The family run company was established by the late Bill Smith in 1995 to serve central Scotland with a quality and reliable service. Upon his unexpected death in 2006, the Company was taken over by son-in-law, Iain Aitchison, who ensures that the first class reputation of the company is continued and built upon from a very strong base.
The Company aims to become the leading Roof Slating and Tiling Company in Scotland, working with Main Contractors in an open and honest manner.
Ensuring that contracts are furnished with trained craftsmen who provide a courteous service and take pride in their work. In turn, finishing contracts in a timely manner and within budget. One such contract which has all these attributes is the restoration project of Lennoxlove, Haddington.
The Main Contractor responsible for the project was Watson Stonecraft Limited, Westwood, West Calder and Architects, Smith Architects, East Linton.
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Alison Smith of Smith Architects writes: "The £2.5 million conservation building project at Lennoxlove, a Category A Listed Building, had three main elements: External Repairs; Internal Alterations and Repairs; Formation of new Energy Centre and associated Installation of Services to Main House."
The external fabric required extensive repairs to the stonework, roof coverings, leadwork, rainwater goods and windows. The roof repairs included in the work were carried out by Scotia Roofing Limited as subcontractors to Watson Stonecraft. The roof work at Lennoxlove posed a variety of challenges to Scotia Roofing Limited in terms of the type of slating materials used and their fixings.
The building consists of a 15th Century Tower which had an existing stone slated finish recorded in archive documents as being sourced from the Arbroath area in the 19th Century. The remainder of the building, which takes the form of a number of major extensions built over many centuries, had roofs finished in a green slate and Scotch slate. The work itself was carried out over a tight contract period of 15 months on a programmed basis under the control of Watson Stonecraft.
The 15th Century Main Tower roofs were stripped and re-clad with the existing Carmyllie stone slates re-used on the east and north faces with imported second hand Carmyllie stone slate, sourced and purchased over a period of time prior to the project commencing on site, being used on the west and south elevations.
The imported second hand Carmyllie stone slates were fixed by Scotia Roofing Limited using traditional oak pegs hooked over the battens.
The re-used stone slates, which were thinner than the second hand slates, were fixed by nailing in this instance as this was how they had previously been fixed when the Main Tower roof had been raised to provide additional accommodation in the 19th Century.
(JM)
