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Roofer 'confident' of nailing world championship

BBC Joseph Gallagher hammering nails in to roof beams on top of a home on an overcast day. Joe is wearing a yellow high-vis vest. Surrounding him there are sheets of green roofing felt laid across two roofs, with wooden beams laid horizontally in rows.BBC
Joseph Gallagher will represent the UK in a roofing competition in Austria

A British roofer said he was "feeling confident" as he prepared to ply his trade on an international stage to represent his country.

Joseph Gallagher, 26, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, will travel to Innsbruck in Austria for the World Championships of Young Roofers this week.

He was chosen by trade body the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) to compete at the highest level for his country.

The apprentice roofer said he was "going to give it my best shot" after months of "very serious" preparation.

The former RAF engineer left to join his family's business, Gallagher Roofing, where he currently works while studying roof slating and tiling at Bolton College.

He said he had no idea there was an international competition for the best young roofers in the world but was "honoured" to be scouted to represent the UK.

Joseph Gallagher is wearing a yellow high viz vest in front of a brick-built house with scaffolding. Behind him is a yellow skip filled with broken slates and old roofing felt.
The apprentice roofer said only neat and tidy jobs win prizes

Mr Gallagher was chosen by NFRC as part of a two-man team for the world championship, which starts on Wednesday.

Each entrant is given a rig and a miniature version of a roof, and is graded on three sections which are worked on over three days.

Teams from Europe, China and Russia are expected at the biennial event, to compete in the facade, flat roof, pitched roof or metal roof categories.

Competitive roofing was about "teaching you to be fast", Mr Gallagher said.

"But, if it's rough and doesn't look tidy and neat, it's not going to win any prizes," he added.

Joe holds a drills over some adobe-coloured tiles next to a window while working on a mock-up roof rig.
The event will see young roofers trying their hands at Austrian-style roofing

Mr Gallagher has been coached by a team of NFRC roofers at the Centre for Roofing Excellence in Hereford.

As part of that preparation, he has been working on Austrian-style roofing which he said was more complicated than the UK's version.

"It's the amount of insulation, counter battens, tiling, felting, vapour control layers - it's a lot to get in," he said.

"Technique and skills are the same, it's just the products are so different."

Mr Gallagher said it would be "fantastic" to come home a winner.

"I'm feeling confident," he said.

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