Got a call from one of my long time customers the other day with stained ceilings in her bedroom. She lives across the road from the master of horror.
Started today to set up stagings on the front porch roof — a hot tar and gravel roof.
Will need to strip off 6 ‘ of slates , renail the board deck , Grace the whole exposed area then re slate it with my supplying extra slates to make up for breakage.
Red house is King’s , the big white Mansard is his Library where we relaid all the slates , then on to our set up.
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A few more pictures of the roof were dealing with.
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I been there!!We have good friends who live across the river in Brewah..
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
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according to statistical analysis, "for some time now, bears apparently have been going to the bathroom in the woods."
Shall I stop in and say " hi ".
I might know them went to HS there . You were prolly still in diapers way back then !!!!
Walter,
Looks like a nice project. I will follow along.
I always learn something from your great threads.
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I do not know.
Chuck S.
Chuck,
Thanks for the quick response ! This is just a short project for a client who needs help.
It will be fun to battle a little cold weather and still do a top notch job for this lady.
When can we expect an update on your great thread ??
Soon I hope !
Best regards , Walter
Thanks for the quick response !!!!!by golly, he had responded in a few minutes. it took me close to fifteen min to download things!;)that railing looks like Fypon. if there is a thaw while you are there, photo of the base mount to the BUR roof would be of interest to me.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Nope its all wood.
Glad to get some shots of the pitch pans or whatevers down there.
When are you going to get an air card so you can fully enjoy the pictures on this and other sites ??
gotta go have my plow fixed - just hooked up for tomorrows storm and no power from the starter motor that works the pump.
I've been having problems with the hydraulics on mine - water in the fluid freezing up. Been changing it once a year, but can't seem to get rid of it all. Think I'm ready for tomorrow tho.
Beautiful day today! I was outside on various yard chores for six hours today.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Slateman,
I thought he lived off of Kezar Lake in Maine, no?? And I thought you are in the Bar Harbor area, no?? If so, ain't that quite a hike for you??
http://www.grosshillrentals.com
He has a Summer home down there where he got run into , but no his primary residence is in Bangor.
I live 20 minutes away. I just used his home in the heading so more folks might take a look .
We pretty much call it a day when there's snow on the roof. We had a 1/2" yesterday and the only thing we could find to safely do was tear a cedar shingle roof off.
How do you remove the lower part of the roof with that snow on it and keep the melt out of the house. Or does it not melt some during the day?http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
Grant,
Thats a play it by ear call when the day comes to rip.
I'll use by roof rake to scrape all the loose stuff first. Next week is gonna be cold I think , so this Northwest face shouldn't melt much.
I'll get my upper course removed and dry in with 30 lb. if there's any chance for thawing. I'll renail by hand the roof deck as I work my way down to the metal. I'll Grace the whole area using my Makita hot air gun to facilitate a bond.
Walter
I don't think you will have much warm weather next week. We seem to get some of your weather a little ahead of you, and it is cold!
Yup, it's January so we've got to expect some days in the teens. This is only a short job so the suffering won't be long.
Do you think its an ice damn causing it? Probably a stupid question. This looks like it will be a great post, and I have never worked with slate before.
I think it's a combination of things. Worn out underlayment , valley deposits water onto several lower courses of slates -- some of which are broken and out of place.
I'll post more photos of the removal and discovery process as I move forward.
Grant,
We got 3" or so of snow on Sunday , which had to be removed for work to start.
It was about 5 degrees this morning when I arrived , and the snow had little moisture content. Shoveled off my planks then hooked my rake sections together and hit the roof with the blade and a cascade came off.
It cleaned up well so my worries about melt entering the structure were eliminated.
I wanted to use the integral gutter to use as a step so I carefully removed the ice from inside it.
Walter
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Once I was comfortable with the footing I started removing slates so I could prep the spruce board deck by renailing with galv. 8d , then Grace the boards for the relaying process.
I used a ripper on each nail and a dead blow mallet to start them out to try and cut down on breakage. It worked pretty well.
I prepped half this area by stripping it off , nailing and Gracing - even had a little time to start the laying process.
