job, the councils powers of Health and Safety enforcement are quite limited, be interesting to know otherwise.