Letters: French roofers' tiling error made it rain in my home
Connexion reader shares a hard lesson on making sure your canal tiles are are correctly positioned
Each roof tile must be positioned to overlap the tile below it
Harry Wedzinga/Shutterstock
To the Editor,
Nick Inman wrote an interesting article on canal roof tiles, but he missed one point! Canal tiles must be laid in a specific manner – namely, tiles higher up the roof must overlap those further down.
I point this out because I paid for ‘professional’ roofers to clean and fix my roof.
All the tiles they moved/replaced were the wrong way around and the first time it rained my roof was like a shower.
Read more: Roof tile shortages delay building projects and repairs in France
Luckily, my son and I were able to get up underneath the tiles, in the loft, and slide the tiles into the correct positions.
There is one other thing I would like to pass on. Some of my tiles were still cracked or broken.
As I am not able to get on to the roof to fix them, I found that by cutting and flattening the foil boxes usually used for freezing foods, you could fashion a very thin ‘tile’ to slide under the problem tile. A waterproof solution.
Ross Anderson, by email
Nick Inman replies: I am grateful to this reader for emphasising the need to overlap tiles and for reminding people that even if you get a pro in to do a job, it is wise to know how it should be done in case you are let down.
Let me add one observation: keep tinkered repairs to a troublesome old roof to a minimum or you might inadvertently create new problems. Sometimes there is no alternative to replacing tiles.
