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Hi, I'm changing the light fittings on my boat and I have ancient strip lights fitted into vinyl headliner. I have no idea what's behind the headliner but it's pretty solid and I'm worried if I start screwing into it that I will, er ... go through the roof! What advice would you give to someone like me who is an impoverished novice ? Thank you

Hello, I have a 20mm hole in the roof of my NB. Its 6mm thick steel. Used to be where the TV antenna was. I have no used for the hole, but seems too big to use P38, and I dont have access to a welder (although I could if that was the only way). Would be interested in any advise or thoughts Many Thanks Stuart

Hello Folks, My partner, Isobel and I purchased our first narrowboat last July (2015) Its a proper 'project' boat, which we spent a month fixing things like the engine, and fitting in insulation, new T&G cladding on the walls etc before embarking on an epic journey from London to Bath, where we are now moored in a marina and have just survived our first winter aboard. Now thats its spring at last, we want to start repair works again, but could use some advice! The boat is a 48' cruiser stern narrowboat, built in 1975. Steel hull and a GRP fibreglass roof. We have learnt now what a royal pain it is to have a fibreglass roof, and have spent a large part of the winter catching leaks which have been coming through under the gunnels We applied sealant all along the joint outside the gunnel, but have found we probably missed making a full seal and water has been getting in. We will be scraping out and redoing this this spring. Also, the handrails are snapped and broken. They were wooden and not looked after, and now need fully replacing. We were hoping for advice about doing this, and generally in ensuring the GRP roof is totally TOTALLY TOTALLY waterproof (please!) I've seen a few people covering their roof with products like flow coat and a product called rubbaroof. Does anyone have experience of applying this and can recommend whats best and how to do it? Also, we're debating whether to reuse the existing holes drilled in the roof (which are currently sealed over with Sikaflex) and make wooden handrails, or if after sealing over the whole roof anew, we can just drill new holes, perhaps adding metal handrails instead such as these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-1800mm-316-Stainless-Steel-Boat-Grab-Rails-Handles-/290374973664 Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated, we would love to get the boat waterproof, looking great and properly shipshape before next winter! Thanks a lot for any help : ) Laurence and Isobel

I am sure that some of you have lovely floral displays on the tops of your homes during the summer months, but was wondering what the best planters are. Initially i was thinking about the cheaper plastic ones, but the roof got so hot last summer, would they survive? Any suggestions would be very gratefully received. Keep warm!!

Hi there, my 1978 narrowboat has a persistent leak coming through the ceiling. It appears to come in via a crack going along the side of the entry hatch where it slides across the roof although no exact hole in the steel roof can be identified. The whole area has already been sealed twice, once using weathermate and once using body filler, however keeps leaking just as much. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much welcome?

I have 4 vents on my roof that consist of 115mm dia steel tubes that project through the roof, these are covered over by a curved rectangle of steel that is welded on at the corners. The problem is that is is impossible to maintain the roof section underneath and subsequently these areas are very corroded. I want to remove the covering steel, clean up the roof and fit something more suitable but I would rather not have to cut out the tubes. Any ideas? Simone

have acquired a boat and the roof is essentially non slip. There are parts that have been masked off and left without a non slip. Am told that sand has been used to make the non slip parts. Its has a no of spots (some large) that have cracked, chipped my question is do I need to rub off all of the non slip or can I simply paint over the the worn bits and then add sand to those only. Do I have to take all of the non slip off or can I effectively patch up? We intend to repaint the whole roof a new colour and keep the same non slip areas that are there now.

What is the lowest bridge or tunnel on the network? And how often are there tunnels or bridges with extreme height restrictions? I am planning to build fixed storage boxes under my solar panels Like I’ve seen many others do, but do not want to find myself unable to travel some parts of the network. So if anyone knows the height restrictions and dimensions of what can be expected on the network when it comes to tunnels and bridges. please let me know. However, if there are really only a few “restricted” areas like this, and if they are generally at the end/beginning of the waterway.. then it would probably not be that limiting. but please let me know what everyone knows before I go building something to just get myself stuck somewhere further down the line.

Hi. I need my roof treating. It has some rust areas - not too much but I'm about to place some semi-flexible solars and so need the roof A1 before fixing. I've been offered a quote using paints supplied by Chemco International. In particular, these: http://marine.chemcoint.com/products/applications/topsides-and-boottop.html I'm wondering if folks here have any thoughts on these paints. Many thanks.

Hello, We foolishly decided to paint our narrowboat roof and sides. Once you've completed the first primer coat and you have paint over the roof/sides/foot rail. How do you get to the roof without dirtying the paint? I'm not that short, but my arm still doesn't reach the centre of the roof for laying off/rollering. Tips welcome!