My next door neighbour has recently lost his roof due to fire (terraced house) how easy is it to stretch a tarp over the top as the ridgeboard and roof joists are still intact.
would scaffolding be required how could I attach it at the rear as the house is doglegged with the 3rd bedroom sticking out at the back.
I can buy a tarp to cover it for about £60 but how many bodies would I need to fit it.
the old guy next door is 82 so he can't help
much appreciated in advance.
cheers Jon_H
Is this covered by insurance? I would invoke that to get a quick temporary repair. Tarpaulins need anchoring down well, or they'll blow off or wreck themselves in a moderate breeze. You'll need to use something like roofing battens nailed over the tarpaulin into the rafters and facias to hold it in place.
I've relined a roof, but that's probably easier than trying to get a single tarpaulin over. You don't need scaffolding to climb over a roof, but you need it so you don't kill yourself if you fall or slip at the edge. Scaffolding cost me about £300 each for the front and back of a terrace up to the gutter line for
4 weeks (and very little extra for longer). Price varies by location though -- I'm told you can multiply that price by 10 in central London, and you should get a significant reduction for having the front and back done together (mine were done separately).All insurance companies will pay for tempory works. If he has no insurance, he is in the mire.
ken
He has no insurance but the damage to his roof is pretty bad .
cheers Jon_H
Oh s*it, that's bad. The rafters look to have been thinned by the fire, so I doubt any of the roof is savable, except possibly the purlins. Has it really been left in this state for 3 weeks?
Neither would I. As Keith said, I think best you can do is find some emergency help and funding if required. This is really rather more than neighbourly lending a hand, unless it's your trade anyway.
What state is rest of house in? A significant fire can take over a year to get house back in full working order, and that's probably not a viable option for an 82 year old. What caused the fire?
The downstairs of the house is reasonably intact except for water damage, the upstairs flooring seems to be pretty stable but all the ceilings and wall plaster have gone. The Purlins have been damaged by fire also.
It isn't my trade, I boarded up the windows that got blown out by the fire to keep prying eyes from creeping through them. I may try the council as I seem to remember something about roofing grants for the elderly.
The fire was started by an electric blanket left switched on for an hour or two, luckily he had nodded off in the sitting room and woke before the fire really got started. He opened the bedroom door took 1 look closed it and went outside to rouse the neighbours.
cheers Jon_H
Has a structural surveyor looked at it? Weakened upstairs ceiling can cause the rafters to spread (roof to do the splits), resulting in collapse of the front and/or rear walls at first floor level as they get pushed out. Loss of the (weight of) the roof covering might mitigate that risk in this case.
I wish you all the best, but I don't think the house is going to be habitable for some time. If the bloke isn't living there now, you might be able to get a council tax reduction as being uninhabitable.
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