Love of the Common People (1)

"hole in the roof, where the rain came through"

Paul Young version probably best known. Could have used the Beatles song but that wasn't specific to a roof.

Angie spotted a problem with water coming through the roof over the balcony. In August, son-in-law Barry kindly climbed up on the roof and temporarily fixed the tiles so that the hole was closed.

Now it was time to repair the damage it had done. Normally a broken tile or two wouldn't be a big problem but the roof was wrongly constructed, probably about 40 years ago. The horizontal wooden battens holding the tiles are directly fixed on the felt roof, rather than on vertical battens. Thus any water getting in can't escape and with time rots the battens. We were aware of the problem when we bought the house and knew that one day the whole roof would have to be retiled. The tiles themselves are in good shape though, it's "simply" the support construction.

Unexpectedly Alex who had been recommended to us and who had been around a few weeks ago to inspect the damage, arrived early afternoon and the two of us set to work.

He had to cut out part of a massive wooden beam which amongst others supports one corner of the balcony below and a beam supporting the roof above. I set about supporting the balcony from below, while he cut away above me. A bit of an adventure as the construction as with most things in the house, was a magical mystery tour.

Cut a long story short, we managed to do the job. The Blip is of the final stage of putting the tiles back. Must remember in my next life to invest in a really good ladder when I move in to my first house, the more so if it happens to have coconut palm roofing.