Patching up a slate roof - what to look for in reclaimed slates?

[DIYNotIan]

Hi all

We are having a stove put in in a few weeks time. As part of the job, the installer will be removing an old decommissioned flue from a different roof/part of the house, which has 20" x 12" Welsh slates. We need to get the slates before he comes...

I've no idea how many will be needed, but I thought I'd buy some extras so we've got spares in the future. Also, we'll be patching over a couple of roof windows at some point and will need some for that too.

Reclaimed slates have nail holes in them and I wondered if this matters? If the holes don't line up with my roof's battens, might that cause a problem?

Many thanks

 

[datarebal]

Firstly, hold the slate in one hand . Give it a tap, if it rattles it's no use. If it has a thud noise it's dead , so no use . If it rings then it's good.
Next look at the holes , they should be well away from the centre line. Any near the middle . No good.
It makes little difference if they line up with yours.
Dont buy any that have been coated with anything

 

[gonch69]

Also search hall hooks for easy and tidy repairs

 

[DIYNotIan]

Thanks @gonch69 for the recommendation, I'll look that up and ask the chap doing the job whether he wants me to get some.

Thanks to you @datarebal for those helpful tips. I'll hopefully be going to a rec yard next weekend and will know what to try and look for now. The slates that I'm seeing locally on Facebook etc. look like this kind of thing:





So if new holes need to be made, A) Does it matter that the old holes will be there unused? And B) Is it easy to make new holes?

Apologies for the basic questions, I know nothing about slates! In fact, I'm interested to know what type of slates we have but I'll start a new thread on that rather that derail this one.

Cheers


EDIT - actually I just realised when making the other thread that one of the photos shows the flue that's coming down / area that's being patched. So I'll post it here too for interest's sake. It's not the best picture as I took it more just to chow the slates. I could take another though if that would help any?

 

[DIYNotIan]

Hi again

We went to the reclamation yard at the weekend and picked up some matching slates for the patch up work needed. I'm guessing it is hard to tell from photos, but I wondered whether anyone can tell what condition they are in? I did the above test and these certainly don't ring. But then I also read that not all old tiles will ring like a bell. I could try a short video of me tapping them with a hammer and post it to Google Drive?

Are the size of the holes and the damage around the holes a problem?

The reclaimed ones are also a tad larger than the ones on the roof; just by a few mm. Will that make the roofer's job more difficult or is that quite normal and expected?

Any thoughts before the workman comes to fit them would be much appreciated.

Thanks for all the help

 

[datarebal]

Well there ring and a ok slate ring .. can't explain that one it's experience I guess.
As long as they don't rattle or thud . That's good.

Pictures are fine no reason to complain about those.

 

[DIYNotIan]

Great, thanks @datarebal I'll give them another tap and see how they're sounding. Cheers