I made mention of it in my cars for sale post, but I want to dive into this here. My wife and I are in our due diligence period of buying a historic home. It was built in 1900. It's a spectacular house and it a dream come true for my wife. She's already talking to the town counsel (or whomever) about being in the Parade of Homes during the holiday season, etc... The house still has its' original slate roof. After nearly 125 years you can imagine that it's seen better days. Since there is no underlayment, some of the roofing structure has rotted as well. Quotes for a new all slate roof, and replacing damaged structure are $80-$100k. Ouch!!! I know there are other options out there besides asphalt. Anyone have experience with faux slate or certain types of tile? It's very important the house keep the proper period "look". I don't want a plain black asphalt shingle roof. I also understand slate is fragile, so besides being expensive it's a bit more at risk of cracking, etc... Here is what it looks like. Any suggestions are welcome!
Duke
MegaDork
1/31/23 4:00 p.m.
Yes, you can get faux slate, and I absolutely would do that. It's made out of heavy, dense, hardened EPDM - the same rubberlike material most commercial roofs are, but stiff: https://ecostarllc.com/product/majestic-slate/
You can also get metal roofing in a slate shingle look. Cheaper, but a little less realistic, maybe: https://www.tamko.com/styles/metalworks-stonecrest-slate
It will be way more expensive than an asphalt shingle roof, but not as wildly expensive as genuine slate. Easier to work with, too.
wawazat
SuperDork
1/31/23 4:10 p.m.
We had a DaVinci Roofscapes polymer (plastic) slate-look roof installed in 2017. Looks great and has worked well. Installers familiar with the product are recommended.
Not a roofer and not familiar with slate, but having had to have a tile roof redone in 2019, I feel for you ... it was half of your quote and I hear that price has gone up substantially since then.
Can they foam the slate in instead of, I assume it is, nailing it?
I was a roofer, but don't have any experience with slate -- that tends to be a specialty market, especially here in FL where I live. I'd be looking at the faux alternatives if I were you as others above have recommended. Tesla Solar Roof? :-D <-- mostly kidding here.. it seems crazily expensive but I think the market will head this direction eventually.
mtn
MegaDork
1/31/23 4:29 p.m.
In reply to Kendall Frederick :
Has Tesla actually delivered/installed a roof yet?
mtn said:
In reply to Kendall Frederick :
Has Tesla actually delivered/installed a roof yet?
Supposedly 480,000 Tesla solar roofs have been installed.
From here: https://www.tesla.com/solarroof
Where I live in Southern California, faux shingle roofs are very common (say 60%+) as real shingles aren't allowed due to fire risk and asphalt isn't deemed fancy enough.
I put a faux shingle roof on my last house 24 years ago and I know it's still fine as my dad now has the house as a rental - I did upgrade to the heaviest tar paper available BTW.
I've got a faux shingle roof on my current house that's about the same age but with standard tar paper and I've had a few leaking issues with it.
Duke
MegaDork
1/31/23 5:18 p.m.
I would put self-adhering underlayment under the entire roof. Basically a self-sealing waterproof membrane.
The church next to my mom's house had a slate roof when I was growing up. They've finally given up on most of it and replaced it with a dark grey metal. On that big building, it looks fine because it's way up in the air. Not sure how it would look on a 1900 house.
Mom's house is from 1909, it wears asphalt shingles and has for as long as I remember - we moved in during 1978.
I put an EPDM roof on one part of my roof because it's so shallow, water (& ice) creep under the shingles. The porch roof appears to be steel, would that be acceptable all over?
Not much help here, but what a cool house!! Love the porch.
Dan
Duke said:
I would put self-adhering underlayment under the entire roof. Basically a self-sealing waterproof membrane.
Yes, without a doubt it needs to have an underlayment. If I'm going to go to the extent of having the entire roof and some structure torn off, I want to do it right. I'm also going to have the heat pump replaced because it's 19 years old and in the attic.
Duke
MegaDork
2/1/23 8:09 a.m.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Nearly all roofs have a simple asphalt-impregnated felt underlayment. Self-adhering underlayment is a much more developed and higher-performing product.
Duke said:
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Nearly all roofs have a simple asphalt-impregnated felt underlayment. Self-adhering underlayment is a much more developed and higher-performing product.
