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The four basic elements of a slate roof include: 1) The slate itself. This should be a hard variety with a reputation for longevity. 2) The roof deck. This should be a board deck (not laminated wood) at least 3/4” in thickness. 3) The flashings (the sheet-metal joints between roof planes). These should be copper or stainless steel, although the old “tin” flashings will last quite a long time if kept painted and are easily replaced when they wear out. 4) The nails — they should be copper or stainless steel, but cut steel nails and hot-dipped galvanized steel nails will easily last a century or two on a well-maintained slate roof. These four elements make up a basic American slate roof — stone slabs attached with nails to a properly sloped wood roof deck and flashed where necessary with appropriate sheet metal. Such a roofing system is very simple, yet amazingly durable and long-lasting. What goes wrong with these roofs?
Slate is stone. It is pulled from the earth in heavy slabs and worked down into individual shingles, largely by hand. The fact that slate roofs are rock roofs is the basic reason why they last so long. However, stone is a natural material and may have invisible fractures or other imperfections that are not noticeable when the roof is installed. These can cause a slate or two to eventually break and come off the roof. People walking on slate roofs also damage them. This includes the roofing contractors who install or repair the slate. A “bigfoot” roofing contractor will crack slates which can later, after a freeze/thaw cycle or other environmental pressure, break apart. Broken slates can easily be replaced, however, as we will discuss below.
Some slate varieties are softer than others and do not last as long. Such slates will become flaky, and crumbly when they reach the end of their effective lives, which could be as soon as 55 years, but more likely around 80-100 years. These “soft slate” roofs cannot be saved or restored, but can easily be replaced with new or salvaged slates. Harder slates, such as most Vermont slates, the Peach Bottom slates, Buckingham slates, Monson slates, and others, could conceivable last centuries on a properly maintained roof. Click here to see photos of different slate roofs.
Flashings eventually wear out. These are the metal joints around chimneys, in valleys, alongside dormers, around pipes that protrude through the roof, etc. They are also easily replaced by experienced slate roof restoration professionals.
Finally, bad workmanship, such as improper repairwork, plague many an old slate roof. This is visible as tar splotches on roofs, mis-matched slates, metal patchwork, coated roofs, and other mistakes. Once again, these errors can usually be removed and properly replaced by someone who knows what he is doing. Coated slate roofs cannot be remedied, however, and such a practice should be avoided.
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Slate Roofs | Local Roofers | Slate Roofs - An introduction to slate roofs covering the four basic elements. Get prices for roofing services from local roofers
Slate Roofs | Local Roofers | Slate Roofs - An introduction to slate roofs covering the four basic elements. Get prices for roofing services from local roofers
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