roof-russ


THIS PAGE IS UNLISTED AND CURRENTLY AVAILABLE DURING DISCUSSION 
BETWEEN THE OWNERS/SURVEYORS/LIGHTHOUSE BOARD OFFICIALS
& SPECIALIST WHOLESALE LIGHTHOUSE BUILDING SUPPLY MERCHANTS

Tod Head Lighthouse Residences

Roof Surveys & Overhaul

A Positive Result From Clarification of Structure

The credentials of the project managers and surveyors contributing to this page span over 133 years of lighthouse experience. From owners to Northern Lighthouse Board and triumvirate of UK/Eire GLAs (here); to employees and specialist professional contractors who have worked with the NLB for 11, 12 and 21 years respectively. Their skillset relates to 6 lighthouse stations owned/renovation-project-managed by Russ McLean. Within that set of 6 lighthouse stations have been 18 lighthouse buildings that he has renovated/maintained since 1984. In relation to Northern Lighthouse personnel and contractors, a knowledge base relating to the renovation of 22 different lighthouse stations and over 81 lighthouse buildings, this completes their body of work to date. With this in mind, it is hoped that the future of Tod Head Lighthouse Station is in safe hands.

This experience and skillset renovating, maintaining, preventative inspecting of lighthouse stations all around the U.K. and for the GLA (here) and directly for Northern Lighthouse Board (here) and the Trinity House Lighthouse Authority, is now focussed on the recently acquired Tod Head Lighthouse Station, Kinneff, By Montrose, DD10 0TH (Land Registry Title: Here).

Executive Summary

This page has a strictly limited audience, but such is the spectrum of reader, that the narrative needs to be extensive. Hence this Executive Summary in order that a specific question regarding renovation cost and vote/veto can be addressed promptly.

he owner of Tod Head Lighthouse Station (HM Land Registry Title: KNC6706) had initially budgeted the costs of roof repairs plus overhaul and renovation for the next 20 to 30 years (based on near-identical lighthouse station renovations project-managed by the owner and lighthouse board employees and direct lighthouse board certified contractors). The penultimate figure for a flat roof of wood construction was circa £36,400 (2024 costs adjusted for inflation and sharp rise in building material fees).

Following forensic analysis and consultation with experienced and respected lighthouse authority professionals, the budget costs to overhaul the accommodation block at Tod Head Lighthouse Station

On 29th June 2024 came some remarkably good news.

(detailed further on in this report).

The initial figure based on a wood roof construction as per the 127-year old 1897 build was a repair and overhaul/renewal bill of £36,400. However, at what will have been a very high cost (estimated at between £78,000 and £100,000 based on the Noss Head Lighthouse budgets in Caithness), the Northern Lighthouse Board removed the old wooden roof and installed a bespoke concrete roof (after 1972 but before 1988 and we are making enquiries to establish the exact date).

As a consequence of the video below and further structural survey on 29th June 2024, the firmed-up figure has reduced from £36,400.00 down to £17,358.64 (to be split between the four units below the main roof).

Tod Head Lighthouse Accommodation Block Roof

Budget Heads As At 30th June 2024

Building Materials: £8,482.86

Labour: £4,644.27

Mobilisation/Demobilisation: £600.00

Site Welfare Unit: £794.00

Scaffolding: £2,120.00

Insurances: £717.51

TOTAL: £17,358.64

Advisory: It would be wise to set aside a contingency of 10% cover over-run due to any adverse weather or specialist building material rarity etc).

Note 1: The total of £17,358.64 includes the survey costs plus the overhaul of the entire flat roof atop the Tod Head Lighthouse Station 2-storey accommodation block. It also includes overhaul of all stub elevations; coping stones; chimney stack elevations and joints; chimney heads and all matters from the “T-Beam” concrete roof upper surface to ensure no water ingress results for at least 25 years (providing annual and post-storm inspections are made and resultant damage plus wear and tear are attended to).

Note 2: For the avoidance of doubt, the cosmetic and decorative elements plus furnishings etc within the building below the concrete roof are not included in the budget-heads provided above.

Note 3: Please make the owners of the 4 units below the concrete roof know that the overall budget figure of £17,358.64 is to be split on a pro rata basis between the 4 property owners.

After a specialise survey, the percentages for each property based on floor area are:-

Flat-1. Known as Principal Lighthouse Keeper’s House: 32.855%

Flat-2. Known as First Assistant Lighthouse Keeper’s House: 32.855%

Flat-3. Known as Occasional Keeper’s House: 17.145%

Unit 4. Known As The Engineer’s Rooms: 17.145%

Note 4: Whilst the figure of £17,358.64 cannot be guaranteed as definitive due to force majeure events (such as the Covid pandemic), the participating project managers have a body of work going back 40 years and extending to dozens of lighthouse buildings as their speciality. It is fair to state that far more often than not, each project comes in on-time and on-budget. Indeed several projects have managed significant savings without a diminution of quality. An example of exactly how these savings are evidenced is the initial estimate based on the advisory of an original 1897 for the 127 year old wooden roof at £36,400. The fact as evidenced by the video excerpt by the surveyor below of a concrete roof.

