Natural slates

paddym3

i want to go natural but taught the extra outlay was not worth it. but i priced tegral on friday at best i could get was 1.12 plus vat i can get natural for around 1.20 plus. now alot of natural can be poor but must investgate the product better

jakko86

Ask your roofer about the natural slate your thinking of putting on but for that price i wouldnt say they are of great quality and if you do go with them your better off hooking every one as you dont want slates slipping after.ask the supplier to show you any local roofs these have went up on. in my experience cheaper natural slate are soft and dont sit great on roofs.

Eoghan Barra

jakko86 wrote: »

Ask your roofer about the natural slate your thinking of putting on but for that price i wouldnt say they are of great quality and if you do go with them your better off hooking every one as you dont want slates slipping after.ask the supplier to show you any local roofs these have went up on. in my experience cheaper natural slate are soft and dont sit great on roofs.

I think if you do some shopping around you'll be able to get top quality slates at a very reasonable price. In my (limited) experience, there are exceptions to the rule that cheaper = softer. I'd recommend looking at some of the heavier, more rustic, Spanish ranges in the size 50 x 25, which can be v. good value and quality.

fclauson

We are having our roof slated at the mo - our roofer (who is a bit renowned locally for being very good) guided us against slate because our slope is just 27 deg and he said given this and the stong windy locaiton that they would fracture across the nails over time unless they where of very good quality (read very expensive) - and every single slate was clipped at the bottom

We also priced slate vs look-a-likes and they came in at double - in a tray of 100 look-a-likes you waste none - in a tray of 100 real slates you might have to grade out 10 to 15%

Eoghan Barra

fclauson wrote: »

We are having our roof slated at the mo - our roofer (who is a bit renowned locally for being very good) guided us against slate because our slope is just 27 deg and he said given this and the stong windy locaiton that they would fracture across the nails over time unless they where of very good quality (read very expensive) - and every single slate was clipped at the bottom

We also priced slate vs look-a-likes and they came in at double - in a tray of 100 look-a-likes you waste none - in a tray of 100 real slates you might have to grade out 10 to 15%

It may be simply that the roofer prefers artificial slates because they're less work to put on (lighter, easier to cut, all uniform thickness etc). He may even have an arrangement with the suppliers of non-natural slate.

With clips at the bottom I'd say you're safe as houses. We live beside the Atlantic, and a lot of the old houses around here, as well as almost all new houses, have natural slate roofs (it's pretty much mandatory for planning permission). Practically none of them are clipped (though I did use clips on my roof) and I haven't seen any evidence of problems. I can also tell you that, because many of them were built during the tiger years to sell for a quick buck as holiday homes, expensive slates were most definitely not used; as far as I am aware they were mostly cheaper - but good quality nonetheless - Spanish slate.

We used quite heavy - up to about 10mm thick or more - but hard slate on our roof and will be using all the leftovers, offcuts, etc as flooring and probably even as tiling in some places too, so hopefully there should be v. little wastage.

jakko86

Im a roofer/carpenter and what your roofer has said in my mind is pure bull to be honest 27 degrees is fine for a natural slate roof once the quality is ok dosnt have to be very expensive... ordinary slate is faster to lay, easier to cut and work with, less labour intensive dosn't need heavier battens and the ridge tiles are usually slower if your using more expensive caps.if your roof has lots of valleys/dormers and lots of cutting your roofer might have been inclined to put you off natural slate as it would be slow work and it really sounds like he put you off natural with that story... usually with natural id hook top row of slate as they have a tendancy to lift in the wind this is a problem you dont have with normal slate as they have a copper crampon on the bottom of every row...but natural will last for years and look great.As for waste with a medium to good quality slate there is very little waste as any slate that needs to be graded out can be used on the ridge row or else can be sliced down the middle for a side slate(into the slate trim) if you know what your doing waste can be kept to a minimum. To be honest the biggest reason for waste is breakages in the pallet.

paddym3

so does any one recommend a good natural slate? i am a carpenter too and have done loads of tegral roofs and some old natural slate. the natural slate is alot of work if it is reclaimed as grading is so important. i have laid the natural look slate but it only ok. did a roof with the brazilian natural about 4 years ago but it was quiet brittle and lot of waste. i personally havent used a spanish one so interested to hear what others are recommending

tred

Eoghan Barra wrote: »

Wouldn't say it's much when you take into account the amount that will be spent on labour and other roofing materials, though obviously you want to make sure you get good value (and quality) slate. I paid 1.14 each (incl. vat) for very good 50 x 25 cm Spanish slate. Not sure exactly how much Tegral are but don't think there's a big difference.

Yeah but also remember the dimensions of the natural slate is smaller, so youll need more slates. its not just the cost per slate.

from another posting on another site...



Default Re: natural slate
We are finishing off our house and have roofed using natural slate as we preferred the look. Advantages are that you are using a natural product which is never going to fade and only looks better with time. Disadvantage is that it is more expensive, is more brittle and can take longer to roof with it. The Spanish slates are cheaper and smaller, however they break easier and your roofer will probably charge more to lay them than the Bangor slate. If I was doing it again I would go for the Bangor slate which is larger, tougher and more expensive unfortunately.

muffler

A few posts above moved from another thread in order to keep things neat and tidy

Eoghan Barra

Eoghan Barra wrote: »

We live beside the Atlantic, and a lot of the old houses around here, as well as almost all new houses, have natural slate roofs. Practically none of them are clipped (though I did use clips on my roof) and I haven't seen any evidence of problems.

Was talking to someone the other day who told me that the new natural slate roofs around here ARE actually pretty much all clipped. I must have missed them when looking up from ground level.

My mistake, apologies.