Slate

A Slate Roof is 100% natural, 100% recyclable, and has a useful life cycle of 1 1/2 centuries or more. Other advantages to owning a slate roof include the fact that slate roofing is completely fire proof, and a slate roof is very easy to maintain. Unlike cedar shingle or even asphalt shingle roofing, any individual slate on a slate roof can be easily removed and replaced without damaging or disrupting the surrounding slates. All other reasons aside, the number one reason our customers tell us they want a slate roof in because it is by far the most beautiful roof being installed on homes today.

Slate is considered a steep slope roofing product, and when properly installed within its limits, slate can protect a home for centuries with nothing more than stone and nails. It is important to remember that the slate is your water proofing. If the new slate is carelessly installed in such a manner that it relies on the security of an asphalt or modified bitumen underlayment as water proofing, the new roof can begin to develop leaks in as little as 15 to 20 years. In this unfortunate circumstance, the roof lasts only as long as the underlayment not the stone.

The degree to which your slate roof is watertight is determined by what is referred to as headlap. Headlap is the amount of stone that is lapped by the second course of slate above. In a standard slate roof installation, slate is applied with a 3-inch headlap although it can be 2-inchs for roofs with a greater than 12:12 roof slope or 4-inches for roofs with less than a 6:12 roof slope. Please see diagram to the right courtesy of the SLATE ROOF BIBLE second edition.

Items considered common maintenance on a Slate Roof will include the removal and replacement of broken or missing slates, the removal and replacement of rusted pipe or vent flashings, chimney flashings, roof to wall flashings, and valley metal.

Metal flashings fabricated from copper are common on slate roofs here in the San Francisco bay area. These type flashings will typically have a life span of roughly 80 years. Therefore it is quite common for these flashings to be replaced at least once in the life of a Slate Roof system.

Understanding, repairing, maintaining, and installing new Slate Roof systems are a passion for us at Elliott & Elliott Co. We feel that a quality Slate Roof system is the mark of a true craftsman, and maintaining that legacy for generations to come is our privilege.