TECHNICAL Home truths
50 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking August 2019 http://www.getwoodworking.com
Go away. I’m avoiding roofing felt because it ends
up tearing and looking tatty. I’m not about to build
a monument that will last a hundred years, but
neither do I want it to disintegrate after two.
Here began a train of thought that once I got
on, I couldn’t get off. Concrete roof tiles, ridge tiles
too: I have stacks of them doing nothing. They are
the only visible remains of a Woolaway bungalow
that was demolished to make way for the one I’m
living in. I like concrete roof tiles; common sense
over-rides aesthetics and anyway they don’t look
bad. The main thing is that they interlock. On my
last house I had clay pantiles. They don’t interlock,
they overlap. Sort of. Most of the time they were
fine but in a north-east storm they leaked. I tried
everything: there was nothing I could do. I still
have dreams of water pouring through the roof.
They are not nightmares: I seem to cope quite
well, but I’m always pleased to wake up.
Concrete tiles (I probably don’t have to tell
you this) are heavy. Constructional timber from
the yard comes as 2 by 2; 3 by 2; or 4 by 2in (50
× 50; 50 × 75; or 50 × 100mm). You could build
a full-size house with 2 by 4s, so Wendy would
be wildly overweight. 2 by 2s are a bit skinny
considering any jointing, and material defects.
3 by 2 then. Sorted. Standard roofing battens.
Hefty screws and nails. Chop saw, table saw,
jigsaw, mortiser and bandsaw all on stand-by.
Workshop arranged to give large open space.
Tape measure. Pencil. Go!Frame up
The roof tile as a unit determines the size of the
roof and, to some extent, the slope. A pitched roof
of two 2 × 5 tile slopes covered a room big enough
to play in, and small enough to be cosy. My initial
thought was to have the walls flared outward and
also clad in tile. This would make a façade shaped
like a frame tent. We’ve had lots of good camping
holidays and festivals, and this would be a positive
image, at least for Imogen. The façade would have
to accommodate a doorway and a window or two.
I made the roof frames, jointing them with
through tenons – such a satisfactory joint, strong3 How the kitchen end comes apart, prior
to assembly in my garden, prior to installation
in Bristol. I think it’ll all go in the van
2 6 by 1 (150 × 25) sawn tanalised softwood is
rough stuff. It will expand and contract with the
weather, but to give it its best start, I cramped before
screwing. Just visible in this photo is a near-mistake.
I have the side frame screwed to the back frame from
the outside. When that last plank is fixed, I wouldn’t
be able to dismantle for transport. Duh! Now it is
screwed from the inside5 Initial assembly. I could have clad it indoors, but I
wanted to be sure that I could move it; and I wanted
to be able to stand back from it to see it properly.
Now I think the doorway might receive a drip
moulding like an eyebrow. That gable end needs
a little something1 House under way: you need space for a thing
like this. The spirit level wasn’t involved: construction
is by measurement. The back frame (nearest to the
camera) is from lighter stock and not mortise &
tenoned (overkill given its position). Instead it is half
housed and screwed. I still don’t like screwing into
end-grain, but concede that here it makes sense.
Nothing is glued4 More components. I was reluctant to dismantle the roof. I had a long discussion with myself about the sense
of lifting this into position, damaging my back and being unable to move for six weeks, then like an improbable
weight lifter, I rotated it, lifted it above my head and walked it over three standing sides. Not difficult at all as
it happened
and rigid, keeping the frame inevitably square
and true. Mortises first as always. The mortiser
is a magic machine. Who’d have thought you could
drill square holes? My largest chisel was not large
enough, so each mortise involved four cuts (two
from each face, and the workpiece flipped left
to right), which was a bit tedious but produced
a mortise precisely in the middle. Tenoned pieces
cut to length, then shoulders of the tenons cut
very slightly over, on the table saw. Cheeks sliced
off on the bandsaw. Trial the bandsaw on a piece
of waste first until the fit is right. Aim for a push
fit not a hammered fit because it makes life easier
and risks less damage.
Most tiles rest on other tiles. A bottom row
cannot, so a spacer must be fitted on the roof to
maintain the pitch. 25 × 50mm tanalised roofing
batten was just the right size – two face down,