[RUSTYME]

 I intend to thatch my little timber frame house when it is done , but it will take me 3 years or so to grow the required amount.
So rather than try to get by under a plastic tarp , that firstly i can't afford and secondly , i hate plastic , i thought i would make some roof tiles .
  I don't think the clay is very dear . but if it is i can just dig a hole and get some .
 My land is 15" of topsoil ontop of 15" of  stone pebbles , ontop of clay .
  So i have the raw materials , the kiln i can make from the same clay , bought or dug , and the fuel will be wood that i have already .   
 Will have to find out how to stack the tiles in the kiln , to determine the size it needs to be . One firing would be better for economy , less wood .
 Has anyone had a go at this ? lol , ok maybe not !  The only other option is old corrugated iron , ok for shed walls but a bit drippy for a house roof !

Cheers Russ

[deepinthewoods]

what about wooden tiles? or old rubber tyres?

[RUSTYME]

Yes , wooden ones would  be ok . I have plenty of spruce  ?, but it is crap at splitting even . A decent sized ash would be fine , but i don't have one that i am prepared to fell . Plenty of maple though , that is what i will be using for the frame , not a perfect choice but it is what i have.
  Don't fancy living in Dunlop house  , plus i would probably get nicked for a bald roof !

[Lesley Silvester]

Yes , wooden ones would  be ok . I have plenty of spruce  ?, but it is crap at splitting even . A decent sized ash would be fine , but i don't have one that i am prepared to fell . Plenty of maple though , that is what i will be using for the frame , not a perfect choice but it is what i have.
  Don't fancy living in Dunlop house  , plus i would probably get nicked for a bald roof !

 

[deepinthewoods]

no, save your ash, way too useful, however im sure spruce could split ok given the right technique,i think the choice of stock matters most, i felled one a couple of weeks ago that was crowding a couple of good un's. ill try tomorrow. have you got a shave horse?

maples lovely, ive never cleaved it, the grains very complicated, and turns on itself. do you tap them for wine?
the good thing about tyres is theyre free and hard to recycle, youd be doing your bit....

[RUSTYME]

Tyres are free , till i wanted to get rid of them when i replace them with the thatch ,   plus god knows what chemicals the put in them ?
 The spruce ( not clued up on conifers and which ones i have) ,  although it does split with froe , it splits roughly and has lots of split stopping knots in it .
 The ash i am saving for the cart and waggon  . But the maple is a 5 trunk  coppiced hedge tree . One trunk fell down in the wind and i decided to fell the rest as i need a home .
 I don't tap them for wine , didn't know you could , but i don't drink anyway .
I do have a shave horse , made a new one last year . Might have to make a new pole lathe next . Will use maple offcuts for that.
 

[Plantoid]

Birch is the wood of choice for making shingles by splitting it to 1 inch thick slabs out of 18 inch long seasoned logs make sure you lay the grain correctly else they curl up.
 You can use willow herb as a thatch , nettles and hemp.  That's some serious reed bed your going to need .

 I know one off grid family who have managed to collect enough green wellies to roof a privvy ( soil toilet building ) , they cut the wellies off at the ankle and split the whole thing north to south then galv nailed them on  ankle end to the apex .

 How many square metres of roof would you be hoping to do , adding a couple of extra metrtes  for breakages ?

 I seem to recall seeing a youtube clip  how to make tiles ..it was the continental type of split cylinders used in south of France Spain etc. not the UK Pantile .   This could be to your advantage because you could use a four and a half inch diameter tapered pole fitted when wrapped /fitted in two sheets of old folded newspaper , the pole to be in a keeper at the 4 1/2 end to squidge the clay into a paper lined six inch diameter half cylinder mould .
 
I've also seen such tiles stood on end when green and curing in the sun before they were stacked in a large beehive type mud brick kiln .... by the look of it they were to be fired by propane cylinders as they were standing close to the hive.

 I have no idea how they were stacked for firing  but would think criss cross stacking of the two feet long tiles  would be a reasonable bet to get even firing .

From my school days 50 odd years ago .... the clay ought to have some combustable fibre content to help the firing , heat dissipation & pervent them cracking on firing ..I think it often used to be fine chopped straw or reed waste .

 If like our old 400 yr local hand made oblong brick house you have a tiled roof with gaps under the tiles you could do worse than using split willow or hazel tacked to the room joists  which were 12 inches apart to make  it lath and plaster cielings .

One old house I beeen in had reeds tacked to the joists in the same manner & daubed  with local well mixed clay , neat cow muck & chopped horse hair as the binder.

[robert waddell]

plantoid   the pan tiles were supposed to be dutch origin    whin cobbles were exported to Holland and pan tiles were used as ballast on the boats coming back to Britain     the small town of kincardine has almost all pan tiled roofs    it was a port at one time
i like the wellie idea just think of the opportunities after Glastonbury  or t in the park even the tents are left

[RUSTYME]

 I won't be using reeds for the thatch , although i will be growing some for water treatment , but i will be growing wheat , square heads master , a variety from the 1860's , that grows to about 6 ft tall . It should give about 1.5 tons of grain and about the same of straw .
The roof will be about 60 sq yds in total.
   Plenty of willow herb here , but not enough to do the house , a shed maybe .
I have hazel and willow for use as lathe , and plenty of mud . Will be using that for the wattle and daub.   

[Plantoid]

Don't forget the cow muck as the binder in the mud & wattle to stop lumps breaking off as it dries.

[nick-in-ca]

if you want to make your own tiles i have 2 links for you i tried and made some i used charcoal in firering  because i did not have access to coal dust  http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/GATE_DL/BUILDING/BASTB13E.PDF
 http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/GATE_DL/BUILDING/BASTB12E.PDF
 a simpler way is to make ceder shingles  they will last a very long time if ceder is available where you live
 nick in canada