ROOF: eaves

Most clay tiles have "nibs". These are small ridges or pegs at the top that hook over your batons. This means that the lines and spacing of the batons dictate the final look of the tiling. If you get the batons neat, level and correctly spaced the tiles should take care of themselves. At any given point on a roof the tiles are three deep. Although traditional clay tiles are ten and half inches long you only see the bottom four inches. The rest of the tile overlaps to give the three layers. The 50 x 25 mm batons or "laths" are spaced at 4" centres to allow for this.

July 2009: The bargeboard is nailed to end of the rafters. We also added a soffit vent.

To maintain an even slope at the eave you need to add a "tilting fillet" along the bottom. This is a wedge shaped strip of wood that lifts the first row of tiles. There is also a row of half tiles underneath. If you look at the front edge of any clay tiling you will see this double layer. The bottom row of tiles rests on top of the bargeboard (facia) so you need to fit that first. We matched our bargeboard to the existing ones on the house. The only contemporary addition that we added was a soffit vent. This is a small plastic strip that runs along the top to allow air to circulate. Ventilation in the roof space helps keep the timbers free from moisture.

July 2009: The underlay support tray. This prevents moisture from seeping into the timber.

The next thing to fit is an underlay support tray. This is a black plastic strip that protects the semi-permeable membrane from decay and prevents moisture collecting and seeping into the timber. The underlay support tray or "eaves protector" is shaped to fit over the bargeboard and overlap into your gutter. Once this is in place you can lay out your membrane. I used a staple gun to tack this in place. Semi-permeable membrane varies in price but is about £50-80 for a 50m roll. You need to overlap each strip and also allow it to sag about 10 mm between the rafters.