How to create D.I.Y roofing drip edges and felt a rabbit hutch.
Firstly measure the flat area of the roof to be felted.
.
Then cut the flat area. Attach this layer to the rabbit hutch by nailing clout nails along the perimeter of the felt.
.
Strips of felt are required out of which to form the drip edge.
Mostly on the jobs i complete, i will cut twelve inch strips x the width of the roll. However if needed, you can cut twelve inch strips too any length required by cutting a large piece of felt, then measuring 12 inch sections and then cutting along the length of the felt.
Below, i have cut the first two strips along the width, with the second three along the length. (The thin strip on the end is wastage)
.
Next you have to fold the twelve inch strips into half, then into half again (thus forming a three inch drip). To minimize cracking of the felt along the folds, try to ensure that the felt has been allowed to warm in the sun a while, and then fold with the green mineral on the outside.
.
Once the drips are folded you then cut out felt where one drip has to be adhered to the proceeding felt drip. This is cut from the lap that runs along the edge of the felt.
.
Ensuring that the top edge of the drip edge runs flush with top of drip lat, use clout nails to tack on the drip edge. Ensure that the mineral faces inwards. Notice that the drip does not reach the end of the drip lat, another drip must be slotted in. (If you also compare this image with the very first image, you will see that i have nailed on a piece of drip lat to form an overhang, so that any water that drips of the edge does not run down the walls.)
.
The required length of the next drip is then measured. (Note that on a larger roof you would just keep on tacking on drips un till reaching the corner of the roof, where you would then cut the final drip to the required size.) Because this next drip will be part of a corner, it must be cut oversized by three or four inch, this over cut is then trimmed into shape.
.
Out of this piece of a felt a corner then has to be formed as illustrated below.
.
This drip edge is than tacked on as below. If you look carefully you can see how the corner will work, the protruding felt tongue will envelope around into the front drip.
.
Once all your drips on your rabbit hutch are cut, i would recommend that you fold them up dry to ensure that everything is cut correctly and fits together ok. Note how the corner previous cut corner envelopes into the front drip.
.
As can be seen from below, everything fits
.
It is then a case of gluing with cold adhesive. As i am a professional roofer i have never used cold adhesive until today. Following the instructions on the tin, I have then coated the felt with the adhesive. Note that when i tacked on the flat area, i ensured that clout nails were along the perimeter of the roof, thus each clout nail on the flat is covered in adhesive and then cover by the top of the drip, thus creating a seal.
.
Once gluing was completed i ran a wooden wall paper seam roller along the felt seams to ensure a good bond.
.
Once the glue had set on the drips, i then cut the felt required to form the top layer. I laid this layer out and then lightly marked the previous stuck drips top along the perimeter of their, thus providing a guideline as to where to apply the roofing adhesive.
.
I then coated this strip with adhesive. As this is a demonstration as to how to felt a rabbit hutch, i only applied adhesive in a strip along the outer edge of the roof. The width of this strip of glue was determined by following the previously marked guideline on the outside edge, and on the inside i ensured that the adhesive covered the seam by an inch, so as to create another seal.
.
After rolling out the top layer i created a good bond using the wallpaper roller. A trickle of adhesive can be seen along the edge of felt. If you wish to cover this trickle with mineral, then take a piece of left over mineral fold it in half and rub both half's together, this results in mineral chips that can be sprinkled along the seam to cover any adhesive spillage.
.
To complete the roof, roll back the unstuck felt and stick the back edges.
.
The rabbit hutch roof is now complete.
