Award winners for Roof Slating

Kingsford Estates selected Edinburgh based Traditional Roofing and Building Limited to carry out a complete roof restoration of a unique property in South St. Andrew's Square in the centre of Edinburgh. The project won the company first prize in the Roof Slating category at this year's Scottish Roofing Contractor Awards.

This was a large contract in which a specification should have been issued but was not. However the developer trusted the company on their technical knowledge and roofing skills to carry out and complete the roofing project to a high standard.

This project was in the city centre, which in any normal circumstance can be a difficult area to carry out external property. But to make matters even more difficult they had to contend with the on going tram project construction which was directly outside the property. This made getting materials and debris off and on the property at the front impossible. So all materials and debris was required to be taken over the roof by hand and down the rear elevation of the property where it was just possible to remove and load the job.

Over the years this property had a lot of questionable repairs carried out and so a lot of the original materials were no longer in place. As this was a listed building, the original materials had to be reinstated leaving a quality finish for the developer.

Although a listed property the company introduced breather felt under the slates to provide ventilation instead protruding vents. They also recycled the original Scottish slates as these were of good quality.

On the slated slope work each second hand and original slate was inspected for quality, dressed, sized and re-fitted back to the roof slopes. As you can see from the photo’s the time and care taken cutting the slates around obstructions and flashings is of an excellent standard.

The lead sheet was reinstated around all the dormer window heads and flashings to reinstate the original material in these areas.

There were a number of other trades working along side Traditional Roofing and Building such as joiners, stone masons and builders - all of whom required access to the roof to continue with their own work schedules. So not only did they have to contend with the tram project, they had to make allowances for others. Scaffolding was also constructed in certain parts of the roof so the masons could carry out chimney work - all of which they had to work around and keep the roof watertight. This project was carried out over the December/January period with low temperatures, snow every now again and a lot of rain but the company managed to complete the project within the agreed time frame.

The company's apprentices were involved with this project and were able to carry out part of their on going training which was obviously closely supervised by experienced tradesmen. They were involved with slating and lead work and even had a turn in the lead burning and dressing.

The whole workforce are skilled and trained in these types of traditional methods of work which was a contributing factor to being selected for this project as was the high standard of workmanship.

For further information visit www.traditionalroofingandbuilding.co.uk