Admittedly, that house would now be worth around £400k, but let that pass. It did not start well since it isn't safe to work on the roof in the rain, even with scaffolding. And the weather forecast was pretty gloomy. But slowly, slowly, far too slowly for my tastes, the work got done.
I opted for a slate roof, the type of roof that would have been there when the house was originally built. In fact the type of roof that was removed. This old roof had to go because there were large holes in it. Repairing it was impractical. The holes were so large that the voluminous insulation was utterly saturated. The roofers said it weighed a tonne and would probably have brought the ceilings down, if nothing had been done.
Although the new roof is slate and looks rather wonderful (if you happen to be a seagull passing by) both my neighbours have Marley tiles. So it was, perhaps a bit of an eccentric decision to go back to slate.
But the roofers got enthusiastic about the decision and opted for a rather sophisticated mix and match, rather than tiles of identical size. It looks better and is more authentic.
Happier seagulls.
The job got finished eventually and now I have a dry loft with plenty of storage space and properly working loft ladder.
Jonathan Brind