Slate roof - clipped end slates

[ToughButterCup]

Curved edge roof-slates are very common in some German towns. Why? Rain. The water follows the curved edge. And some say it looks nice. But I think it can be taken too far, such as here. 

 

Yours @Bozza looks fabulous, subtle, clean, functional. 

[Gone West]

8 hours ago, Bozza said:

Oh dear this is a really terrible dilemma for me.

Yes I agree, but I'm afraid I'll have to add to it and say I think you are lucky to have found a very good roofer and I like the look of your roof.

[bassanclan]

I know at the minute you don't like the look of the roof, but you will not notice it. At the minute you are looking at the roof, but you genuinely don't examine the roof so much once you are in.

 

There is also the consideration that by removing the end slates now they won't be as well fixed as if they had been fixed in your preferred way from the start.

 

Give your roofers a break and accept it "as is"

There are much better things to spend your money on, even if you have a fixes price you end up paying for it one way or another.

[recoveringbuilder]

I think this looks really smart and as has been said before you are not going to be sitting looking at it, tbh I’d be pretty p**d off if I was the roofer who has made such a good job being asked to change it.

[makie]

13 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

I knew this. However I have never met a plumber who has done lead work....ever. 

 

I was going to say it doesn't make sense but I suppose in days of old where pipes were lead and hand formed it makes perfect sense...as it was alead working thing rather than a plumber thing. 

 

No it was and still is a huge part of the apprenticeship for plumbers. Many of them choose not to do it as they can make easier money elsewhere.

[makie]

6 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

Curved edge roof-slates are very common in some German towns. Why? Rain. The water follows the curved edge. And some say it looks nice. But I think it can be taken too far, such as here. 

 

Yours @Bozza looks fabulous, subtle, clean, functional. 

 

These are done purely for looks, not so much as a way of keeping rain out as it would be easier to simply put a lead valley in etc.

I'm pricing a job right now with some fishtail slates in Scotland, it's usually done just to make an architect feel proud of themselves.

[makie]

12 hours ago, Bozza said:

Oh dear this is a really terrible dilemma for me.  Everyone seems to like the clipped tiles, and I totally respect your opinions, and I absolutely hate the idea of ripping out such workmanship.  It’s been hot up there on that roof too.   But I’m just not keen on them.

 

The one big issue here is if you do decide to have it redone then there will be glue used on your roof where they cannot get a nail in the slates.

The only way to redo that properly is to strip out the panel so that a full diagonal section can be achieved so that every slate gets double nailed again.

[Oz07]

Another here who thinks the clipped corners look good.

 

My grandad was from the generation where plumbers did lead work. Said you had to move planks around the scaffold as you went along there were rarely enough to deck out the whole lift on small builder jobs.

 

Also the same generation where plumbers did glazing. He used to get annoyed when one of his double glazed panes misted and I had to order him one and change. Said in his day nothing ever went wrong with a piece of glass he changed unless a kid kicked a football through it!

[Bozza]

Thanks for the comments. I am just back from the site where I met up with my future neighbours to seek their opinion.  One is a solicitor /estate agent who has seen & sold a lot of houses round here. The entire rear of the house sits lower than the road, so the roof is at eye line as per attached older pic.  As such it’s extremely noticeable but less so at this angle in this pic when the scaffolding was still up.  They both also thought it looks weird & from angles creates an illusion of the roof curling up at the end, and neither had seen the clipped tiles before in this area.  That wasn’t me putting words in their mouth.  Another elevation of the house you can see is much higher from the ground and as been correctly suggested here it’s far less noticeable and more subtle and does look interesting.  I think what’s happening is it looks good in the pics, certainly good workmanship, but in real life less so at eyeline from one side of the house.  
 

we all acknowledged the workmanship the slater has done and it not his fault but if he has a beef it will have to be with my project manager as this was done under his supervision and not at my or architects request. Nor on drawings etc.  My PM advised me he hadn’t asked for this to be done, so the slater has just chosen to do it that way as far as I can see.  Surely if doing something like that would they not ask the PM or client?

 

Thanks Makie for the head up I’ll ensure if changed it will be done correctly.

 

Interestingly at today’s visit we noticed we several cracked slates and one missing one.  Wouldn’t have thought you’d get that on a brand new roof or does that happen?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Bozza

[Roys]

Disclaimer, I am a spark and not a roofer although I have done two simple slate roofs, (double garage size), in both cases about a week or two after I had done them I noticed either a slate on the ground or in the gutter, I was unsure if I maybe cracked a weak one when I moved the ladder for the last time or if it was just a weak one and the first decent wind caused a very slight movement which caused it to break and slide off.

You certainaly bin a few flawed ones when you laying the roof, but since the two or three “settling” ones I have had no more come of, that has been 4 or 5 years now.

 

[Ferdinand]

I would leave the cut corners because they are interesting and distinctive locally.

 

And I  like that they are quietly prominent.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Mr Punter]

I quite like hook fixing as the tiles can't slip down.  Some dislike the look but I like that they don't rattle in the wind.

[makie]

1 hour ago, Bozza said:

Interestingly at today’s visit we noticed we several cracked slates and one missing one.  Wouldn’t have thought you’d get that on a brand new roof or does that happen?

It can happen, if a slate is damaged above the gauge then it would be impossible for them to see it.

