The team at DPR recently got a call to carry out a refurbishment on a historic roof in the centre of Huddersfield. It was a complex job which took all of our 28 years of experience to carry out, as well as most of our new equipment.

The first challenge with this particular job was the location. It was ‘slap bang’ in the centre of Huddersfield town, right above a busy commuter packed bus stop. This meant that the scaffolding had to be erected outside of these peak hours, in fact we erected at 4.00 a.m. to comply with our own health and safety procedures plus keeping the Kirklees Highways Dep’t happy.

Also, as there was an increased risk to the public we could not dispose of rubbish in our usual manner. Instead, we had to attend the site each morning, well before the first bus came, and carry the previous days waste down by hand.

Then there was the roof itself. This particular roof was well over a 100 years old. However, far from a replacement, the roof simply needed refurbishing. This particular roof was made with York stone slates, which will easily last another 100 years. So, the team at DPR turned each and every single tile, by hand plus supplied many tonnes more due to decay of some parts.  

The process first involved removing and storing each of the slates in exact order, so they could be replaced in the exact same location they came from. In order to try speed up the job most other roofing firms would not store them as specifically as we did. This meant that they would have an extremely difficult time putting the roof back together and would ultimately create a lot more waste and, ironically, would probably end up taking longer than if they had just done it right the first time.

Also, the roof would not have the same uniform appearance that DPR managed to achieve, as aside from a few slates which were beyond saving we replaced each and every slate where they came from, albeit flipped onto the other side.

As well as turning the tiles we also repointed the chimneys and of course laid new breathable roof membrane. We’d be very surprised if the roof doesn’t last for another 100 years, or more.

 

To find out more about the roofing services we provide just call DPR on 0113 335 0043.