Recently, Bob Wall, Director of IBIS Roofing has been closely involved with helping bring the beautiful historic Hopwood Hall back to life. Whilst this has been a long and difficult journey, there have been some pleasant surprises along the way.

One such example happened a couple of weeks ago when Bob was showing a contractor around in the dark with torch in hand. As they carefully negotiated a pre-agreed route along the floorboards, one of the boards gave way to reveal an intriguing sight.

Nestled a matter of inches beneath the floorboards were a pair of leather clogs (possibly Georgian).

IBIS Roofing are proud to be associated with the recent and ongoing works over at Hopwood Hall in Middleton, near Manchester.

The Hall had all of it’s lead stolen by thieves and IBIS has been involved with replacing the lead waterproofing with temporary GRP waterproofing, which is effective in terms of keeping the water out and also does not have any re-sale value.

Jacobean detail from the interior

What is at stake is one of the most important  Hall’s in the North West of England. It was originally built in the C15th and extended over the subsequent centuries.

Aerial View

IBIS has been involved at all stages of consulation. We provided a conservation plan which mitigated any problems with our interaction with the building. Scaffolding was designed not to interfere with the historic fabric or cause undue damage etc.

IBIS also helped prioritise which areas needed attention first to save the maximum amount of historic fabric.

The result is that the core historic fabric of the Hall is now stable and ready for further conservation by specialists.

Temporary GRP Waterproof covering installed by IBIS

IBIS Roofing were delighted to be able to get involved with a small but satisfying project over at a grade II* listed building by Edgar Wood in Middleton.

Long Street Methodist Church and School was built in 1899-1901 and is a beautiful example of Art Nouveau architecture.

The roof is made of stone slates and the bays to the porches are covered in lead.

Several issues were  causing ingress and dampness to the courtyard porch, including wear and tear to the lead bays; poor detailing to the outlets and movement of the coping stones to the verges.

The refurbishment took place over a two week period from an alarmed scaffold access.

It involved stripping away the stone slates, removal and replacement of all the lead details, creation of a new lead outlet and re-instating of the dislodged coping stones.

Below are some photo’s taken during the refurbishment process:

I spent some time with master craftsman Andy Livesey today who is working on a project for IBIS Roofing which involves the installation of lead collars to piping. I asked if I could photograph the lead burning process, whereby he burns two sections of lead together to form a watertight seal. It is an extremely difficult art . Andy started off with checking out the oxygen and acetyline (the gases used in the burning process).

Next he cut himself a strip of lead (this strip is melted onto the joint to form the watertight seal) and cleaned each side with a scraper.

Then he lit the torch. Andy spent some time regulating the flow of gas and acetyline to produce the right type of light and heat.

He then started to work on the lead collar (which wraps around a pipe to weatherproof it) by melting the strip into continuous circles - making it look really easy.

Upon completion it looks something like this.

Andy has to produce approximately 40 lead collars for this particular project.

Thanks to Andy Livesey

IBIS Roofing have recently completed some work at Saint Andrew’s in Blackley. Situated within a conservation area, the site is a wonderful amalgamation of church, parish hall, and rectory - all linked by a corridor. Built in the latter half of the C19th there are some wonderful detailed touches to the roof including patterned and coloured slates.

“The site is a wonderful amalgamation of church, parish hall and rectory.”

IBIS were asked to provide guidance on the refurbishment of the parish hall and also carry out some diagnostic work on a leak in the south aisle. The resulting work included a full refurbishment of the parish hall;

a strip back diagnostic of the south aisle;

a full refurbishment of an outbuilding;

and replacement of flashings to the west end parapet gable.

A conservation plan was produced which took on board the special nature of the buildings including advice on protecting the decorative details and preserving as much of the original fabric as possible.

The conservation plan was fed into the site management process to ensure that all were aware of the issues with such a sensitive historic building.

It was decided to split the project up into different phases and phase the scaffolding accordingly so as to reduce the risk of vandalism. IBIS ensured that an assessment of fixing places for the scaffolding allowed for minimum intervention and did not damage the integrity of the building in any way. Yellow end caps were used on all posts facing the facade and Harris fencing was used around the bottom of the scaffolding.

IBIS ensure that their personnel have an understanding of the historic nature of the building prior to work start and therefore they ‘connect’ with the project.

Mark Holden and Rick Morgan measure out lines for striking the perpendiculars

The project was an outstanding success which finished on time and within specification.

The Parish Hall complete with new roof

Saint Andrew’s is a wonderful example of late Victorian architecture

Common features abound. One such feature are the corner turrets and domes which can be seen often along the streetscape.

IBIS were asked to replace the ageing lead on such a dome in the south of the town. The owner was very pragmatic and had an understanding of the significance of the dome and its relationship with lead sheet metal. Some think that it might have been easier to replace the lead with a felt or bituminous substance and of course, the initial cost might support this idea. But, and it is a big BUT - the long term cost of covering the roof in lead sheet metal is much cheaper. This is because the owner can now probably forget about the roof for the rest of his life! If a cheaper substitute had been used then it would have required replacing every few years or so.

On top of this the owner has the satisfaction of helping raise the architectural quality of the streetscape and constantly has in view the sheer beauty of lead sheet metal. It sets the building apart and continues a historic tradition which is second to none.

There is a place which is a transient space. Up top of the scaffolding floats like a crows nest a home to the workers on the dome of the mosque. …. continued

From top left we have a drum mallet, bossing mallet (egg shaped), chase wedge, snips, seaming pliers, drum mallet (rubber), bending stick, setting-in-stick and flat dresser.

This image was taken at the Heritage Skills Weekend at Fountain’s Abbey, Yorkshire.