Roof Tilers
Cover roofs with tiles, sheets and shingles to form waterproof surfaces.
Wind coming over the ridge
You are an experienced roof tiler leading a crew of three on a half-finished re-roof, with the old tiles stripped and new ones going on. It is 11am on a hot Thursday. The sky is clear, but the wind has been rising all morning. The roof is open, a storm is forecast for the weekend, and the owners have been living with a bare ceiling for four days.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Boss, the wind is picking up. Gusts are catching the loose tiles at the edge. The owner wants us to keep going so the roof is closed in before the weekend. What do you want us to do?
Keep going but ask the crew to take more care near the edges
Care helps, but the gusts keep rising. A tile slides off the edge and lands in the garden, and nobody underneath is hurt only because nobody happened to be underneath.
Pause, secure what is done, and decide again once the gusts ease
You make the roof safe with what you have, and everyone comes down to the ground. The gusts peak and drop at two, and you restart safely. Nobody argues with a call made for the right reason.
Push on at full speed to close the roof in before the wind gets worse
Rushing in wind means loose tiles, slippery footing and tired people at height. A crew member slips and catches himself, and the roof is still open when the weather turns.
I appreciate you stopping, but we have been living under a tarp for days. My son is not sleeping. Is there any chance you could do just the bedroom side before the end of the day?
Say you will close in the bedroom side first, and give her a time
You change the order of the work. By 5pm the bedroom side is closed and watertight, and Mrs Adeyemi thanks you with real feeling. A small change of plan made a big difference to her week.
Explain the wind risk and tell her you cannot promise anything for today
You are honest and safe, but you do not offer her an alternative. She goes inside tired and worried, and does not know whether to hope for the evening or the weekend.
Promise it will be done by tonight to keep her calm
She sleeps better for an hour. But the wind picks up again, you cannot safely finish, and she wakes to find the bedroom side still covered by a tarp and nothing you said was true.
I have spotted a broken batten under where I just lifted some old tiles. It is a bit soft. Do I need to replace it or can I just put the new tiles on top? Everyone else has already moved on.
Replace it, and show him how to check the others nearby
He checks the nearby battens and finds a second weak one. Replacing both takes fifteen minutes. Jarrah learns that the roof is only as strong as what lies underneath it.
Fix it later when you have the time, because the tiles are ready to go on
Later never comes, because the weather does. Tiles go over a weak batten and nobody remembers, and the soft spot is one of the first places a leak could start.
Put the tiles on top, since you cannot see any real problem
The batten is hidden under the new tiles. A few months later it gives way under the weight, and a section of the roof sags. It is a very costly fix for a small problem that was visible.
How it went
By evening the bedroom side is watertight, the rest of the roof is covered and nobody has been hurt. Tilers work with weather, gravity and people's patience at the same time. Could you make the safe call when everybody else wants you to keep going?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The leak that came back after rain
A fictional case set in a roofing crew working on new homes, re-roofs and storm repairs, high above the street.
The situation
Sophie's roofing crew finished a tile re-roof on a family home in dry weather. Three weeks later the owner, Mr Lindqvist, rang to say water was dripping through a bedroom ceiling after heavy rain. He was angry, and told her the roofers had clearly done a poor job. Sophie was sure her crew's work was solid, and her first instinct was to say so.
What they did
Sophie decided to listen first, and went to the house the next morning. She took photos from the ridge and checked the work around the chimney, where old flashing had been left. She found that the original flashing had cracked and was letting water in where the new tiles met it. She admitted that the crew should have flagged it when they relaid the tiles around it, and offered to repair it at no cost.
How it turned out
The leak was fixed in an afternoon and the ceiling stopped dripping. Mr Lindqvist was not delighted that it had happened, but he valued that nobody had argued. Sophie's crew now photograph and note every old fitting they leave behind.
What would you do?
- Why was it important for Sophie to visit the house before deciding who was at fault?
- How might a crew avoid missing a problem like this?
- How would you feel owning up to a mistake in front of an angry customer?