Picture 14 shows one of the old zinc bracket tabs from when the roof was installed just over 100 years ago
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Some pictures of the renailing and Gracie install.
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Last batch for today.
Lines snapped and some slates going back on.
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Walter,Thanx for sharing. I get cold just looking at those picks.We will be in the 'teens tonight in Georgia.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Chuck,
I finished up the slating today.
It was -3 at 11:30 when I took lunch. It got up to around 7 by late afternoon.
You're getting the cold snap too I see !
I'll put up a few more pictures later.
Walter
Some pictures of wrapping up this Winter slating project.
The prior metal men and slaters used an abundance of tar to hold their slates in place.Thats a process I don't subscribe too.
Once ripped out , renailed and " Graced " I use nails and slate hooks and careful selection of slates and no " black gold ".
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I've fully Graced underneath the end of the valley and will lift it to run slates up under it as well. Then I'll run Grace over the valley metal and heat it so it will fully adhere to the metal , deck, and other Grace.
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Last batch of the slating back in on this home.
Even in this small area I used 60 or more of my salvaged slates because of all the tarred up slates, ones with center " bib " holes and others I broke during removal.
When I left the house Friday morning at 8:30 to go take down the stagings off the porch roof it was still -24 degrees , and when I was loaded at 11:25 it was up to minus 5. Finally got up to 8 during the heat of the day !
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"it was up to minus 5. Finally got up to 8 during the heat of the day !"LOL, that would have made it a bit hard to use plastic roof cement like the previous guys!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Paul,
I'll get some pictures of how those posts attach to the built up roof when the temp. climbs a bit.
I've still got several wooden blocks on top of the roof that I didn't want to hammer loose - setting blocks for the levelling legs.
I can't remember the last time i used PRC for a slate install be it 75 above or 10 below the doughnut.
Nice work especially considering the extreme environment. Man it's gotta be brutal at that temp with any kind of wind howling about.
Maybe I missed it but how do you nail a shingle when the shingle above is not removed? Like in this picture
View ImageThe liberty of discussion is the great safeguard of all other liberties. --Macaulay.
Actually the wind was calm all week for this small project.
The first two days were up to the 20's. Only Wed. and Thurs. were really cold and Friday was just a few hours humping staging down.
The process for tying in the slates below a course thats still in place is handled like this. I remove every other slate from the last row of slates that are staying. In this way I can use a slate hook under the butt of each slate in the row just below -- and can nail one side of that slate and the opposite side of its neighbor. Then a single hook holds every other slate in place on the upper row.
You can just see the ends of the copper hooks in this picture.
Walter
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Thanks, almost couldn't find the hooks at first glance. From the ground bet it's not even visable.
Again Very Nice work. The end results from that pic doesn't even look like anything was disturbed.
The liberty of discussion is the great safeguard of all other liberties. --Macaulay.
Thanks, thats the goal to have same size and coloration of slates that the repair doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.
Since this is the street side in the middle of a Historic District -- it's important to end up with a good looking job.
I know less about slate than I do about women. But I do enjoy reading your thread and seeing the pics.Thanks for taking the time to do it.
There's only one thing worse than the man who will argue over anything, and that's the man who will argue over nothing.
Maybe I'll start a thread about women next ! Nah, I bet I know less than you about them !!
Thanks for looking in. Hope you're unemployment is short lived and you get to go back at it soon.
I know I do better mentally when I 've got something good to do.
Walter
cool!!!!!!!!!
Just curious - every slate job I've ever worked on (just a few, and restorations of pretty old work) had a strip of lath or similar under the lip on the first row as a "starter course". Don't see one here. Not seeing it, not needed, coming later, or . . . . ?
Also, I see you used 4 nails on some of the slates. Howz come?
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Mike,
The lath you describe is underneath the metal apron so it can't deteriorate as quickly and it's more weathertight since the fasteners aren't penetrating the metal.
Sometimes the nailing isn't superb where the original holes are punched so I add extra holes so that I know the slates are securly attached.
The one you're talking about is also at the end of the valley - so it will get extra forces from snow and ice wracking it.
