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Slate advice needed


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Council have specified we need to use slate to keep in character with surrounding houses so starting to see how much extra thats going to cost on my build. So far its only a few hundred extra on the kit price but then I hit the minefield that is slate.

 

Questions are:

Slate size.. is it down to preference or is it certain roof shapes need certain sizes?

Larger slate = less time to do the job? does paying the extra for larger slate get offset by quantity needed and less time to do the job?

Spanish, Brazilian or reclaimed best value? Presuming reclaimed need labour factored in to price for resizing etc? Welsh and Scotch seem to be out due to price

We need enough for 180m2 anybody recommend any slate shops? Seem to be alot of slate superstores online that seem much cheaper than local merchants.

 

 

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If you were in Cornwall, you would notice piles of roof slates kicking about the place.

I often wonder if they sell them.

Just down the road from me is a farm building that has been slowly crumbling for decades, such a shame that the roof was not reclaimed.

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1 minute ago, SteamyTea said:

If you were in Cornwall, you would notice piles of roof slates kicking about the place.

I often wonder if they sell them.

Just down the road from me is a farm building that has been slowly crumbling for decades, such a shame that the roof was not reclaimed.

 

Im up in Perthshire and its the same round here with scotch slate and nice building stone. Think a lot of them let them crumble rather than take them down as its costly and time consuming process to get permission to demolish. Took us over a year to get permission to demolish the old (1800s) existing house on our plot and costs kept adding up, bat surveys, archaeological surveys, had to put materials to reuse etc

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We used slate for the same reasons as you 

The size is down to preference the larger slate is more expensive but quicker to lay Expect your roofing cost to be at least a third more than large tiles 

I would stay away from Brazilian 

We looked at reclaimed But settle on Spanish A1 grade 

It’s important that you have a grading certificate as both BC and and warranty asked for it 

Which was the reason we didn’t go for reclaimed 

 

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21 minutes ago, nod said:

 

It’s important that you have a grading certificate as both BC and and warranty asked for it 

 

 

Never realised that, could of ended in tears further down the road if id went for reclaimed. 

 

 

Not in a conservation area and and any type of natural slate is fine with Council.

 

We have a few PV panels on already to meet the renewables requirement but will look into adding a few more however our South side is maybe already to busy with the velux and PV panels already assigned to it.

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8 hours ago, Barryscotland said:

Never realised that, could of ended in tears further down the road if id went for reclaimed. 

 

 

Not in a conservation area and and any type of natural slate is fine with Council.

 

We have a few PV panels on already to meet the renewables requirement but will look into adding a few more however our South side is maybe already to busy with the velux and PV panels already assigned to it.

 

Reclaimed is fine is Scotland! (it's the only way to get Scottish slates these days)

Cupa H3's are good for our climate, especially if you are open. Brazilian is usually bad but if you get a premium quarry they can be good.

Burton roofing in Livingston stock Cupa. Direct Slating in Bonnybridge stock most kinds but specialize in reclaimed (Scotch, Welsh and Westmoreland)

 

Cummings and Sons is in Perth so local and have a good selection - http://www.roofslatescotland.co.uk/

 

 

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8 hours ago, joe90 said:

I second using Spanish, it’s what we used and looks good and very little breakage. I also recommend using slate hooks, means slates can be replaced without stripping whole roof.


We don't batten roofs for slate in Scotland so they don't work that well up here.

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4 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Do your nails not do the same? (And there are two of them per slate).?

 

Jesus my head was pickled for that response..... been a long day hah.

Ignore it....

 

Anyway it's just not done, I would imagine it is down to architects and building control not wanting it more than anything

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3 minutes ago, makie said:

Anyway it's just not done, I would imagine it is down to architects and building control not wanting it more than anything

I find that strange. My builder used hooks, I have always used tiles when I was a builder , I am very impressed with the hooks, cannot see them from the ground and as I said slates are removable/replaceable which must be a great advantage. I don’t see why an architect or a BC would specify such a thing?

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11 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I find that strange. My builder used hooks, I have always used tiles when I was a builder , I am very impressed with the hooks, cannot see them from the ground and as I said slates are removable/replaceable which must be a great advantage. I don’t see why an architect or a BC would specify such a thing?

 

Most architects in Scotland like everything to be done traditionally, if they can they will almost always specify Scotch slate on the roof.

 

Just had a look at them and they don't look like they are made for a thicker slate anyway so that might be it. I would imagine they work well with Spanish but all my slating jobs are done with architects instructions so doubt I will ever use them.

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