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RE ROOFING A FRENCH LONGHOUSE - HELP


Janebailey

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Has anyone any idea the possible costs involved for re-roofing an ancient long house - slate tiles - area approx 15m long with each side of roof approx 9m high, i would like 4 fenetre de toit or Velux included,  dept 53.  Also are own brand eg Castorama velux windows as good as Velux themselves?

Many thanks

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I would be wary of depending on a price direct from a forum as each job is different and the cost depends on several factors;

The condition of the existing chevrons (rafters) and charpente (main support A frames and purlins). If they are oak, and in reasonable condition, a roof can be stripped of all it's slates and voliges, then the existing oak rafters levelled off, re-battened, (and counter- battened if using a membrane), followed by slates or false slates 'fibro cement' held on with stainless steel crochets (slate hooks). The fibro ciments are cheaper but have a limited life and can tend to "blanche" after 15 years or so. There are also several different grades of natural slate available.  The cheaper grades of slate have a lot of iron pyrites in them and will rust and look awful with stains after a  year or so.

If the rafters are too out of line and are in a bad condition then it is often more cost effective to replace them with new treated pine ones.

I do quite a lot of roofing in the Dept 53 Mayenne, as I employ a French roofer.. I always use choix A slates (Samaca C47) which denotes the Spanish quarry. Some roofers will do the front of a house in good slate and the rear in cheaper to keep costs down.

Regarding Velux type windows, I would always plump for the Velux brand. We install on average around 10 a month. There are a fantastic range of external and internal blinds and  accessories available, together with a 20 year guarantee and an excellent after sales service for spare parts and glass. ( I have just replaced the glass in a 20 year old velux in Domfront). The Other brands I have never used but doubt if the after sales service will still be there in a few years.

If you want any further advice or info please PM me,

 

Paul

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No probs. There are two mains types of "fake" slates. The cheaper Ordinary Fibro ciments look a bit too clean cut and are too regular and squared off at the edges and so do not look like slates, but are the cheapest. I do not use these so do not have a price to hand.

If we use fibro ciments, we use a type that has a structured edge, that to the untrained eye look quite like real slate. These are 40cm x 24cm in size. Real Spanish quality slate size 32 x 22 cm, work out at about 12 euros extra per m2 of roof coverage, as opposed to fibro.

There is not that much difference in installation cost although fibros are a bit quicker due to the increased size.

Paul

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