The majority of old roofs we strip are high pitched, had lime render on the back of the slates which was healthy, kept in some heat, kept out some wind and rain.

As the era of lower pitches and Asbestos slates, took over bituminous roofing felt became more popular. It was easier to fix, prevented driven rain and snow in lower pitches and was more wind tight. The life of Bituminous felt roughly equated the life of the asbestos slate.

Over the past 20 years there has been a vast shift back to Natural slate with life expectancy over 100 years. Various versions of 'tear-proof' and 'plastic' felts have arrived and some have gone also. We have had an unacceptable level of complaint from Architects, Contractors and Customers regarding high levels CONDENSATION in their roofs even though the felts are Certified and the suggested levels of VENTILATION have been installed. Identical constructions can behave differently.

Factors such as site situation, occupancy, prevailing wind and aspect of the building seem to play a role also. Because the slaters felt cannot be replaced without removing the slates and battensand also its low cost in terms of the total roof we strongly recommend using Breather Membranes.

We consider Tyvek Pro Membrane is the best product on a number of counts. Tyvek Membranes are flexible sheet materials made from high density Polyethylene (HPDE): they are spun bonded, non-woven and engineered to provide performance characteristics to suit specific applications. Tyvek Membranes are Weather and Windproof, Strong, resistant and Durable. They are lightweight, easy to handle as well as being environmentally friendly and economical.

Tyvek Membranes can make a major contribution to increasing energy efficiency and reducing heat flow by minimizing air leakage whilst aiding safe moisture migration The Vapour permeability of TYVEK, its breath ability, permits not only condensation but also 'built-in' moisture to escape harmlessly without the necessity for energy dissipating airflows through the roof void.

Tyvek also provides a completely weather tight seal in the event of slate or tile loss or damage. Tests have shown that unrestricted air movements in roof voids can result in thermal efficiency losses of 35% and may also be introducing unwanted moisture from the outside in atmospheric conditions of high humidity. Tyvek has the capacity to transmit more than 100 litres of moisture per day from an average house, a figure far in excess of the 10 litres per day produced by the average household

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