North facing loft- advice needed please?

W.D. · April 4, 2009

Hi lads, would like some advice please.

I've just put up a loft that I got from a retired fancier,its 18ft x 9ft and had to face it north.

Would it be be best to put in some triplex on the south side to let in light and heat it up, or should I leave it as it is?

It has a tiled roof on top of chipboard with vents around the eaves and along the front at ground level.

Thing is it worked very well for previous owner facing west, including 2 RPRA awards last season.

What do you think is the best solution as I feel it takes a long time to heat up in the mornings but I dont want to cook them either!

Any ideas would be welcome please?

pjc · April 4, 2009

the birds always seem better with some sun into the loft.

If the only way is to put some clear tiles in the southside of the roof then do that but if your afraid of cooking them put some sliding panels in the loft ceiling that can be closed if required.

dudley · April 4, 2009

you could aways put heaters in,north facing its going to cold,or take the the tiles of the back and put filon sheets on thats what i did on my stock loft and it works brill hope this helps good luck with it,dudley

NW USA · April 4, 2009

the birds always seem better with some sun into the loft.
If the only way is to put some clear tiles in the southside of the roof then do that but if your afraid of cooking them put some sliding panels in the loft ceiling that can be closed if required.

Good suggestions, seen it used before.

April 4, 2009

Hi lads, would like some advice please.
I've just put up a loft that I got from a retired fancier,its 18ft x 9ft and had to face it north.
Would it be be best to put in some triplex on the south side to let in light and heat it up, or should I leave it as it is?
It has a tiled roof on top of chipboard with vents around the eaves and along the front at ground level.
Thing is it worked very well for previous owner facing west, including 2 RPRA awards last season.
What do you think is the best solution as I feel it takes a long time to heat up in the mornings but I dont want to cook them either!
Any ideas would be welcome please?

You have answered the question pretty much yourself W.D,

Have only had one loft facing North before an 8x6 with 9 widowhood cocks in it they flew fantastic with the window on the side facing east which allows the loft to heat up first thing in the morning, the loft also had a Sputnik for ventilation with a small vent at floor level below the Sputnik. Your loft is quite long and if there are 2 sections it would maybe be best to put perspex tiles on the roof for the section that is not getting the direct sun/daylight. To assist the environment and light of the loft you could also whitewash the inside of the it and a add a light blue tint to it.

cheers

Gareth

Runt3 · April 5, 2009

G'Day

where i live that the best way north the sun cumes up

vanlink · April 5, 2009

You may find that a north facing loft is ok as it is, lots of flyers do well out of north facing lofts. One real benefit is that it is cooler in the height of summer.

Our YB loft used to face north and we did better out of it with the YBS than we do now facing south hence we are in the process of putting a new bigger loft on the old north facing site. I am sure some one told me that wild birds nest on the north side of trees but I might be wrong on that one.

April 5, 2009

Personally, I would try it for a year and see how it works out.

April 5, 2009

;)my late fathers loft was on a very steep bank close to home ,had to go down to it daily holding a rope ,or next stop the river ;D . it was below road level and faced due north , he won from every racepoint young and old ,club top flier and also a force to be rocond with in the fed ,it did him or birds no harm . good luck . andy .

W.D. · April 5, 2009

Thank you for the advice guys it is very welcome,maybe I'm worrying about it too much but had a situation before when loft was in the shade of trees for most of the day, and when we moved it back to get more light the birds form and results were 10x better.

Thank you W.D.