A Guide to the Repair of Historic Roofs - Dublin City Council

ROOFS A GUIDE TO THE REPAIR OF HISTORIC ROOFSin comparison with the simple, understated roofs ofthe Georgian and late-Georgian periods. Laternineteenth-century roofs came to be embellished withdecorative ridge tiles, ornate chimneypots or dormersframed by carved timber bargeboards – acombination of these elements lent a fashionableTudor or Gothic Revival character to a building.Parapet gutters, or cast-iron gutters on driven-inbrackets, draining to cast-iron hopper heads andvertical downpipes, were used to collect rainwater anddrain it away from the building.The nineteenth century saw a resurgence in the useof terracotta tiles as part of a revived interest inhandmade building materials. Clay tiles allowed theintroduction of colour and decoration at roof level,creating a whole new aestheticVictorian roofs are often architecturally complex,using a variety of roof shapes, roofing materialsand embellishmentsThe twentieth century to todayThe use of clay roof tiles was revived in the latterdecades of the nineteenth century as part of the Artsand Crafts style of architecture. New roof forms wereexplored and new roof elements introduced. Coloured,moulded and glazed clay tiles were increasingly usedfor finials, copings, corbels, turrets and pantiledroofing. The embellishment of roof features extendedto rainwater goods and decorative ironwork, withlarger, more visible details such as large box hopperheads with embossed insignia and square-profiledownpipes held by decorative clasps, painted to coordinateor to contrast with the building.During the twentieth century the use of slategradually waned, mainly due to its ever-increasing costand competition from industrially manufactured claytiles – and later, from concrete and fibre-cement tiles.In areas close to productive quarries the use of slatecontinued longer. Concrete tiles were made by anumber of Irish manufacturers from the 1930sonwards. Many Land Commission and local authorityhouses were roofed with ‘Marley Ludlow’ and or‘Anglia’ tiles. Flat concrete roofs covered with awaterproof sheeting material were increasingly usedon many building types. Primarily for aestheticreasons, but also due to their poor performance in theIrish climate, they did not generally find favour fordwellings. Rapid and continual technological andstructural innovation in the twentieth centuryencouraged the introduction of new roofing materials,such as metal sheeting products and roofingmembranes, in tandem with new roof forms.The period between 1985 and 2000 saw a revival inthe use of natural slate and clay tiles and theimportation of new slate varieties from, amongstothers, countries such as Spain, France, Canada andBrazil. The fashionable use of natural slate hascontinued into the new century.9