Slate is one of the tile roofs we take on, alongside clay and concrete. We repair slate roofs, replace them when repair stops making sense, and document condition when a sale needs it.
What we find on the roof decides everything after it. One cracked piece above a valley is a small job. A deck that has stayed wet for years is a much bigger one.
Is your roof natural slate or a synthetic lookalike?
Not every roof that looks like slate is natural stone. We confirm the material before we price any work.
We check that on the roof, where we can see edge thickness and the fasteners holding each piece. A photo from the yard rarely settles it, and the answer decides the repair method and the materials.
What we check on a slate roof
We start with the pieces themselves, then the fasteners, then the layer under them. Lifting and moving slate breaks a few pieces, which is normal, so every estimate includes a breakage allowance.
Decking is the layer of boards under the covering, and rot there is the most common change order. A change order covers extra work that we price once the old covering is off. We would rather find wet decking before the work starts than halfway through it.
Slate has its own repair conventions, and they are well documented. The National Park Service brief on slate roofs explains how these roofs are assessed and repaired.
Where slate roofs usually leak
Leaks are the most common reason people call us, and on slate we start at the transitions. Metal flashing carries water past the joints where the roof meets a wall, chimney or valley. That metal is a leading source of leaks on any covering.
When the slate is sound and the metal is not, the repair stays small. That is the difference between a flashing job and a new roof. If a ceiling stain has appeared, call us at (424) 532-7527 and describe what you see.
Repairing slate or replacing it
Slate usually leaves us with two honest options, and what we find decides which one you get. The pieces on top often outlast the layer that keeps water out.
When a repair is the right call
We can take out loose, slipped and broken pieces one at a time, and small repairs are welcome work. When the rest of the covering is sound, that is usually where we start.
When the covering has to come off
When the trouble sits under the slate, the pieces have to come off to reach it. The underlayment beneath them does the waterproofing, and it normally fails while the slate itself stays sound.
That job means lifting the pieces, replacing the underlayment, repairing bad decking and restacking the sound originals. We use the same approach on clay and concrete tile roofing, where that work is covered in more detail.
Once most of the covering has failed, we stop patching and quote a full roof replacement. We put both options in the estimate when both are real, and we say which one we would choose.
Can your house carry a slate roof?
New slate on a house built for shingles raises a fair question about weight. Framing capacity is an engineering question, and it belongs with a design professional such as a structural engineer.
Replacing slate with slate is one question, and adding slate to a roof that never carried it is another. Once a design professional confirms the framing, we work from the plans they supply.
Getting your slate roof looked at
The sales estimate is free, and we can start it from satellite imagery within minutes. We still confirm the price on site, because an image cannot show the state of every piece.
A written roof inspection report is a paid service of its own. The fee depends on how big your roof is and how many stories it has. Buyers in escrow usually need that report, so call us for the current fee.
We can also help you apply for the roofing permit the work requires. The city still decides approval and timing.
We take slate work on houses and commercial buildings in Beverly Hills, and we hold CSLB #1112525. Beverly Hills Roofing Contractors is a division of Home Vision Remodel. Call (424) 532-7527, or use the form on this page, and tell us what your roof is doing.
Slate roofing questions we hear
Can you match replacement slates to the ones on my roof?
Matching is part of the job, so we measure and compare what is already up there before ordering. Where a close match is not available, we tell you before we buy anything.
Beverly Hills CA
(424) 532-7527