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Temporary Repair for Slate Roofs InspectAPedia®  -     How to make temporary repairs for leaky slate roofs How to inspect, evaluate & repair slate roofs - the basics

Here we discuss several holding actions to try to preserve slate roofs by making temporary repairs until proper slate roof repairs can be ordered. This series of detailed slate roof inspection and repair articles describes procedures for evaluating the condition of slate roofing. How to inspect, identify defects, and estimate remaining life of slate roofs are addressed. The article series also references slate repair procedures, repair slate sources, and slate quarries. Our page top photo shows a slate roof in Port Jervis, NY. This roof was coated throughout all of its surface in an attempt to slow roof wear and leaks.

We also provide slate sources and where to buy slate roofing materials and slate roofing tools and products.

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Holding actions for older, damaged, or leaky slate roofs

If a client cannot afford to replace a slate roof a wiser course may be to do nothing in the short run, other than to trap small leaks in an attic, or to tar leaky areas. Although these steps are not preferred, they are often better than abandoning what may be a valuable roof of predominantly durable slates.

Tarring leak areas in a slate roof is a very unpleasant and ugly holding action. However if a roof may be salvaged by deferring a proper repair for a short time we'd probably tolerate this step.

Advising clients that the only option is to complete a very expensive slate repair immediately is likely to result in an asphalt roof-over which may, in the long run, be a worse crime. This is clearly a matter of opinion.

What went wrong on the slate roof in our photo at left? Often the metal flashing has worn out and is leaking while the slates are still good on a roof - that's what happened at the valley of the roof dormer shown in the left side of our photo. As a holding action the repairman tarred the roof valley over the dormer - which might have worked, but it looks as if during access to apply the tar the repairman walked on and broke and loosened slates in the area just below the valley.

You can also see tar running out from below some of the slates just under the valley, showing us the sequence of repairs. Five slates were replaced (notice the dark gray slates?). But the slate nails may also be failing on this roof - which could explainwhy there are loose, falling, and missing slates in the area of the "repair".

Where the slates are good but fasteners are failing, some roofers may be willing to remove, salvage, and reinstall slates. Slates which are less than 1/4" thick should be discarded. The increase in labor costs for this procedure makes this "re-roofing" process expensive.

Some slate companies suggest that this procedure might be selected as a continuing repair/maintenance process so that over a decade of maintenance the roof has been totally replaced.

It's likely that the total labor bill for a drawn-out project will be larger than the costs of an all-at-once repair. However this approach permits spreading out a large investment over a longer and less painful period. -- Personal communication, Vermont Structural Slate, December 1990

ASHI ethical guidelines require inspectors to have no financial connection with work performed on buildings they inspect. But where further evaluation and/or repair advice is needed it is perfectly proper, and in our opinion advisable, to refer clients to experienced, qualified slate roofers just as you would to an expert in another field for other concerns.

For slate roofs, refer clients only to roofers who have experience with slate materials. While we'd prefer to refer a client to three reputable experts, if we could locate only one in our area, by our opinion of what's most sensible, we'd refer to that one.

Contractors who are not familiar with slate and confronted by a leak in a valley or in an area of limited mechanical damage, may sell a complete re-roofing job to an anxious owner.

Similarly, improper repairs or traffic on a roof with fragile fasteners or slates, may cause much more new damage than was present before.

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ROOF INSPECTION SAFETY & LIMITS
ROOF VENTILATION SPECIFICATIONS
ROOF VENTING ENERGY SAVING DETAILS
SLATE ROOF INSPECTION & REPAIR
How to Inspect & Repair
Types of Roofing Slate
Slate Colors, Chemistry
Slate Roof Aging and Durability
Ribbon Slates
Slate Roof Installation Quality
Other factors in Condition
Slate Roof Repair history
Slate Roof Leaks
Slate Holding actions
How to Repair Slate Roofs
  Copper Tab Method
  Slate Hook Method
SLATE ROOF PHOTO LIBRARY
Slate References
Slate Sources, Repairs
SLATE ROOF INSPECTION CLASS

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• How to Inspect & Repair Slate Roofs a detailed article about evaluating the condition of slate roofing and repairing worn or damaged slate roofs.
• Slate Roofs: a photographic library of slates, slate roofs, roofing styles
• Roofing: Defect Recognition, Repair, Prevention for Roofing & Flashing main web page
• Inspecting and Evaluating Slate Roofs Hudson Valley ASHI seminar content
• Choosing a Roofing Contractor How to find and select a roofing contractor - (thanks to Jessie Schrader)

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