We have a weird-shaped house. It is probably best described as an irregular polygon, built into the hill, oh and with an atypical gable roof. Yeah, weird.
We also had chimney and damp issues: the ballad of the Calder Valley house. In the loft bedroom, it was pretty much a barn during winter, which whilst hardy making, isn’t the most comfortable or any help to said damp and mushroom-making mould which after years of rental botch jobs was starting to be a problem.
We made contact with Declan last summer first who came to visit and provided an estimate for initially the chimney work, he also gave us an estimate for ‘the ideal’ works which included a total re-roof with felt insulation, slates, chimney leadwork and ridgework.
We ummed and ahhed for a little bit but also decided that we wanted the internal rooms re-plastered too with skimming and insulated plasterboard on the slopes as we didn’t have anything more than a
board previously! Hence said barn. But it meant a further estimate and some further umming and ahhing from us.
Throughout, Declan was patient whilst awaiting our decision as this took us into winter and likely then to be next year but finally we agreed to go with all the above due to the necessary disruption required and the goal of having a top floor of our irregular polygon dry and warm for years to come.
So we took the plunge, and Declan project managed the process for us and scheduled our work in early spring. We had lots of questions beforehand and Declan responded to everything simply and with expertise – for which we clearly had none! We also got electrical work provided too with lights, plugs and a new extractor fan for the bathroom as well as a radiator installed.
Declan’s team are really polite, respectful and above all professional and want the job done right. Oh and also really patient because of the polygon/gable oddity – sure many others would have turned it down. The roof work was not easy and with the technical angles required and battling the valley weather, the team persisted through some awkward hurdles but it’s fair to say they have provided an incredible result. The internal plastering team were also perfectionists and added the cherry (underneath) of what was happening on the outside.
We’re really pleased with the end result and sure the team were equally satisfied due to the complexity. Everything was also left tidier than probably how we left it to begin with – something we would have happily conceded due to the work needed! It has set us up really nicely to start making it a cosy and warm top-floor bedroom/bathroom. We will definitely be using Declan and team in future as our weird-shaped valley house has a few more quirks in it yet...
Traditional Roofing
Traditional Roofing
