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Having been burned by a series of incompetent ‘roofers’ I decided if anyone was going to be fuking up my roof it might as well be me for free.

I've been in the roofing game since 1986. The best way to do this is to remove the bottom 3 course of tiles & bottom two rows of battons & also the first row of felt (that old 1F will continue to rot over time) Fit the new eave trays & then fit new felt & battons. Replace the tiles & job done.

Can’t thank you enough for this video. I’ve been puzzling trying to work out how to retrofit gutter eaves on a similar bit of my roof (and old extension with timber lintel all the way across - which is concerning in its own right but it’s been there for decades so I’m just replacing the old rotting fascia/cladding and moving on).

However I found the same you had: Zero protection for the membrane from the previous roofers, so it’s crumbling at the edges.

Everything you’ve just done is exactly what I needed to know how to do. I’ve got the same plastic eaves trays already, how to get them in was the bit I needed… removing roof tiles is way less scary than I thought! Likewise fixing any bits of rotten batten or holes in the membrane if I find that (which I expect I will given the age and how it was done originally).

Thank you!!!! Time to crack on now 😎😆

After all the galvo nail doom&gloom yesterday,  there is good news for all aspiring slate rippers.   In the gales back in January 2021 I lost the cap off a vent slate sitting immediately over our bed.  Didn't spot it for about 5 days, rang the insurance, their Adjuster took one look and said that because we had an excess of £500 on roof work due to damage over the last 35 years the likely repair cost would be well below that figure.

OK, the wind dropped a bit so up went the crawler only to discover that the cap was secured by 2 screws from underneath the casing.  I had an old vent that with a bit of trimming could be made to fit but then realised that the sides of the case went underneath the adjoining slates and the top extended over 2 battens.  It was the happy lockdown time so no one would turn out so, not fancying a major galvo-nail war at this point I put a sandbag over the open vent, tied the crawler to the chimney stack, sandbagged it down and waited for the lazy hazy days of summer before I commenced battle.

Best decision I ever made.  Later on, whilst browsing the binternet, I came across the perfect answer in the form of  the "Roof Toof Slate Ripping Saw"  price around £22 + p&p.  Ordered one straight away and when it came I couldn't wait to get started.  Waited for the weather to warm and even though my right hip wouldn't allow me to kneel on the crawler properly so the refitting was trickier than it should have been, the saw made mince-meat of the nails.    

It consists of a thin  56x3cm / 22x1.25in  laminated stainless steel blade with a comfortable handle at one end and a very fine toothed hacksaw blade just projecting from one side at the other.  The bladed section is stiffened for sliding under the slate whilst the rest is flexible to facilitate the sawing.    In addition to the roof I've since found it very useful for sawing through the adhesive at the back of a cladding panel in the bathroom where the idiot of a fitter had buggered it up. Tends to clog up a bit  \8^)  but the combination of the and my old slate ripper did the trick.

They're available from several online roofing stores and from Amazon.  Any slate ripper, trade or DIY, would be crazy not to splash out on this absolutely essential piece of gear.

Cheers Stefan

I had our big 1890s semi re-roofed about 20 years ago.  Next door had theirs done at the same time in Eternit so salvaged lots of their slates as well as our own.   Bitumin  underfelt was put in and despite living about 900ft up in an exposed location there's been no leaks but what i discovered about 8  years ago was that there wer places where it had all frayed before it reached the gutter.   Decided to eaves tray it but found that the kicker slate nails got in the way.  

Bloody nightmare.  I had already had to replace some tiles on a small single storied extension where the window cleaner had walked up to do the upstairs window.  Crawler and ripper to the ready, strip back 3 courses and use the latest spring loaded stainless steel tingle for the top closer, no problem at all.  One thing I hadn't expectd though, was they'd used heavy galvo clout nails when they reslated that as part of the big job [8^O.    None of them would ease up, let alone rip so ended up wrecking both the next 2 and the closer slate as well.

Anyway, lesson learned when it came to the main roof trays.  Managed to ease up the kickers to slip the tray under. found the distance to the nails and trimmed the tray width accordingly.  Really ought to have slotted the try around the nails but it was impossible to locate their position.  Next problem was the lip  on the tray which extended too far across the gutter and caujht the wind.  No multi-tool back then so it was tray out and hand-saw the excess off, back up the ladder and fiddle about again.  That was the rear 1st floor extension and I was at it for days.  Rest of main roof still on the to-do list.   Had to go back up a few times to use the silly stuff where one of the lengths had worked loose in the gales.

So, if you can, put up with it, the noise will eventually go away.  If you can't, get it re-slated with breather membrane and EPs. it will put quite a lot of value on the house.

PS if anyone needs any Welsh slates I'v got a couple of pallets full.


Cheers

Pincers would've sorted that nail I reckon. I've got an old old pair from a junk shop, don't need 'em often, but they're one of those occasional problem solvers you're very glad to have hanging around!

I watch a bunch of DIYers youtube but gosforth handyman is the only one who would vacuum his roof 😂 Thanks for your videos man you’ve taught me a lot 🫡

I wish all roofers would put this kind of effort in as you! Nowadays, they go up on the roof and take as many shortcuts as possible.

Hi been watching your video and thought it was really practical and you tried to make it a straightforward as you could . I am thinking of putting some eaves trays in on a bungalow so height is not an issue so although I’ve no roofing experience  I feel you have given me a bit of confidence to have a go. thanks for a great video.

We had the bottom 12 inches of rotted felt replaced on a roof, cut the rotted felt off and sealant bonded a new 12 inch layer to the remaining good felt. This would be good to do before installing the protectors. Excellent, clear video.

Love it! To see that one job ALWAYS leads to another 😂 it’s not just ME 😘

Very realistic and honest outcome. (These old places always seem to throw up plenty of hidden surprises!) Well done for doing such good and patient work! 👍🇬🇧

Really enjoyed this.  Not doing the work myself but great to understand so you can make clear to the professionals the work that needs to be done.  😀

Its usually easier to push the 2nd row of tiles up to take the 1st row out and give access.  Often times its best to just replace the full bottom wretch of felt as its more than likely holier than thou, and if its not before it most likely will be by the time you've fitted the drip trays. Also there was no need to make custom battens 99% of the time the tile will ride over it without issue. The odd time it doesn't you can just split off 6inch or so back like a chamfer to match the thickness. Certainly the height of the batten doesn't matter at all within reason, 19x25, 19x37,19x50 are all the same the important bits the 19.

Just one other thing I noticed,  you may want to check the tile next to your hands at the very end of your film as there appears to be no side lap with the adjacent one,you need to cut the bottom left hand corner off

Love to watch ur stuff....excellent

Nice handyman solution - kept it to a reasonable budget and it works!

Thanks Andy, some compromises for sure, but keeping it real, including the small multi-use workspace, makes you relatable for the average DIYer !

neighbour has a nice rooftop garden going on.