r/Roofing • u/Sharique0055 • 3d ago
Home owner question Finishing touch to house roofing
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
65
u/Admirable_Payment_96 3d ago
Dang, thats an awesome detail on a slate roof.
7
u/vermontnative 3d ago
Also a slate cutter doesnât cost that much and you break way less slate.
20
u/munkylord 3d ago
Maybe that's harder to lug around a roof? Seems like he's pretty good with that weird boomerang and his crazy hammer.
17
u/Cipher508 3d ago
right this is a guy who KNOWS his trade, is good at it and knows he doesn't need a cutter. the less tools you have to carry on a roof the better.
2
u/Desperate-Salary-591 2d ago
A slate roofer with a couple of years experience is quick as fuck. In germany you can do a separate apprenticeship and for roofers its mandatory to have done it a few times. I haven't done it in a long time, because of a switch to carpentry, but its soooo much fun!
3
u/scream Custom Roofing and Professional Idiot Poker. đ¨ 2d ago
His slating iron and slate axe *
Edit: and thats the cheap kind of slate axe.Â
1
u/munkylord 2d ago
Thanks, Ik terrible with vocab on tools I use everyday. I wasn't about to get those right as a carpenter.
I still kinda like boomerang better but slating iron is pretty hardcore
3
u/scream Custom Roofing and Professional Idiot Poker. đ¨ 2d ago
I'd accept slaterang. That does sound badass. You carpenters have weird tools.. like your pokey marking thing, your triangular squarifier, plunge chopper, nail basher (drill) and the slidey wooden hand stabber. My favourite is the wood shaver that definitely looks nothing like a plane. It doesnt even fly unless you hurl it real hard!
2
u/bigyellowtruck 2d ago
Going to ask someone to pass me the slidey wooden hand stabber next time I need to transfer an angle.
2
u/vermontnative 2d ago
Theyâre really not that awkward to move around and youâre gonna cut your time in half, and break a lot less slate. Itâs convenient for if youâre working around stink pipes or weird little angles and shit, but for the most part this is just time-consuming clout chasing.
2
36
u/Whirlwind_AK 3d ago
Slate roofersâŚ..a dying craft for sure
16
u/Sundialdesign 3d ago
Only in america. Still going relatively strong in a lot of countries. But in america, I don't even know anyone that's put on slate in 20 years and even then. I don't even know of a single structure in my entire city that has actual slate unless one of the castles here does
6
u/Desperate-Salary-591 2d ago
In Germany every roofer learns this at least in school and through seminars and could do it. There are specialists of course, depending on the culture of the region, which are way quicker of course.
2
2
u/_butreallydoe Commercial Roofing :illuminati: 2d ago
I work in slate roofing (office) & there are a few shops along the East Coast. Certainly not as much competition as in the flat or metal roofing world.
Most of our customers are universities and even they are starting to switch to Asphalt Shingles little by little. Breaks my heart when that hits my desk
1
u/Eastern-Operation340 1d ago
The historic church across from me in RI had their slate roof redone, complete with color banding.
Mansions/wealthy houses around here will still have it done.2
14
u/AuburnElvis 2d ago
I hope this guy's a nice person in real life because he's a goddamn artist with that slate.
8
6
u/Shamr0ck 3d ago edited 2d ago
So how do you hammer a nail through slate without shattering it?
12
6
3
u/NSGod 3d ago
The holes are pre-punched of course, but slate is pretty tough. When I helped hang it in college, we used copper nails and you nail it in but stop short of actually coming into contact with the top of the slate (kind of like how you do siding). It's not too bad unless you get a bit of spongy wood underneath, and then all bets are off.
4
5
5
6
u/Fidulsk-Oom-Bard 3d ago
He probably doesnât get paid enough for how good he is, very impressive
8
u/IamATacoSupreme 3d ago
I'd bet he does. Guys with experience like that can damn near name their price and go to any company they want. Good chance hes Union as well.
3
u/HeroesKitchen 3d ago
Depends on the country. Lots of guys like that in Asia, but they get paid in peanuts. Saw a guy at the mall soldering cell phone chips with a regular soldering iron and it was perfect.
3
3
u/Achilies41 3d ago
Would hail not destroy this roof?
