Slate roof needs replaced - am I mad doing it myself? Information, help and tips on many areas of roofing including trusses, tiling, venting, insulation etc....

[davejohnston]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a house. Unfortunately the surveyors report flagged up issues with the slate roof. When I took a look myself, the woodwork is in good condition, but both the slates and nails have badly degraded over the past 75 years.

The construction of the roof looks reasonably straight forward, and I believe stripping the roof would be a straight forward job I could manage myself ( I have access to scaffolding ).

What I am wondering is... would I be mad to strip the roof and replace the slates myself? Currently there is no membrane on the roof, so I would want to add this as well. I'm reasonably competent at DIY and have two weeks holiday that needs used up. So should I attempt this myself to save money on a tight budget, or would I be asking for a whole world of pain ?

[Perry525]

You may well have finished the roof?
If not.
May I suggest that you remove the slates and cover the
rafters with waterproof ply, then with a waterproof
membrane, then double batten, placing battens down the roof first and then across the roof.
This will give you a first class roof that will be both water and wind proof.
A roof built this way will keep your home a lot warmer, as the passing wind provides lift as it crosses the roof, sucking out your expensive heat by creating an area of low pressure.
Do make sure that you use slates and a half on any exposed edges rather than half slates.

[DoctorD]

While its nice to save money and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself, sometimes it is cheaper to let the pros handle it when it is all said and done. It really depends on how big the roof is but two weeks sounds like a tight schedule for a slate roof. So I am not sure but have you asked yourself these questions? Where will you get the tools to work with this material? Do you have any dependable help? Will you need to cut these tiles on the ground meaning a lot of latter time? Also most importantly is this how you really want spend your vacation?

[greengrass]

Don't do it it is not a one man diy job, you need at least four and you need to determine the type of tiles you want and a structual engineer to determine if the weight of the new tiles will require extra roof supports or you could end up with a sagging if not colapsing roof.

Go to your local authority ask if they do home improvement or Energy saving grants for re-roofing. Tell them it has no insulation felt and the slates are in serious need of replacement according to your survey report.
Failing obtaining a grant that and you get a roofer yourself, have a look around the area at newish re-roof jobs, ask the owners who they were and how did the work go and if you had problems did they fix it or buck about it and not come back. Some authorities have a list of trusted profesionals but will not guarantee them. That's it just heed the warning don't do it yourself. If you don't get a grant ask your building society to add the cost of re-roofing to your mortgage, they won't like the council, let you do the job it has to be done by profesional roofers. Didn't add this is refering to U.K.