2012 - The Year of theTiling Batten!

Last time I Blogged, I said I'd mention what we at TFT are doing in respect of Tiling Battens - not a very glamorous subject, on the face of it: but one that has suddenly reached prominence - if you're a roofer!  Grading tiling battens is nothing new in itself: BS 5534 has had rules for grading battens for more than a decade. But up until the end of last year, very few people ever bothered to use "BS 5534 battens".  Then the NHBC stepped in...

Late in 2011, the National House Building Council decreed that only BS 5534-compliant battens would be permitted for use on any of their sites: and suddenly, everyone was asking, "What's a graded batten?" or "How do we grade them?", and then, "Where can I get some?" (A cynic might ask what roofers had been using up until then...but I'm a realist and I know what they were using - any old lengths of 1" by 2" timber!)

So what's the current situation?  Well, we at TFT Woodexperts have now helped two sawmills in the Baltics (one in Latvia and one in Estonia) to produce properly-graded BS 5534 tiling battens, with third-party Quaity Assurance - in the form of the TFT "Diamond Mark" on each piece. (For an idea of what this looks like, and for some information on our QA servies, have a look at the TFT Woodexperts website.)

For us at TFT Woodexperts, 2011 was "the year of the Scaffold Board" - since we had over a dozen cases of failed boards to investigate, where injuries had resulted - and it looks as though 2012 will be "The Year of the Tiling Batten"!

Jim Coulson - Director, TFT Woodexperts

Long Time, No Blog!

I've been sort of busy lately.  Since TFT's award of the National Skills Academy "Accredited Training Provider"  plaque, I've been around the UK and also overseas.

The most intersting trip was in December, when I went to Hong Kong for a week, to help with a new Heritage Project out there in the former British Colony.  Because HK is now all glitzy glass and concrete high-rise buildings, they've rather lost their former expertise in building with timber: and so they needed specialist help when it came to restoring a low-rise, timber-roofed Community Centre on Ma Wan Island, in Hong Kong Harbour.  You can see a case-study about it on the TFT Woodexperts website.


I'm still quite busy with all sorts of things: but I hope to be able to catch up with my Blogging during February: when I will tell you what we've been doing lately in respect of Roofing Battens...

Keep reading! - Jim Coulson