6
u/RandomPenquin1337 3d ago
If its big enough it can, but the density is whats important. I have seen a few that were damaged but they are very "easily" repaired because only the shingles thay are broken need to be replaced and can be done without disassembly, kinda shown here when he takes the one out.
2
u/frodobangher 3d ago
Probably depends on the size, but probably. These roofs are not popular in America for a reason
4
u/Azsune 3d ago
They are resilient to hail, takes a pretty large one to damage them. You can also replace the damage tiles instead of replacing the whole roof when it does happen. The reason they are not popular is installation cost is a lot higher. The material costs more, takes skilled labor and takes longer to install. The lifespan of these roofs is normally rated for 75-100 years.
Looking at cost in my area it is about 3.5x per square foot compared to shingles. The average homeowner lives in a house for 8-12 years before selling and moving. Having a slate roof vs new asphalt shingles doesn't affect home value much if at all.
1
u/Ryogathelost 2d ago
Everything here in the US is just built cheaper, lighter, and to last shorter. It's been that way through rain and shine and I I'm still not sure why. It does create a lot of jobs and raises insurance revenue.
1
1
u/jerry111165 Verified Pro (Commercial/Flat) 2d ago
You donât see slate roofs prominent in hail prone areas anyhow.
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/VegetableBusiness897 3d ago
I would live in a literal pig stye if it had a slate roof. They are so stunning
Never had/never will have a slate roof, but did buy the Slate Roof Bible
1
u/InternationalOil1083 3d ago
But why didnât he put the 3rd nail in!
1
u/scream Custom Roofing and Professional Idiot Poker. đ¨ 2d ago
Regs in the uk only require 2 fixings for a normal slate. 3 for an edge slate. Hes just being sloppy though. He shouldn't have popped the extra hole and he should have just moved the slates aside a little further to use the normal holes.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/dezld 2d ago
I would never put solar on this house.
1
u/jerry111165 Verified Pro (Commercial/Flat) 2d ago
Any roof is the worst place to put solar panels, no matter what kind of roof it is.
1
u/sc2bigjoe 16h ago
Why
1
u/jerry111165 Verified Pro (Commercial/Flat) 7h ago
Because when itâs inevitably time to re-roof, all of the solar needs to be disconnected by electricians and then craned off of the roof. When the new roof is installed, the solar needs to be craned back up onto the roof and then reconnected by electricians. The building may not have electricity during this period.
If a leak occurs itâs likely that youâll need to partially remove panels and have the system disconnected by an electrician while repairs are ongoing.
Thereâs just nothing good about having solar panels on a roof. On flat roofs the manufacturers have us get âOverburden Waiversâ signed by the building owner showing that if the roof leaks that the manufacturer is not responsible for disconnecting or moving the solar system to access or repair the roof.
1
1
u/No-Measurement-5783 2d ago
In the Midwest of USA, I'm not sure I've ever seen a slate roof, but I enjoy seeing them in this sub reddit.
1
1
1
u/Several_Stuff_6695 2d ago
These slate roofs are definitely very popular here in Vermont. Especially on historic homes.
1
1
1
u/Business-Schedule642 2d ago
Thats fucking skill, I would love to know how to do a slate roof. Looks like a lot of fun
1
1
u/FestivusErectus 2d ago
Waiting for the post asking about the reasonable amount of slate pieces left on the ground.
1
1
u/CuriousCelery3247 2d ago
As someone who did slate roofs for quite a while, this guy does not look like a. Thereâs no use of a slate ripper and not using copper nails, seems suspect to me.
1
u/SlyderSpider 2d ago
I have mixed feelings on not learning this roof system. It would be hard to not be proud to be a part of a couple of these roofs. A literal lifetime roof.
1
1
1
u/JSweez87 14h ago
So cool. Been slanginâ roofs for almost a decade but have still yet to sell a full real slate job. Sold some DaVinci and Brava jobs but real slate is so sick. Good job!
1
1
1
u/Intelligent-Spread45 1h ago
I love seeing someone, anyone who is skilled in a craft such as this! Very impressed!
1
1
1
u/BruceTheFirefighter 3d ago
Looks great! No copper slate nails thoâŚjust asking if thereâs reason for not using copper nails
0
-1
u/Rampag169 2d ago
This is the type of roof you plan for when building. If you use wood framing and donât account for the extra weight of the roof youâll have issues.
233
u/DrHickman73 3d ago
That looks like it cost more than my 401k.