are purlins shared by semis?

Doubt it. They'd have to come from a very tall tree! Mine are in 2 lengths - supported in the middle where they join - just in a single house.

I'd hope not, as it would present a fire path. Also a large chunk of timber, so not economical.

I expect both purlins sit side by side on the common wall.

I'll bet it varies area to area with old houses. Don't some terraces 'oop north' have common roof voids? Or was Coronation Street wrong? ;-)

Indeed they do. Fire and security hazard or what.

The one up and down (with attic and cellar) we lived in was a C19th terrace house but the roof void was separated by walls.

However, the accessible bit at the bottom of the pitch of the roof was continuous along the block of floor houses.

Fire?

We were so poor ... etc.

Mary

That's exactly what I was intending to do, half one half of the board fixed to the purlin.

Kevin

Loads did, north and south. Why would the builders build a wall when they didnt need to? Now most have been walled, but still many arent. Hence the recent nwes story of a group of illegal immigrants caught moving in to the entire loft space of a whole terrace!

NT

The purlins in our loft (1900's) overlap between adjoining lofts:-

Andy

They aren't in my 1895 house, but they are in contact where they pass through the party wall, as they both go right through. However, I doubt the perlins would transmit much noise -- there are smaller timbers doing the same thing which are fixed to the tops of the ceiling joists in mine, and I would be more likely to suspect them.

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 09:24:58 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)" strung together this:

They certainly do, it's confused me once or twice when trying to get above a particular in a very large odd shaped loft. I usually twig that something's amiss when I come across a second loft hatch with the decor the other side of it bearing no resemblance to anything in the property I'm working in!

On 7 Feb 2005 04:23:39 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@mwfree.net strung together this:

Sorry, what are you intending to do?

I'm one of the trustees of such a place in N17. The roof voids were common to several houses I have isolated ours by building a aircrete block wall - the purlin still goes right through though.

In my first house which was in Battersea, I woke up one Sunday morning to find water dripping through the bedroom ceiling, went up into the loft to find the next door neighbours lead pipe leading to their water tank had a pin hole and was spurting a small water fountain onto my ceiling.

There was only a firewall every 3 houses in that street for some reason, so down south as well.

-- Mark

"Ed Sirett" wrote | > ... Don't some terraces 'oop | > north' have common roof voids? | I'm one of the trustees of such a place in N17.

N17 may be north, but it isn't 'oop north' :-)

Owain

I suppose I was trying to say that common roof voids were not confined to 'oop north'.

However the arrangement is uncommon round here and this was one of the first council houses ever built and one of the first houses built since 1666 without a fire break adjoining properties.

Of course not. There are common people in the south :-)

Mary

No. That starts just above Hatfield, doesn't it ? :-)

Always used to be Watford but people who think they're being clever now say Watford Gap.

I think it starts at the river.

The river Aire.

Mary