It should be emphasised that this £36,400 will be split between the 4 units below (the empirical £9,100 does NOT apply as the floor area of each unit is different and a pro rata invoicing will be required.

There is remarkably good news in that following the evidence of a relatively new concrete “Double-T-Beam” roof having been installed (at considerable expense) and paid for by the Northern Lighthouse Board during their ownership (ending in March 1988), the revised budget-head figure (30/9/2024) has been firmed up at at: £17,358.64 (further reduced as there are FOUR units that benefit from the overhauled roofwork and those four unit owners will have a fraction of the total to contribute towards.

Surveys

The Keys To Understanding A Building’s Structure

On the 25th November 2023 the first endoscopic survey took place to assess the condition of interstitial voids between the 1897 lathe and plaster and the substantial sandstone exterior elevations of the buildings.

^^ This Endoscopic Survey Equipment Is Deployed ^^

Extensively By Scotslion Ltd

Formerly Part of Argyll Group plc

This is mentioned due to the fate (but non fatal) end to

HMS Argyll at nearby Bell Rock Lighthouse : Click Here.

The exterior walls at Tod Head average 75cm (2 feet 6 inches) thick and constructed of sandstone blocks and some brickwork. It is very much a well over-engineered Stevenson built structure. Tod Head Lighthouse Station was built by David Alan Stevenson (here and here).

Not just the masonry and construction work at Tod Head. David Stevenson was very much talented at designing light fittings…

^^ Dioptic Lens Designed By David Stevenson ^^

Photo By Kind CC Attribution: Kim Traynor

David Stevenson was born in Edinburgh and was instrumental in the construction of 26 lighthouses in his lifetime, of Which Tod Head was one. David Stevenson was a direct descendant of the well respected Stevenson family and he was responsible …

^^ Tod Head Lighthouse Station ^^

A Substantially Well Engineered & Maintained

Set of Buildings

The phrase “Clydebuilt” is often used to describe ships that are built to a high and often over-engineered standard.

The phrase “Stevenson Built” may well be coined in a similar vein to “Clydebuilt” to describe a very well constructed building.

Especially the exquisite interlocking masonry such as that which has kept the nearby Bell Rock Lighthouse, an iconic structure that has been keeping ships safe from 214 years.

^^ Bell Rock Lighthouse ^^

Interlocking Masonry

To Prevent Shearing Collapse During Storms

Click Here

These references to the structures that have been built by the architects of Tod Head Lighthouse Accommodation Block and maintained by the renowned custodians of these remarkable buildings the Northern Lighthouse Board, are intended to…

Evidence the provenance of the structure which is the subject of this page.

On the 29th June 2024, a specialised survey was scheduled to estimate repair work required to remedy 3 remarkably small leaks from the roof above that have caused a disproportionate amount of damage in Flat-3 in this accommodation block.

During this survey, a remarkable discovery was made. Upon furthering our earlier CCTV survey of 25th November 2023 (majority of wall-based interstitial voids), the following fact became apparent and beyond any doubt…

The roof atop the Tod Head Lighthouse Station Accommodation Block is built of relatively modern concrete Double T-Beam” construction.

This is likely to have cost the Northern Lighthouse Board between £78,000 and £100,000 (in today’s inflation adjusted values (compared to the 1897 original wood and 1972 to 1988 concrete newbuild).

Of special interest is the received wisdom that the Northern Lighthouse Board construction methods and materials are generally known to be over-engineered and of very high quality. Particularly given the purpose of the NLB as a builder and operator of lighthouse structures that require to repel very harsh and unforgiving storms.

Damaging Leak Origination Detection

Proved To Be Good News & Not Bad News

^^ Tod Head Lighthouse Damage ^^

^^Turned Out To Be Very Good News ^^

There is always a danger of discovering something that may cost many tens of thousands of pounds when you open up a leak-hole in the ceiling (our repairs and renovation budget on Sannox Hotel evidences that problem).

Fortunately when the ceiling area damaged by water ingress in the first floor flat (number 3), was opened up, a relatively new “T-Beam” substantial and structurally very sound concrete roof was discovered.

To be thorough, it is likely that the “T-Beam” roof will be a “Double-T” given the length of the span and observations of the concrete beam line/widths from the most recent 29/6/2024 drone footage of this Tod Head Lighthouse building. A side-bar has been resolved, but links are retained here and here for ease of archived reference.

The original 1897 Tod Head Lighthouse lighthouse accommodation block as built by David Stevenson was gone. This is unusual. Since inception of the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1786, much timber utilised in Scottish (and British) lighthouse construction has been fine lumber imported at considerable cost from Canada. There have been strong connections in this respect for centuries (here).

The use of Canadian wood is due to the high quality and strength/loading characteristics. The importation of this renowned wood has set the benchmark as even at contemporary building sites all across the U.K., “CLS” is the gold-standard. CLS is an acronym for “Canadian Lumbar Standard.” Details: here.

With respect to the inspection video above, we can illustrate how this “T-Beam” roof is constructed.

The following video is a GUIDE so that our readers who are unfamiliar with “T-Beam” and Double-“T-Beam” concrete flat roof construction may have an idea of the methodology behind this process. Here is an example video of the “T-Beam” roof construction…