The roofing employment that gives bodging a undesirable name
The origin with the word “bodging” could be the old custom of sealing the headlaps of roof tiles by trowelling on lime-and-horsehair mortar inside the inside. This traditional procedure stopped rain or snow being blown in, though nonetheless allowing the roof to “breathe”.
It is obvious how, from this sort of noble beginnings, the word “bodge” later came to refer to a clumsy bit of plastering or other repair work, and thence to its current use for any kind of unfavorable work. It is also ironic that a single on the biggest bodges around now could be the sealing of roofs against the issues during the within the - only the current bodging, instead of using dollops of lime and horsehair, is to spray the whole flat roof repair with foam.
I wrote about this process a few months ago, pointing out that spraying foam onto the undersides of slate or tile roofs is genuinely a negative idea. It’s advertised as a cheap alternative to a appropriate roofing overhaul, but is significantly a short-term solution the foam makes it tough for ones slates or tiles to ever be re-used, and increases the likelihood of condensation in the rafters and battens, hence hastening the technique of wood rot.
The National Federation of Roofing Contractors, which represents the responsible end with the roofing industry, even publishes a Technical Bulletin on a subject, which things out the risks that foam under-coatings pose to roof timbers. The Bulletin advises how the foam must not make contact with any on the timbers, which - since the technique involves spraying foam more than the battens - is clearly not possible. A spokesman for your NFRC told me that the only situation where he could recommend a foam under-coating would be to extend the life of an old dilapidated building, such as a farmer’s barn, for another few many years until it was demolished. He said the program was unsuitable for domestic properties, because it interferes from the a couple of essential principles of beneficial roofing practice - that a roof needs to be in a position to move, and that it should be able to breathe.
The foam under-coating industry has naturally been very upset by my comments, and insists there have been no reported cases of condensation or wood rot. This is hardly surprising, as even if any from the industry’s customers were during the habit of climbing ladders and crawling close to on there flat roof repairs on their roofs to examine for problems, they would be unable to determine a lot - the foam stops tiles becoming lifted during the outside, and the battens are hidden by foam over a inside. The condensation and rot are taking location out of sight and out of mind.
Apart from denying the existence of any problems, the foam sprayers are also not more than producing fanciful claims for their product. One business was recently pulled up by the Promoting Standards Authority for falsely claiming that the technique was “Government approved”, and “Recommended by Chartered Architects and Surveyors”. Adverts for foam under-coatings also regularly claim compliance on the Building Regulations, that is difficult to comprehend - my copy with the Building Regs creates it clear that exactly where insulation follows the pitch of the roof, there must usually be a clear ventilated 50 mm air gap among the insulation and also the roof covering. So in case you are thinking of acquiring your roof under-coated, then think again. And in case you have already had it done, and think that the merchandise has been mis-sold to you, then you possibly can want to discuss it as part of your local authority Trading Standards Office.