Stage Six
The roof
The roof is made up of 4, 'A' frames, one at the left side, one at the right, and two spaced evenly between. These are glued and panel pinned for strength. In my case I have added a little extra height for ease of entry into the roof section to fit furniture etc. Don't forget to add the strengthening members that you can see in the front 'A' frame.
I have kept the same height all the way around the roof line. So from your ¾² that you now have all the way around your 2nd floor, measure approx10" to the top of the two apex on the left of the house. Now your measurements may differ sightly from mine but the apex on the right from the ¾² measure10". Work out your angles then cut and glue in place.
Make sure that all 'A' frames are at 90° to the floor, then measure, cut and fix in place your ridge beams from one apex to the other. I made my ridge line beam a little lower than the apex height so that I can undulate the roof line (hopefully) for greater authenticity.
Don't forget where you are going to run wires for your lighting. (How to install lighting)
The roof covering is made up of two sheets of 1/4" ply wood. This is glued and pinned to the A frames,(Be careful not to pin lighting) all lighting should be entrenched in the A frame and covered. Leave the ply wood extending over the ends of the building by approx. 3/4". The overhang on the front and rear of the house should be gauged by eye sight. . . mine was 1".
Tiling
This is a pain in the backside, but when you stand back and see the results, you will see that it is all worth the time and the effort. I strongly recommended PVA to the roof, then once dry add plasters scrim so that the plaster will bond to the roof.
Mix the undercoat plaster as before when you mixed for the wall panels to a creamy consistency making sure you add a small quantity of PVA. If you are not confident I would have a little go on a piece of off cut about a foot square.
Mix only enough for front view. Spread it out onto the roof/test piece, I used a plasterers trowel, it needs to be around ¼" deep so that you can get the tile effect. I started with the front roof, then the back roof. As I said, its hard and tedious work but the end result will be really effective.
Measuring
See the image below, take a piece of masking tape that you have marked in 1/2" increments and lay it on the edge of both sides of the roof, this will be your guide. Once the plaster is spread over a section of the front roof, take a 2ft steel ruler place it at the first 1/2" mark and press into the plaster to mark your first tile line parallel with the base line of the roof.
Continue to make the lines all the way to the top of the roof using the same method, then do the other side roof so that all the lines meet. Once the plaster has had a little time to dry, say around ½hr then you can with a damp trowel or similar tool press in on the lines that you have made to form a slant this gives the effect of the overhang of each tile.
Once you have created all your slopes, remember they don’t have to be perfectly straight as it’s a 17th - 18th century roof; it's had a little wear and tear. Now you can start to make the vertical lines for each tile. I started, again with the steel ruler at the right side of the house by laying it on the edge of the roof flat and marked off every other line starting at the base line.
Remember, every line in the tiles must fall in the centre of the tile above or below it to give the desired effect as the picture shows.
Admire your work
Once you have completed your work you can stand back and admire what you have achieved. Don't forget each tile should not be perfect, we are not looking for pefectly square edges some tile will be broken, loose, sliped, so don't worry if they dont all look perfect.
The roof is made up of 4, 'A' frames, one at the left side, one at the right, and two spaced evenly between. These are glued and panel pinned for strength. In my case I have added a little extra height for ease of entry into the roof section to fit furniture etc. Don't forget to add the strengthening members that you can see in the front 'A' frame.
I have kept the same height all the way around the roof line. So from your ¾² that you now have all the way around your 2nd floor, measure approx10" to the top of the two apex on the left of the house. Now your measurements may differ sightly from mine but the apex on the right from the ¾² measure10". Work out your angles then cut and glue in place.
Make sure that all 'A' frames are at 90° to the floor, then measure, cut and fix in place your ridge beams from one apex to the other. I made my ridge line beam a little lower than the apex height so that I can undulate the roof line (hopefully) for greater authenticity.
Don't forget where you are going to run wires for your lighting. (How to install lighting)
The roof covering is made up of two sheets of 1/4" ply wood. This is glued and pinned to the A frames,(Be careful not to pin lighting) all lighting should be entrenched in the A frame and covered. Leave the ply wood extending over the ends of the building by approx. 3/4". The overhang on the front and rear of the house should be gauged by eye sight. . . mine was 1".
Tiling
This is a pain in the backside, but when you stand back and see the results, you will see that it is all worth the time and the effort. I strongly recommended PVA to the roof, then once dry add plasters scrim so that the plaster will bond to the roof.
Mix the undercoat plaster as before when you mixed for the wall panels to a creamy consistency making sure you add a small quantity of PVA. If you are not confident I would have a little go on a piece of off cut about a foot square.
Mix only enough for front view. Spread it out onto the roof/test piece, I used a plasterers trowel, it needs to be around ¼" deep so that you can get the tile effect. I started with the front roof, then the back roof. As I said, its hard and tedious work but the end result will be really effective.
Measuring
See the image below, take a piece of masking tape that you have marked in 1/2" increments and lay it on the edge of both sides of the roof, this will be your guide. Once the plaster is spread over a section of the front roof, take a 2ft steel ruler place it at the first 1/2" mark and press into the plaster to mark your first tile line parallel with the base line of the roof.
Continue to make the lines all the way to the top of the roof using the same method, then do the other side roof so that all the lines meet. Once the plaster has had a little time to dry, say around ½hr then you can with a damp trowel or similar tool press in on the lines that you have made to form a slant this gives the effect of the overhang of each tile.
Once you have created all your slopes, remember they don’t have to be perfectly straight as it’s a 17th - 18th century roof; it's had a little wear and tear. Now you can start to make the vertical lines for each tile. I started, again with the steel ruler at the right side of the house by laying it on the edge of the roof flat and marked off every other line starting at the base line.
Remember, every line in the tiles must fall in the centre of the tile above or below it to give the desired effect as the picture shows.
Admire your work
Once you have completed your work you can stand back and admire what you have achieved. Don't forget each tile should not be perfect, we are not looking for pefectly square edges some tile will be broken, loose, sliped, so don't worry if they dont all look perfect.
