My Relatively New Roof

[Aero]

Hi guys/gals,

I had a new slate roof done about 3 or 4 years ago, Argentinian slate, I believe, nailed. I recently had 2 slip at the gutter, but on closer inspection found out that the 2 that have come loose have not been nailed at all. They have been fixed with 'Pinkgrip', and haven't even had holes drilled for nailing.

No doubt these aren't the only two that are fixed with glue, but before I speak to the roofer can someone offer me some perspective? Is this unusual practice? Am I expecting too much for them all to firmly nailed?

What should I do? Because if this isn't acceptable am I being reasonable to expect the roofer to repair every slate that slips (I don't imagine the roof will be replaced!)

Thanks for your advice.

Kind regards,

Aero.

 

[Xenon]

Every course of slate should be nailed.

Pinkgrip? WTF!

 

[gregers]

i would check the quotation he gave you and the guarantee etc to see what he said would be done.

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

It is more than unusual, it is totally against code of practice and BS5534.

It maybe an idea to get a local friendly roofing contractor to take a look at it for you, it's actually quite unusual now for slates to come unholed as it is but to just `fix' the slates with Pinkgrip is downright negligent and will cause longterm problems if it's more than `just a few slates'

 

[Aero]

Thanks for your replies, very helpful.

My worry is what I do now. It's a big roof, it certainly won't be redone. Do I just make sure that they replace any slates that slip?

I replaced the roof because the one that had been there for the last 100 years kept losing slates. Now it seems I'm in the same position but seriously out of pocket.

 

[noseall]

sounds as if he hasn't fixed the eaves course - maybe?

 

[Xenon]

Thanks for your replies, very helpful.

My worry is what I do now. It's a big roof, it certainly won't be redone. Do I just make sure that they replace any slates that slip?

I replaced the roof because the one that had been there for the last 100 years kept losing slates. Now it seems I'm in the same position but seriously out of pocket.

At the end of the day, you have paid to have a roof installed. Now, it may just be me, but if i pay to have something done, i want it done properly.

Its worth paying an independant to investigate imo.

 

[Aero]

Ok guys, I'll do that. Can anyone make a recommendation in Cornwall?

Again, thanks for the advice.

 

[Xenon]

I'll have a look on our database tomorrow, see if we have anyone down that way.

 

[Aero]

Great, thanks.

 

[datarebal]

Not all slates are nailed..there are other methods of slating. (not glue)
I would think it's likely that they had an accident while doing the roof and ripped out the damaged slate/slates and glued in the replacements as an invisible repair. Glueing is **** practice as there are better ways.
I would not think there are many stuck in this way as to be honest it would have cost them a fortune to glue everything!!!!

 

[gaz116]

Not all slates are nailed..there are other methods of slating. (not glue)
I would think it's likely that they had an accident while doing the roof and ripped out the damaged slate/slates and glued in the replacements as an invisible repair. Glueing is s**t practice as there are better ways.
I would not think there are many stuck in this way as to be honest it would have cost them a fortune to glue everything!!!!

yea, im guessing they broke one or 2 whilst slating and just popped in a little bit of "quickfix" and replaced them.

 

[hobbedy]

Sorry to reopen this thread, but we've just had a re-roof done and I've found a similar problem.

We've had our 1900 house re-roofed. The roofers stripped the old slates, put a membrane down and supplied reclaimed slates. They refixed the slates and did all the leadwork on the roof, and it looks very nice bar a few niggles etc.

However, I went up a ladder today to have a look and the edge slates (i.e where the tiles hang over the side of the roof towards next door) are strange...

Basically instead of fixing all the slates with nails to the roof battens (although most are) the very edge of the roof has been filled in/made up all the way along with slates cut to half size, which are glued using some pink mastic to the slates below. One of them came down in the wind today....

These slates cover the top of the outside brick wall of the house and the edge (which is directly underneath the slates), but what would the normal method of fixing be, as you can't screw them to the wall!. I can't see that using pink glue is a legit way of doing things?

If anyone with experience can get back to me and let me know the score it'd be appreciated!

 

[cjard]

Can you sup[ply some pictures? You can upload them using the forum tool under the box you write in, or use a service like host.photogalaxy.net

The reason I ask is I found your post confusing to read. I'm not a roofer, but you said:

However, I went up a ladder today to have a look and the edge slates (i.e where the tiles hang over the side of the roof towards next door) are strange...

Which makes it sound like your house is a terrace or semi and youre inspecting the join between two roofs

These slates cover the top of the outside brick wall of the house and the edge

Which made you sound like you were inspecting a gable end wall.

Further, I can't quite imagine how either of these roof locations would have half slates in them all the way up; it would mean that your slates were not staggered. Only every other row should have a half slate in, not every row.

 

[hobbedy]

Hi Cjard,

I'll try and get some pictures, but the house is actually detached, and the edges I'm talking about are called the "verges" according to what I just found online and your picture.

http://www.diydata.com/general_building/roofing/fixing_slates.php

Basically from reading the above page, I can see that instead of using 1 1/2 sized slates to cover the end wall, they've just glued the 1/2 slates on to the slate below, to "make up" the edge of the roof.

You're correct though that not all of the slates are 1/2 sized, just every other one is.

Is using glue/sealant a legit way of attaching tiles? This is the case for all 3 verges on the house!