Preparing for Winter V

markin

Go for inset panels then only the edges need tiling, but normal panels themselves will protect the current tiles if they still have some life in them.

Or you could do only the side the solar is on and save the best slates for repairing any broken ones.

House buying Surveys often say the roof needs doing but then is fine another 10-20 years

Laura_Elsewhere

Scrimps said:

 Its only a small end of terrace. It has the same slate roof it was built with in the 1930s so it has lived its life and will need to be done 

Are you sure? My parents' house has the same slates it was built with in 1882 and they've never needed work, let alone replaced. An area of flat zinc-sheet had to be replaced, and the flashing where the flat bit met the chimney-stack, and the chimney for that matter, all needed work, but I don't think they've ever even had a slate come loose and we've lived there since the 1970s... 

MandM90

Hi all, the weather has definitely turned here in northern Ireland and I can't wait to get stuck in preparing.

DH spent most of yesterday chopping and moving wood. About 2 acres of our land is wooded and every time a tree comes down or needs to be taken out we add to our stash. The previous owners so left us an abundance of coal. 

We have a stamp duty rebate in the pipeline and some of that is going to be used to fill the oil tank, and also buy some other bits that will prevent us using too much oil including new heated blankets, and perhaps a heated throw or two for DH and I when we are working from home. I also want a larger slow cooker so each meal can be doubled up and we can freeze half.

Also on my list:

Take up DS's curtains and line with fleece

Pack away summer clothes

Take clothes to be mended

Clean up winter shoes and boots

Sell clothes kids have grown out of

Buy some new vests for DH and look into thermal underwear 

mumtoomany

Hello @MandM90. Lovely to see you back, I was thinking about you the other day, and wondering how you were doing. Hugs, mumtoomany.xx

katkin

Finally bitten the bullet and ordered 6m of 150cm wide fleece to add a temporary winter lining to curtains in a north facing room. This costed £36 which seems a lot for fleece but new curtains would be a lot more. Ceiling to floor is just under 3.5m. 

The curtains I already have are linen and lined but aren't that heavy. Of course I bought them after redecorating and they go beautifully with the room's decor - insulation was not the priority at the time when choosing them..alas. The fleece is colour matched, so it shouldn't look too bad. So hopefully this money saving hack will add a bit more insulation to that room. 

Thankfully I'm ok for heavy curtains and blinds in the rest of the house and the doors aren't drafty. 

halfamo

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Are you sure? My parents' house has the same slates it was built with in 1882 and they've never needed work, let alone replaced. An area of flat zinc-sheet had to be replaced, and the flashing where the flat bit met the chimney-stack, and the chimney for that matter, all needed work, but I don't think they've ever even had a slate come loose and we've lived there since the 1970s... 

It might be the supporting wood that needs addressing . We used to live in a slate roofed cottage and Im sure the FIL (architect/surveyor) said that tiles are much heavier and slate roofs cant take the weight if swapped with no structural work (it was the hurricane that brought the subject up) so its possible the solar panels would be too heavy just fixed on top.

Si_Clist

Scrimps said:

Its only a small end of terrace. It has the same slate roof it was built with in the 1930s so it has lived its life and will need to be done before we plan to leave (when we die) ...

Really?  Our slate roof went on when the place was (jerry-) built in 1898 and it's still going strong despite it being in the thick of things during the 1987 hurricane.  If and when it does need replacing, it'll have to be slates because it won't take the weight of tiles without major upgrading of the roof timbers.  That's one reason why solar panels are out for us.

Scrimps

Haha! I knew that this was going to happen. No, I'm not sure at all.

I said to DH that I've started to get wobbles about spending the money on the panels and new roof, especially as I'm reading so much conflicting info on slate lifespans. We had to get our chimney re-rendered a few years ago, the chap advised then that the slate was very brittle and looks like it would need replacing soon. I think he broke a couple by accident. I was having him do quite a few jobs on the house before the kids were born. some of the jobs  he did well and some of them a bit rubbish, he became quite irritating with the poor jobs and I didnt know how much to value what he had said, he wasn't after the job at all....he doesn't do working the scale of re roofing a place.

Walking the kids back from school I can see a good 15+ slates are broken, with corners missing just on the one side of the roof...not the side that was worked on by the odd job man. We have no leaks that we're aware of. 

Scrimps

....and no one else in my street has a new roof. A few have had a few slates replaced.

If we were to get solar panels we need a new roof (the supports would just have to be added to - nothing major). But we wouldn't get a new roof if we wernt getting solar panels and thought it would need to be done soonish anyway. But if it didn't need to be done, then we would be wasting an awful lot of money to save on our relatively low electricity bills.

Grrrr! I am problem solver and decision maker in chief in this household and wish I wernt!  I don't know the answer most of the time and I rarely know how to find out. I have tried to find local people /trades I can trust to help but i don't seem to have a good radar for them.

MandM90

Thanks @mumtoomany it's nice to be missed!

I washed our slippers today, thought I'd better get it done before it gets so cold we can't bear a day without them.

Tomorrow architects arrive. We are basically ripping this place to pieces and starting again (apart from the roof actually which is only a couple of years old) but there will be a big emphasis on efficiency!