Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Holes in the roof
Intentional holes I would add. After shopping all day Monday to buy heaters, towels rails and roof vents today seemed like as good a time as any to get on the roof. I'm not that keen on heights but the only way to install the roof vents was from the outside. Two vents, one for the septic tank (waste gas from the bacteria) and the other for the VMC. The VMC is a small extractor fan unit that sits in the loft and extracts moist air from the bathrooms and the kitchen via a network of ducting. It's a standard fitting in French houses (and gites) and quietly runs 24 hours a day sucking out damp air. There is a detector in the unit so that if the moisture content increases (during a bath or cooking for example) it sucks harder.
The vents are about the same size as a slate tile and are almost a direct replacement for a slate and fit flush with the roof line. The previous owner of the house left a home made cat ladder that rests on the roof with the bottom of the ladder sticking into the guttering. I've seen the French roofers doing the same thing, using the guttering to support the cat ladder on the roof. Fortunately all our guttering is zinc and very securely fixed to the gite. I'm not sure I'd do the same with plastic guttering.
Once the first slate (the hardest) is off the roof the others just slide out because they are all held on with stainless steel hooks. One end hooks onto a batten and the other to the bottom of the tile. You need to remove about 10 tiles from around the proposed site so you can slot the vent in place and get the flashing under the adjacent tiles. Replacing the tiles is as simple as removal, just hook them over the hooks working from the bottom up. The last couple of tiles are the hardest as they sliding up under the existing tiles. It was much easier having someone inside the loft space to coax the last couple of tiles into place.
Now my knees have stopped knocking I can have that glass of wine postponed from lunch.
| 7:09:15 PM
Holes in the roof
