Slate Roof Leaks: When Restoration Is Possible

What usually fails first

Real slate can last a very long time. The parts around it do not. Valleys, flashing and fasteners wear out decades before the stone does.

• ✓Copper or metal valleys worn thin.
• ✓Flashing at chimneys and walls, often caulked over by someone years ago.
• ✓Nails rusting away, so single slates slide out.
• ✓Slates cracked by a ladder or by someone walking the roof wrong.

When restoration works

If most slates ring solid, the roof structure is sound, and the failures are in the metalwork, restoration is normally the better answer. Individual slates get replaced, valleys and flashing get rebuilt, and the roof goes on serving.

When it is genuinely done

Some slate really is finished. Widespread flaking and soft, crumbling slates mean the stone itself is failing. Then you are choosing between new slate, salvaged slate or another material.

Why so many owners are told to replace

Crews that do not work with slate default to a tear-off, because that is the work they know. Get someone who repairs slate to look before you accept a replacement price.

Questions people ask