A roof in Sweden

[Mike G]

I got back from Sweden a few days ago where I spent most of my time building a roof for my daughter and her husband-to-be. Magnus has built the garage up to the wall plate to my drawings, and I was relieved to find the plates level and all-but parallel. That made the roof much quicker and easier:





Two thirds of the roof has hangers and binders. It's Magnus' job to finish the strapping:



I also built a floor in the store area, which was a new idea they came up with when I was there. The problem was that there weren't convenient posts, so it had to be hung from the walls in a couple of places. It also has a step because of some sloped ground:



Magnus wanted to build it without a plinth (you guys know what I think of that!), and they have a concrete foundation post available there with steel straps. So the whole building has ended up rather high off the ground at the moment. The boarding will cover this though:

 

[AndyP]

Busman's holiday eh? I bet Magnus is might pleased to have you as a future FIL

 

[AJB Temple]

Brilliant.

 

[Lurker]

Assume timber is substantially cheaper and easier to obtain out there.

 

[Mike G]

Assume timber is substantially cheaper and easier to obtain out there.

No. Really, it's ridiculous. There are trees everywhere. They export thousands of tons of the stuff every year...yet construction timber is much the same price as we pay here. Sweden is just an expensive country.

 

[Dr.Al]

Sweden is just an expensive country.

It really is by our standards. However, we've got a friend who lives in Oulu in Finland & she regularly does a 3 hour round trip drive to a supermarket just over the border into Sweden - it's worth the long drive as Sweden is a lot cheaper than Finland.

 

[HdV]

Magnus wanted to build it without a plinth

Yeah, they do that a lot out here. I really had to convince the contractor to make one for the new extension I am almost finished building. In the end we built one made of leca blocks (they use those a lot in Sweden) that we plastered over.

You can find those posts with steel straps in almost every byggmarknad, so common are they.

 

[duke]

I guess you will be making a few more trips to help with the rest of the build?

 

[Mike G]

I guess you will be making a few more trips to help with the rest of the build?

Possibly, but not until the spring. Swedish winters can be fierce by our standards.

 

[GaryR]

Are the timbers spruce? I'm mostly uninformed about wood in Scandinavia.

 

[HdV]

That looks like tryckimpregnerad trä, which translates to pressure impregnated wood. The green sheen makes me think so. And indeed, that is mostly made from spruce.

 

[Mike G]

Are the timbers spruce? I'm mostly uninformed about wood in Scandinavia.

Yes, I think so. Same as here. I've never been absolutely clear as to what we use, because it's universally known as pine on UK construction sites, and is always just specified as "CLS, treated" and with a strength rating.

 

[Mike G]

That looks like tryckimpregnerad trä, which translates to pressure impregnated wood. The green sheen makes me think so. And indeed, that is mostly made from spruce.

Yes, it's certainly treated. Curiously, treated roofing battens appear to be unavailable in Sweden.

 

[HdV]

Ha, if I had known you could have had mine. I removed tons of them from my roof this summer when I replaced the old sheets with new ones.

Look for takläkt next time you are at a byggmarknad (ströläkt and bärläkt are often made from tryckimpregnerad trä). I don't really like the quality of what Byggmax sells, but I think I saw them there this spring.

Oh, wait. I think Bauhaus has them as well:

LÄKT VIDA 25X50MM 3,6M TRYCKIMPREGNERAD

Tryckimpregnerad läkt! Läkt används oftast vid yttertakläggning med takpannor där dess funktion är bärläkt och ströläkt. Kan även användas som lockläkt vid ytterpanelbeklädnad om man vill ha en fasad med lockpanel. Teknisk informationTräslag: FuruKulör: GrönTjocklek: 25 mmBredd: 50 mmLängd...

www.bauhaus.se

[Edit] Sorry, I just realised this post might be a bit hard to understand with all the Swedish words in it.
Ströläkt are the battens that are attached to the roof in a vertical orientation. Bärläkt are the battens that are attached on top of those in a horizontal orientation. I don't remember the proper English names for them at the moment (too lazy to look them up...). In The Netherlands they are tengellatten and panlatten. A byggmarknad is just a store with building and DIY materials.

 

[Lurker]

I am unlikely ever to build a roof let alone one in a Nordic country, but I’m finding this all very interesting.

 

[JamesHow]

What is the lower part of the wall having? Brick infill??

 

[Mike G]

......[Edit] Sorry, I just realised this post might be a bit hard to understand with all the Swedish words in it.
Ströläkt are the battens that are attached to the roof in a vertical orientation. Bärläkt are the battens that are attached on top of those in a horizontal orientation. I don't remember the proper English names for them....

The ones that go up and down the roof are counterbattens. The ones we saw on sale in Sweden were 48 x 12mm. The ones running along the roof are tile battens, or just battens. Counterbattens can be a bit of a pain, but apparently are a requirement in Sweden. On a house, apparently, t&g boards over the rafters and under the membrane are standard (called sarking boards over here, and standard only in Scotland), and because there is no drape to the felt if they're over a flat surface, counterbattens are then necessary to allow any water that gets in to flow out under the battens.

 

[Mike G]

What is the lower part of the wall having? Brick infill??

No. It will be boarded over with horizontal boards. Above the sole plate will be vertical boards to match the house. I really don't like that arrangement, but Magnus was adamant about not wanting any masonry.