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Repairing A Slate Roof
I am proud owner of a post WWI two family
home in the Boston, MA area and am in the need of some guidance as to some
roof repairs. The home was left to its own survival by an absentee
landlord two owners ago. The previous owners held the property for less
than a year but did have some repairs done to the slate roof, patching,
new flashing, and ridge caps.
I am a marine engineer who works for a contractor when not at sea, so I do
have some extensive experience in renovations and repairs. The subject at
hand leaves me at a loss, as well as my part time employer. Neither of us
have had experience with slate roofs. Some slates are still slipping away.
I am wondering how new slates are reattached, how do remove remnants of
the un-exposed part of the slate still attached, and do distributors sell
slates loose from bundles?
Sincerely,
Brian M.
I
have no experience at all with slate roofs. I have read some articles
about roofing with slate, and it looks tricky, but within the reach of
most capable people.
One book I bought recently is "Roofing - The Best Of Fine
Homebuilding" published by Taunton
Press. It can be purchased on their site for around $20.
That book has two articles on slate roofing, and one article has a
paragraph on replacing broken slates. That article is written by Terry
A. Smiley, but the book publishers don't mention which issue of Fine
Homebuilding this article first appeared in.
It seems that the crux of the issue is removing the nails from the
broken slates. For this the author shows a tool called a "slate
ripper". This tool is sort of stair-step shaped, with squared
corners, and one leg is really long. That long leg has a hook on the
end, and the principle is to slide that hook under the shingle and snare
the nail. Then you hammer on the stair-step (he uses a 2 pound sledge
hammer) to yank out the nail.
The old slate should fall out once both nails are removed. He says that
a "new slate of similar size is bedded in silicone and slid into
place. To fasten the new slate, I snip both sides of a nail head to make
T-shaped. I punch a hole in the replacement slate at the upper end of
the slot between the the slates in the course above. Then I drive the
T-headed nail between the slot and through the slate."
He goes on to say "Next I fashion a piece of copper to cover the
nail in the slot between the slates above" He bends the top edge of
the copper patch to form a squashed "J" shape. With the J
upside down, he pushes the copper patch under the slates so the
rolled-over copper lip catches on the top edge of the new slate. He uses
the slate ripper to push this copper into place.
He mentions a company called New England Slate of Sudbury, Vermont,
(1-800-247-8809) that sells slate and tools.
He also mentions a book "Slate Roofs" which is reprinted by
Vermont Structural Slate Company of Fair Haven, Vermont,
(1-800-343-1900) and sells for about $12.
I don't know anything about the sales practices with slate. At around
$700 per square (100 square feet), they should be willing to sell slate
by the piece!
Bruce W. Maki, Editor.
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