Roofing - Slates

Welsh slate is arguably the best in the world.

At its peak, the quarries of North Wales supplied the world from the port in Bangor. There is something charming and authentic about an old slate roof that the modern equivalent just cannot achieve.

The keys to this are:

• the size of the slates which give diminishing courses from eaves to ridge line
• the rough hand cropped edges of old slate
• the thickness of old slate, hand split
• the weathered patina and appearance (yes, slate does weather)

I have mentioned before that we are relaying the same slate. Every builder we approached warned we would not be able to preserve more than 30 - 40% of the slate, and that replacements were as rare as hen's teeth. Were we sure we did not want a nice new roof instead?

Estimates for the value of the 300+ slates we had on our roof varied from £2.50 - £10 a piece. Tempting. It was hard not to think that combining these three facts however would see the builder strip the roof, sell the slate and charge for new materials.

So in the end we decided to do it ourselves - couldn't be that difficult could it? A nice manageable size (240" x 306" in plan) and no more than a few feet off the ground meant there would never be a better time to get our feet wet.