Victorian Slate Roof Construction

Slate roofing has existed in north america since the 1600s.

Victorian slate roof construction.

On many victorian country houses the practice of wood shingling survived the technological advances of metal roofing in the 19th century and near the turn of the century enjoyed a full revival in its namesake the shingle style. Diamonds photo by shutterstock. But replacing flashing on a slate roof can require substantial removal of surrounding slates. Slate tiles are extremely durable resistant to fire and environmentally beneficial.

A victorian slate roof has the traditional look to it in keeping with the age of the property but it does have its problems. This is a testament to their durability. Victorian slate roof slipped slates gaping holes. Imported from wales to colonial america for fire proof roofs in boston philadelphia and new york it was still slow to catch on for houses.

Failure is usually due to the nail fixings becoming corroded causing the slates to slip although with age slates can eventually start to absorb water and become soft. They used 100 square of roofing tile to complete this project including hand cutting all of the slate at angles for the turret. On a steeply pitched roof the clipped corners on these two ply red over black laminated shingles evoke the shape and thickness of american victorian slate. This chapter begins with a brief history of roof coverings used in england and then summarises how roofs must work to protect the building.

Many victorian metal roof shingle and tiles made of sheet metal still exist in outstanding condition today. Roofing 6 sep 2013 indd 2 12 09 2013 10 01. Lightweight hardwearing and long lasting welsh slate was the most common victorian roof covering. Carriage house in georgian brick about 235 per square.

If you want to make sure your victorian roof is 100 historically accurate speak with a historian or victorian home expert. If it is the. Installing a slate roof on this newly constructed victorian home was no small feat. Second only to wood as a natural traditional roofing material slate is a fine grained sedimentary rock that has topped castles and large buildings for centuries in europe.

Since their first use slate roofs have been revered as a pinnacle of roofing style. We are quite fortunate in that our house still has its original roof built from slates.