Over the winter it was planned to re-cover the roof the Clayton and Shuttleworth Living Van that is normally seen on air display days providing a venue to serve tea to the hard-working volunteers and staff. When the living van had been restored about 10 years ago the roof was in largely good condition so was left alone, however age has caught up with it and some persistent leaks meant that it went in to the workshop at the beginning of 2020.
The roof had previously been covered with tarred felt, fitted at some point in its life as a shepherd’s hut. This covering was removed to reveal the roof boards underneath which were in good order with the exception of the edge board on each side. These were removed and replaced just before the lockdown was enforced in mid March.
Removing the old tarred felt roof covering 
Woodwork in generally good condition with the exception of the edge 
Wood replaced on the edge and ready for replacement canvas 
Some of the rotten wood removed and ready for replacement
Over the past month the roof has been prepared to receive the new roofing covering. All the boards have been screwed down and holes filled and then sanded smooth and the curved mouldings at each end that sandwich the canvas under the roof boards have been remade due to the ravages of weather and age.
It is planned to fit a canvas covering which is closer to the original roofing style. The volunteers are now at the stage of applying the new canvas to the roof. To check that the proposed method will work, a test section of roof has been built and the canvas applied using the process below.
The mock up of the roof with holes filled and surface sanded flat 
The canvas is laid over the surface 
Canvas is glued and pinned in position 
The canvas is gently pressed in to the glue 
A light application of water was made to the far half of the canvas to see whether it had any effect on the bonding of the canvas 
Rear half is painted with thinned aluminium primer, the near half painted in dark undercoat (no primer)