 

[Thedreamer]

The clipped slates look good, not seen it done locally here on Skye.

 

What do you have on the gable ends dry verge under the slates?

[Bozza]

31 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

The clipped slates look good, not seen it done locally here on Skye.

 

What do you have on the gable ends dry verge under the slates?

Ok so roofing stuff I’m not knowledgeable Nor able to answer.  House is turnkey so whatever builder has done.  Photos here any help?

 

[Thedreamer]

1 minute ago, Bozza said:

Ok so roofing stuff I’m not knowledgeable Nor able to answer.  House is turnkey so whatever builder has done.  Photos here any help?

 

 

Not 100% clear from the photos.

 

Our dry verge contains the slates on the end. We went with fairly thick slates so the dry verge has a few bumps when the three course meet so just went with what was available in Jewsons, nicer ones are available.

 

The idea being that driving rain could go between the gable end slates, you still have the protective of the roof membrane but prehaps the clipped slates negates the need for the dry verge. Traditionally up here you would have concrete skews on the gable end of highland houses.

 

Here is the best one I could find from my blog. I should say that our build on Skye is more likely to get battered by wind and rain than most on here.

 

 

Your build looks great by the way, what's your cladding, cedar? ?

[Bozza]

Ah understood.  The old cottage that we demo’d had skews per west coast vernacular funnily enougH.  With my replacement new build there is no dry verge capping the gable end tiles,  that’s not done around here and my turnkey builder doesn’t do their roofs like that and they are a builder of very high reputation etc.  They do dry verges when they use concrete Marley duo etc but I’ve never seen any of their houses with slate being capped etc nor with the clipped tiles.  Understood reasons for it being done on the islands though.
 

thanks for the compliment.  It’s Siberian larch board on board.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Bozza

[Thedreamer]

14 minutes ago, Bozza said:

Ah understood.  The old cottage that we demo’d had skews per west coast vernacular funnikybenough..  With my replacement new build there is no dry verge capping the gable end tiles,  that’s not done around here and my turnkey builder doesn’t do their roofs like that and they are a builder of very high reputation etc.  They do dry verges when they use concrete Marley duo etc but I’ve never seen any of their houses with slate being capped etc Nor with the clipped tiles.  Understood reasons for it being done on the islands though.
 

thanks for the compliment.  It’s Siberian larch board on board.

 

 

 

Not really a cap like this.

 

 

But ours is like this

 

 

I've also fitted Siberian larch, but in T&G, got some more on the way for decking and the ramp. 

 

[Bozza]

24 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

 

Not really a cap like this.

 

 

But ours is like this

 

 

I've also fitted Siberian larch, but in T&G, got some more on the way for decking and the ramp. 

 

Ah yes like trim I get it.  Very nice house.  Are you leaving your larch untreated to weather/grey too.

[Thedreamer]

13 hours ago, Bozza said:

Ah yes like trim I get it.  Very nice house.  Are you leaving your larch untreated to weather/grey too.

 

Thanks.

 

We left it to weather for 18 months or so, but in the end used Osmo oil with a pigmentation.

[Bozza]

Oh I never knew you could oil larch that’s been exposed to weather.  For some reason I thought you had to do oil it straight away or not at all.  Was it that you wanted it to fade a bit and then use the oil to keep it that way or something else.  Any info / advice on this appreciated..... I have to oil one side of my house with some fire resistant oil because it’s close to a boundary in case someone builds a house next door, which is basically impossible, but hey that’s what building control requires.
 

I can see how your house will sit well in Skye.  Traditional form, but with contemporary materials (I sound Kevin Mckleod).  Nice.

 

 

[Thedreamer]

46 minutes ago, Bozza said:

Oh I never knew you could oil larch that’s been exposed to weather.  For some reason I thought you had to do oil it straight away or not at all.  Was it that you wanted it to fade a bit and then use the oil to keep it that way or something else.  Any info / advice on this appreciated..... I have to oil one side of my house with some fire resistant oil because it’s close to a boundary in case someone builds a house next door, which is basically impossible, but hey that’s what building control requires.
 

I can see how your house will sit well in Skye.  Traditional form, but with contemporary materials (I sound Kevin Mckleod).  Nice.

 

 

 

I think it best to let it sit for a while to allow the timber to adjust to the surroundings. 

 

Larch will weather at different speeds on various elevations. 

 

The OSMO oil is pricey but good for UV protective and also for rain. It's gives the larch a uniform look. 

 

Yes had to go for quite a traditional look for the house as we are in a national scenic area.

[Bozza]

Further to my roof I’ve attached a short video which may change or affirm everyone’s opinion, plus some pics of issues I’m highlighting for snagging/attention.,  interested In hearing everyone’s opinions.  

[Mr Punter]

Only the broken tile.

 

Did you think the end ridge tile was too long?  Who authorised that the scaffold be struck before the roof was inspected and approved?

[Bozza]

6 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Only the broken tile.

 

Did you think the end ridge tile was too long?  Who authorised that the scaffold be struck before the roof was inspected and approved?

Yeah first photo - the ridge tile capping bit sticks out, it’s tight in on all the other parts of the roof.  The house is 100% turnkey fixed price with very reputable company so decision to take down scaffolding would have been Site/Project manager.