Sorry, my prior post was worded rather poorly. I didn't know the difference between the two you just mentioned, but what I was trying to say is that if I'm going to go through all this labor cost to have the roof removed and replaced, I'm going to have the right stuff put back down. If self-adhering is much better, then that's what will be used.
Underneath the slate it may have what is called skip sheathing, where there's big gaps between the roof boards (just do a search on that term to find pictures.) If so, going to some modern type of roofing material may require filling in the gaps or even replacing it altogether. That could be part of the high price tag.
Duke
MegaDork
2/1/23 10:55 a.m.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
No need to apologize and I was on my phone so my post was a little terse. Sorry to you.
What you want is a product like this: Henry Blueskin
There are various similar products, but that's a good one. It's effectively a waterproof membrane over your whole roof, so any leaks in the slates are largely irrelevant. You do need plywood sheathing rather than purlins, though.
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you need any advice. It's a pretty house.
Duke said:
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
What you want is a product like this: Henry Blueskin
There are various similar products, but that's a good one. It's effectively a waterproof membrane over your whole roof, so any leaks in the slates are largely irrelevant. You do need plywood sheathing rather than purlins, though.
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you need any advice. It's a pretty house.
+1 on Blueskin. I've used it and it's a very good product.
*I know absolutely nothing about slate roofs*
Any chance they can be re-used? Assuming rocks don't wear out, just sharpie a number on each of them, pull them off, then put the new underlayment on.
I'm picturing a giant pile in the front yard with a roofer digging through looking for shingle # 2374379
I worked roofing with my grandfather as a coppersmith when I was in college. We went to a few slate jobs at some of the local colleges and prep schools. I will say, it's a lost art and there were very few people capable of handling slate WELL. Re-using is difficult because of the breakage during removal, and you'd never be able to colormatch new to the already weathered slate.
I will also say, there is no slate roof that doesnt leak eventually. The roofing Co used to have two old-timers on staff that all they did was slate leak repair. It'll last forever, but it's still a rock.
I won't pretend to know about all of the newer products on the market since last time I was on a roof was 20 years ago, but I have to think that composite/plastic technology has gotten to a point of affordability when compared to slate. That'd be the route I go. Slate is super duper finicky. It looks amazing when done well, but it'll cost you for a quality install.
We have had a few estimates for non-slate, using different materials. One was a fancy type of shingle, one was a synthetic slate, one was metal, etc...range is $35-$60k. Interestingly enough my wife and I were working the 24 Hours of Lemons race in Birmingham last weekend. We came across a fellow racer who lives near us and owns a fence company. Of course, he knows all kinds of contractors. He hooked us up with someone who specializes in old/historic homes, so he is coming out next week to give an estimate.
No matter what, we're going to pay a little extra labor for the roofer to go a bit slower and try to save as much of the original slate as possible. We're going to repurpose it for something inside or outside of the house. It would be a shame to just throw it away, it's part of the original house.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
We have had a few estimates for non-slate, using different materials. One was a fancy type of shingle, one was a synthetic slate, one was metal, etc...range is $35-$60k. Interestingly enough my wife and I were working the 24 Hours of Lemons race in Birmingham last weekend. We came across a fellow racer who lives near us and owns a fence company. Of course, he knows all kinds of contractors. He hooked us up with someone who specializes in old/historic homes, so he is coming out next week to give an estimate.
No matter what, we're going to pay a little extra labor for the roofer to go a bit slower and try to save as much of the original slate as possible. We're going to repurpose it for something inside or outside of the house. It would be a shame to just throw it away, it's part of the original house.
It's also quite valuable as a resale item too. For roofers as repair tiles, as cheeseboards, bbq searing plates...
Old slate roofs didn't have underlayment, only boards with gaps in between. And a nail or two in each slate shingle that "hang" them in place. They get walked upon and they shatter. The nails wiggle loose. At some point - like after 100 years - they're just shot.
New roofs are different - they almost always get installed over solid sheathing (plywood, OSB) and felt or some kind of synthetic underlayment. That introduces a tightness that requires ventilation strategies to keep the house happy.
Pulling off the old slate that has fractured and gone leaky over the decades means the boards and even rafters underneath are likely damaged. It can take a LOT of work to restore the integrity of what's below - all while risking rain exposure when it's opened up.
A metric berkeley ton of money will be spent. That's why most people end up using asphalt shingles.... Also because they can look quite similar to the eyes of 90% of the population.
