Glengariff

The roof replacement of a beautiful late 18th century home, situated in the seaside town of Teignmouth, with incredible views that overlook the river Teign, where it joins the English Channel.

This Victorian property was constructed with many timeless features, each being just as astonishing to admire today as they would have been originally.
The roof covering was failing due to its age.

During its lifespan, the roof would have endured severe exposure to the elements. The roof had achieved great results, it was over 130 years old, a true testament to a natural slate roof.

Due to reaching the end of its life, we opted for a slate that would nod to the original Welsh greys (exact quarry location unknown) that were removed. Ourselves and our clients decided on a Canadian slate from the Glendyne quarry. The Glendynes are 98% identical to the Ffestiniog Slate which is inherently dark blue grey in colour. Glendyne produces some of the thinnest high quality roofing slates in the world and was a perfect choice for this project with such similarities.

We replaced anything that wasn't authentic and restored everything that remained. The concrete mortar bedded hips and ridge were replaced with a code 6 Lead detail. We replaced the failed bay roofs with Code 6 Sheet Lead, installed with a traditional wood core roll detail (mop stick).

Glengariff has a hybrid roof with many open areas below it, which are well ventilated, yet it has rooms with vaulted lath and plaster ceilings that are directly below the roof covering and lacking in insulation and ventilation. To upgrade the U-Value of this period roof, we used a product that was inclusive of insulation and breather membrane. This entailed counter battening the roof in its entirety, to ensure adequate ventilation between the slate and the membrane.

 
We were able to add some subtle artistic flare to the roof at the request of our client. We fabricated all the lead pipes to our unique design, which is in keeping with the traditional appearance of the house, a handcrafted lead owl was created that now adorns one of them. We used our signature cast lead finials on all apex's.

One little upgrade which we really enjoyed fabricating was the chimney Aprons. The chimneys penetrate the roof covering at the eaves, meaning the front face is just set back from the guttering. The previous work was poorly thought-out with no kick for rain fall to escape. We used various pieces of timber to create a corbeled detail, that we could mould our lead onto. The chimneys have not only been upgraded technically and with a greater thickness of lead, but now look incredible with this functioning yet original design. We also cast some Tudor Rose motifs that were welded to the front faces.

Please have a look through our photos to see for yourselves what we've constructed for our clients on this project.