Roof Torching Mortar

Where slates are particularly heavy the roof may begin to split apart along the roof line.

Roof torching mortar.

It is not uncommon to find that bats use a roof space. Bats do not pose a significant threat to the building fabric or the health of the occupants and under section 9 of the wildlife and countryside act 1981 it is an offence to intentionally damage destroy or obstruct access to any place used by bats even when bats are apparently absent or to disturb bats while roosting. Roofers who can do this are normally to be found working on heritage properties. This system was commonly known as torching and was used before the introduction.

This mortar and the process is called torching. It is common for the torching to deteriorate and for pieces to fall away from the inside of the roof. Main office the forge brightling road robertsbridge tn32 5hd phone. In the days before roofing felt torching or lime mortar was used on the underside of tiles or slates to keep them in place and to prevent strong winds from getting under the tiles and lifting them.

Instead a soft sticky mortar mix was used both to help secure the slates and also prevent draughts. Torching on pitched roofs is not to be confused with torch on felt used for flat roof construction. Traditional buildings did not have bituminous underfelt beneath the slate or tile roofs. Originally the only recognised roof under coating was the application of sand lime mortar reinforced with animal hair applied to the headlaps of double lapped slates or tiles.

A mix of lime mortar mixed with horse hair is often used for this task. This may applied as either a repair to hold slipping slates or pre emptively on construction.