Walter
Ah! The lath is under the terne. You have let the light in again, Sensei! Under the metal makes far more sense than the job's I've seen where it's just under the slate. As for the extra nails, I thought that might be it (near the valleys, etc.) -- just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.
Thanks!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Mike,
I didn't change the metal -- it was left in place , so I didn't need to deal with the lath. It was already there.
Yup , extra nails in places where the forces of nature try to wreck havoc.
Walter
Hi Walter, I see your doing what you do best. looking good, Between keeping the house warm and dealing with life and work the winter is crawling along and should be loosening its grasp on us soon. Have a good weekend. going down to Branch lake this afternoon to remove some snow from camp roofs. take care.
VicCarpentry and remodeling
Vic Vardamis
Bangor Me
Victor,
Yup finished up here just before the big one.
Was up at 900 State St. today for ice removal - the old Freese Estate.
I'll call you soon for a lunch - a two man Fest of sorts.
Stay warm.
Walter
ah, the fickle publicMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
Have you had a chance to try out your new hammer yet ?
no... it's sitting right on my desk ... occasionally ( like every wednesday ) i threaten my bookkeeper with it...
very effectiveMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
If you see a big St. Bernard wandering around. . .
RUN!
;-)
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Or this driven by a clown
View ImageSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Yeah, I hate clowns.
LOL!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I had a very big distrust of them early on (you know.. the John Wayne Gacy thing...) and then I watched Stephen King's "It"... that sealed it.I'm afraid of clowns.
I thought they packed a nice beverage on their chest !!
Looking forward to following this thread, Walter. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Every car, truck and tractor in America should run on natural gas- it's the future.
Thank you for the interest .
Was out doing a bit more of Annes roof- wasn't too bad out there today.
Looking forward to seeing you in Belfast-
Dan,
Hope your flight went well.
You've got record heat out there I hear and we've had record low temps , but it will break tomorrow.
I used the new Tajima line you gave me on this job , worked really well. Thanks again.
Hope work picks up for you out there. Talk with you soon.
Walter
you my friend, are a real man!
How's he making out after that nasty accident years ago? Does he still occasionally DJ at night on the radio?
Only vaguely related, I just had to pick up a DVD of Dick Stacey for Christmas...childhood memories, ya know.
It's about time for another trip down the airline again. Have to be in St Stephen tomorrow for my daughter's hockey, but I doubt I'll cross over to Calais, it's a pain for such a short trip.
Dick Stacey - why that'll be NO CHARGE
Yup crossing over now is a pain for a short trip. There's a crossing up river thats quicker though.
Haven't seen much of Stevie lately - probably in Florida for the Winter. Since the accident I think the cold bothers him more now.
Hey Slateman:
Love the idea of working on a roof in winter. If you have a job to do, git er done.
If you see the master of horror, tell him I am enjoying his newest book of short stories. (got it for christmas and almost done)
Stay Warm
Jeff in PA
Jeff,
I'd rather dress for the cold than work out when it's 90 or above.
I don't think Mr. King Winters here now. The cold doesn't appeal to him since his accident is the word on the street.
Walter
I just said to someone yesterday, I can always put on enough clothing here in Pennsylvania to be comfortable, but cant take enough off in the dog heat of the summer to be comfortable.
Only problem for me is digging thru 3 feet of frost can get expensive when trying to put in footings.
Could be worse!!
And I guess if I did not have to work or could work anywhere and my kids were grown up, I might winter out in Colorado or somewhere a little more sunny this time of year. (but not the south, too hot!!)
>>I'd rather dress for the cold than work out when it's 90 or above.<<
Me,too.
Only 38 is cold here. Texas. <G>
It's hard for me to even imagine doing roof work in the temps you describe.
Every car, truck and tractor in America should run on natural gas- it's the future.
Lots of folks go out to snowshoe and ski cross country in this kind of weather here - so this is not much different ' cept I'm being paid <G>
being paid would make it feel warmer anyway
<G>
Every car, truck and tractor in America should run on natural gas- it's the future.
Steven King?
Stained ceilings?
GET OUT OF THERE!!!
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Nope , not his --- across the street.
I know, I was paying attention to what you said. Just too close in proximity.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi