How To Slate A Roof In Scotland

As one of the world s oldest roofing materials natural slate sits proudly atop of many of britain s historic buildings and housing stock including in scotland.

How to slate a roof in scotland. The broken off head of the slate is removed with a slate ripper figure 9 and a new slate is dressed to size and nailed in its place. It is particularly well known for its use as a roof covering on many traditional scottish buildings. Check the roof from outside. The replacement of single slates in a scottish slate roof is a relatively easy task as they are normally single nailed figure 8.

Many traditional scottish buildings have roofs covered with local slate. Whether your slate roof belongs to the scotch welsh spanish or westmorland quarries you re in luck because we ve got it covered. A dormer is an extension usually with a window that sticks out of a sloping roof and gives you a bit more headroom. Before you arrange to alter or add to your roof you should first check to see if you need to apply for planning permission.

Minimum slate headlap moderate weather this table of slate overlaps and roof angles shows common sizes of roofing slate and the recommended slope for the corresponding slate size. Provided the proper overlaps are observed there is also less chance of water penetrating through the nail hole. Scottish slate has a well earned reputation as a long lasting material. Slate is one of the most widely used building materials in scotland.

Scottish slates are traditionally held in place on the sarking by a single nail fixed through a hole at the slate head. This article looks at the challenge of sourcing natural slate for a traditional diminishing slate roof in scotland where local supplies are difficult or impossible to obtain. Regular checks let you spot and tackle problems before they become worse and before repair costs rise. Slate has been used for this purpose for centuries.

This is sufficient to hold it in place and resist wind uplift.