Re: Slate roof

[Stephen Newell]

Curious, what was the issue with the roof. It's been my understanding a slate roof will last forever unless something falls on the roof breaking the tiles.

 

[Michael Soldan]

I had a twister go through in 2010 and it took the roof off the barn and put down two sheds and tore some slate off the house roof. You are correct in that slate will last forever unless it has been hailed on as large hailstones can crack them. The giuy who fixed my roof told me there are cathedrals in Europe that have slate roofs that are over 500 years old !

 

[Leroy]

A lot of slate roof faliurs will come from water getting to the steel nails some from a naile being pit in wrong place and others from somethin cracking the slate letting the water get to the nails and rusting the nail off letting a slate slide out and then not properly repairing where the one came out shortly all were coming lose and falling out. The nails if exposed will rust as fast as in a steel roof. Just need to get a new nail in.

 

[INCase]

slate can last a long time but not forever. the type (where is was quarried from) can determine how long they can last

and damage from weather like wind.

i submitted an insurance claim for some slates that blew off in a wind storm. insurance company denied it as slate doesn't blow off bull... strong enough winds can damage anything. it took regular shingles off the garage at the same time so proof of the wind storm. still going around with them. plus the lady that did the estimate said early on that she didn't know anything about slate other than you're not supposed to walk on it.

it is hard to find someone to that know anything about slate or is willing to work on it.

 

[INCase]

I might be the original poster you mentioned.??
i submitted an insurance claim for some slates that blew off the barn in a wind storm. insurance company denied it as slate doesn't blow off bull... strong enough winds can damage anything. it took regular shingles off the garage at the same time so proof of the wind storm. still going around with them. plus the lady that did the estimate said early on that she didn't know anything about slate other than you're not supposed to walk on it.

it is hard to find someone to that know anything about slate or is willing to work on it. it appears your company is in California. found a couple Amish but they are hard to get a hold of and did find an outfit out of Cleveland that specializes in slate Durable slate company that gave me a quote that would supposedly fix all the slate issues but they said the roof is shot as it has had too many bad/cobbled up repairs in the past. Their price is about 1/2+ of the cost to get a new steel roof so not making much sense to have it repaired right now if it is shot. found a 2nd company but they haven't gotten back to me yet.

the steel roof wouldn't be too unreasonable but the cost to get the slate off (not trying to salvage it) really runs up the cost.

 

[philcaseinWPA]

I replied to Incase about my slate roofs that needed fixed. I too found a local contractor who did the work this summer. So far so good. Lots of rain and storms since the repairs and no leaks I can see. My roofs are over 120 years old. The slate lasts the nails don't. It wasn't cheap. I am in south west PA.
Phil

 

[Northvale PA]

I will share my experience with slate as I have it on my house and Moms barns. The house is 130 years
old. Freeze thaw is what breaks down slate, so they get brittle with time, crack and leak. We have Peach
Bottom slate which is very durable but some other type too, which is now soft junk. I can barely get on
the roof to fix a place without cracking another one or two and I am NOT heavy. We lost two in the bad
recent wind storm, which I replaced easily. I replaced our porch roof entirely about fifteen years ago.
Getting the slate off was the easiest part. We put down 25 year asphalt shingles but they are already
showing their age. I put metal roofing on my barns using screws, not nails. The screws will get loose
eventually and the metal gets rusty. Ive had to re-screw the metal after wind storms. So, nothing lasts
forever. Insurance companies turn down rough looking slate immediately. New houses around us have
their roofing and siding ripped off in wind storms regularly but we get turned down. So, personally, Ive
had enough of an old slate roof. My advice is Keep the slate and patch if it is less than 100 years old,
otherwise replace with metal.

 

[INCase]

good info thanks

the barn roof was put on in 1905 so its 118 years old. supposedly from Vermont which it seems is supposed to be desirable slate but who knows.

its a gambrel type and most of the issues are in the upper flatter part. one thought i have is to replace that part with steel now and get to the steeper less troublesome areas later on. problem is the peak of the barn is about 50ft in the air.

for now i may have some amish guys fix the missing and other pieces and put new steel ridge cap on as the bulk of the leaks are down the center. the old ridge cap is steel and supposedly rusted thru

 

[Leroy]

You should want to salvage all the slate you can as they will sell for very good money. Some for repairing and even broken to artists that like to paint pictures on them and sell them at craft shows. Just might make enough off the slate to pay for your new roof.

 

[INCase]

i've thought of that there are companies, including the one i had give me a quote to repair do buy used slate BUT.. no one that is interested in buying slate is at all interested in taking it off the roof. i'd be willing to give it to them for free if they would remove it. too much work i guess.

At $2 each i guessed about $13,000 worth on that barn