dnb Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 I know nothing about slates yet other than the very obvious bits of roofing I've picked up so I'm hoping for a little advice so I can make informed decisions. My planning permission specifies a natural slate roof, but doesn't constrain me further. I have seen slates in several sizes, from several countries at a range of prices from affordable, through "owch!" to "is it edged in gold leaf?". I am wondering where to set my sights in the pricing structure to get something of reasonable quality and durability? I am currently considering Brazil and Spain as likely countries of origin and think 250x500 is a sensible (i.e. common) size and the price is at the affordable end of the spectrum. I would like to stretch to 300x600 because with a 40 degree pitch roof I think the larger size will look a bit better, but I am most likely going to not do this because I can see no performance gain for the cost increase and we've had a couple of goes at the contingency fund due to weather and virus. Using the back of a convenient envelope and assuming an 80mm headlap I need just under 6000 slates for the house and garage based on the 500x250 slates and 20 reasonable size solar panels set in the roof using GSE products (I will do a more detailed calculation nearer the time.) so I am hoping for a little bit of bargaining power for sensible delivieries - a necessary consideration given where I live. Thanks in advance for any wise words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 My builder used Spanish slate and it looks very in keeping with other roofs round here and a nice solid grey colour, no idea of price as it was within my package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Is your planning passed yet? Mine started off down the natural slate avenue, but I persisted pointing out adjacent houses had concrete tiled roofs. They eventually accepted a particular concrete tile with a riven finish and colour to make it look a bit like slate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnb Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 28 minutes ago, ProDave said: Is your planning passed yet? Yes. Planning is passed and we're well on the way with the build. The planning department were more than a little odd with me. They insisted on natural slate and painted wooden cladding so that the house retained the look of the bungalow we demolished (that felt roof). No other house on the road is like mine will be. We have a little of everything - thatch, wooden shingles, concrete tiles, slates... My architect coined a wonderful phrase to describe the road: "No common vernacular." I am happy with natural slate. Less so with the cladding, but it's not worth rocking the boat over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Is it worth going back for an amendment? We use Marley Edgemere Riven. which are a concrete interlocking tile made to look a bit like slate and a bit thinner than most concrete tiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnb Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 12 minutes ago, ProDave said: Is it worth going back for an amendment? Your roof looks good! For a saving of around £1000 in materials alone it may well be worth asking about an amemndment if I can find a good reason. I assume interlocking tiles are easier and therefore faster to install than slates, so there's a labour saving too - I'm not too keen on heights so will avoid these jobs where I can and therefore won't be doing much on the roof myself. I have my doubts that I will get away with it though - they'll mention the usual ANOB issues, followed by SSSI and say I'm lucky to be building anything! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, dnb said: Yes. Planning is passed and we're well on the way with the build. The planning department were more than a little odd with me. They insisted on natural slate and painted wooden cladding so that the house retained the look of the bungalow we demolished (that felt roof). No other house on the road is like mine will be. We have a little of everything - thatch, wooden shingles, concrete tiles, slates... My architect coined a wonderful phrase to describe the road: "No common vernacular." I am happy with natural slate. Less so with the cladding, but it's not worth rocking the boat over it. You are the local eccentric distinctiveness to be preserved. ? Edited June 25, 2020 by Ferdinand 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Our interlocking clay tiles are *very* slatey. https://www.lbsproducts.com/clay-tiles/interlocking-clay-tiles/snowdon-natural-black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makie Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 As a roofer please don't use Chinese slate, they are awful. Cupa is a good spanish slate (H3's are better than the rest) As said by ProDave try and get an amendment - The redland Cambrian is a good option as it is a tile made from recycled slate. The saxon is another good option. Try and avoid Marley, they are made on the cheap and they don't let them cure as long as they should now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 I'm on the middle of doing a cost analysis between slate and tile. I specified 'marley edgemere riven on my planning permission as I knew it was an area I could save money. However now find myself pining to have a 'proper' slate roof. As above Spanish cupa heavy 3's seem to be the best of the bunch albeit top end (400x250mm seems to be the common size here in Scotland) Burton roofing are their main distributor (now owned by the Cupa pizzara quarry itself) and nationwide branches. But they also sell all the tiles. I got a quote for 350m2 of cupa heavy 3 which turned out to be 8360 tiles at a total cost of £9030. Vs the marley at £3900. Its double the costs however, I'm still working on the costs for labour to install. Tiles are easy and can be done relatively cheaply and even easy to do yourself as I understand it. However slates will cost invariably more as you need to grade them (sort them into thicknesses) to get it good and smaller so takes longer. They are also going to come back with another option on slates that are cheaper and apparently pretty good...so I'll update once I hear more on that and labour costs. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makie Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 20 hours ago, SuperJohnG said: I got a quote for 350m2 of cupa heavy 3 which turned out to be 8360 tiles at a total cost of £9030. Get a roofer with an account to price them for you, will be cheaper than that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Sometimes, fitting roof integrated PV can be cheaper than slating, is that an option at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnb Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 7 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Sometimes, fitting roof integrated PV can be cheaper than slating Was that aimed at me or @SuperJohnG? If it was me then I am already planning 20 320W panels on the south facing roof. I don't think more will fit and it makes the inverter choice more tricky (will attempt to link to my solar panel thread) we are just about to complete the formal microgeneration application with SSEN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 2 hours ago, makie said: Get a roofer with an account to price them for you, will be cheaper than that. That was direct. So I was hoping that was a cheap price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makie Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, SuperJohnG said: That was direct. So I was hoping that was a cheap price. People with accounts get discount on the standard price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 7 hours ago, dnb said: Was that aimed at me or @SuperJohnG? Aimed at anyone really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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