# Re-roofing query Welsh vs Spanish slate



## Rusty Nails (13 Jul 2020)

I live in a 1920s semi which has the original Welsh slate roof. No roof felt but there has never been a problem with leaks, and the beams and battens have no damage/rot on them at all.

Last year some neighbours had their roof re-slated with manufactured imitation slates. Again they had no problems, other than a couple of broken slates, but a roofer told them it would be much better to have a new felted roof. Now keeping up with the Joneses has kicked off and a couple of houses have also had it done because "it looks so much nicer".

My next door semi neighbour has now decided to have it done using Spanish slate and has asked us if we would consider doing it to save on some of the costs such as scaffolding.

I have said no as I don't see how I would benefit by changing a perfectly sound but 100 year old set of slates (which spent more than 600 million years forming underground) for ones which look a little bit newer.

The only issue will be the join down the middle and different size slates on both houses, but tbh that doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother the neighbours.

I noticed that when they re-roofed the neighbours the roofers carefully took off the Welsh slates, stacked them and they were then collected by another company, with cash handed over, as there is a good market for them second-hand.

I just can't see the benefit in spending a lot of money to fix a problem we have never had, or am I missing something?

I seem to remember that Belgian slate had a poor reputation for crumbling/flaking, but how does Spanish slate compare?


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## Darius_Jedburgh (13 Jul 2020)

Welsh slate is good. Nearly as good as Honister slate. 
Why remove something that is perfectly sound? Your neighbour would be better off sourcing the removed slates and putting them back on. Why is there a market for them? Because they are good.


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## keithmac (13 Jul 2020)

I'm not a roofer but have seen some badly done joins down the middle when one side has new tiles/ slates and the other hasn't.

Make very sure they don't cock the middle "joint" up before the scaffolding comes down.


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## ren531 (13 Jul 2020)

Spanish slate will be no were near as good as Welsh


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## Profpointy (13 Jul 2020)

If it ain't giving trouble I'd leave well alone.


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## Beebo (13 Jul 2020)

Darius_Jedburgh said:


> Why is there a market for them? Because they are good.


Listed buildings and houses in conservation zones would be desperate for those slates. 
Second hand Traditional Kent Peg clay tiles cost over £1 each. 
old barns get stripped of them in the night.
and i imagine a clay tile is less durable than slate tiles.


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## Drago (13 Jul 2020)

Which do you prefer - Men of Harlech, or La Cucaracha?


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## Darius_Jedburgh (13 Jul 2020)

Men of Harlech has never been made into a car horn.


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## Moon bunny (13 Jul 2020)

Our council changed the council house roofs from local slate to Spanish around 15 years ago, they are already showing signs of damage, lifting and sliding out of place.


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## Ian H (13 Jul 2020)

They should be able to put the original slates back. There will be some damage, and replacements required, but not an entire roof's worth.


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## Rusty Nails (13 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> They should be able to put the original slates back. There will be some damage, and replacements required, but not an entire roof's worth.



That could probably be done, but since there is absolutely no damage to the slates or roof frame, and no leaks it would be a hell of a lot of work and money to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The house has not suffered from not having roofing felt for the past 95 years. I suspect the roof will last a lot longer than me and my wife.

My neighbours will change theirs, and i have no problems with that, but I see no chance of me doing the same.


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## Ian H (13 Jul 2020)

Rusty Nails said:


> My neighbours will change theirs, and i have no problems with that, but I see no chance of me doing the same.


My thinking was that, if they could be persuaded to reuse most of the originals, you wouldn't have the potential problem of the join, and they would have a longer-lasting roof*

*The garage & rear, single-storey part of our house have Spanish slate. It does seem to be a bit fragile and prone to frost damage.


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## Rusty Nails (13 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> My thinking was that, if they could be persuaded to reuse most of the originals, you wouldn't have the potential problem of the join, and they would have a longer-lasting roof*
> 
> *The garage & rear, single-storey part of our house have Spanish slate. It does seem to be a bit fragile and prone to frost damage.



They are sold on the idea of a nice new roof like the neighbours, and worried that the lack of roofing felt is a portent of imminent doom, which is now overdue after 95 trouble-free years.

In our street only four houses were roofed in Welsh slate, the rest were roofed in Belgian slate and have all been changed over the years, some twice.


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## wafter (13 Jul 2020)

No roofing experience but in principal it sounds like a crap deal; presumably a not-inconsiderable sum of money for the good quality, valuable tiles to be removed and replaced with lower value, potentially inferior alternatives.. for the dubious benefits of guarding against a non-existant problem and making the roof look "nicer".

Also thrown into the bargain is the very likely possiblity that the roofers will cock something up - sod paying for the privilege of that for no tangible benefits.

Sounds like your neighbours are mostly concerned with your roof not detracting from the perceived aesthetic improvement of theirs, and are hoping to cut their costs at your significant expense. I'd tell them politely to do one, stating your reasons. If they have any sense they might come round to your way of thinking and reconsider themselves.

They sound like muppets and ideal prey for unscrupulous tradesmen to dupe into parting with cash for an inferior alternative to what they have already


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## siadwell (14 Jul 2020)

Drago said:


> Which do you prefer - Men of Harlech, or La Cucaracha?


But no army ever saw off a horde of Zulus by singing La Cucaracha at them!


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## sheddy (14 Jul 2020)

Post your question on a builders forum (rather than cycling forum) wait for answers, then show them to neighbour.
They might choose not to proceed ?


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## MontyVeda (14 Jul 2020)

sheddy said:


> Post your question on a builders forum (rather than cycling forum) wait for answers, then show them to neighbour.
> They might choose not to proceed ?


some cyclists are builders and some builders cycle... in my 10 years on CC, I've come to discover that 'ask a cyclist' is the best option for any non-cycling related advice


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## Bonefish Blues (14 Jul 2020)

Read your post and thought this about your neighbours:


View: https://youtu.be/1i4rgxOi73c


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## Hover Fly (14 Jul 2020)

(Old proverb) If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.


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## Lozz360 (14 Jul 2020)

I presume Spanish slate is very similar to Welsh slate in looks? Probably a daft question as I can't help picturing those red terracotta type tiles when thinking about Spanish roofing material, but they are not slates. 

Anyway, I think your neighbour is nuts to go for a different material to yours, as you say they will be different sizes and there will be a join down the middle. It will look horrible IMHO. When I moved into the house I'm in now, which is also semi-detached, I changed the cladding to match my neighbour's (it needed changing anyway). The result was that both houses look bigger and better. They are not broken up by dark wood cladding on one side and white PVC on the other. Why don't you both pay to have the roof cleaned and tiles replaced if and when necessary? It will be much cheaper, especially for your neighbour.


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## Dave 123 (24 Jul 2020)

I once got talking to a bloke who had bought and was renovating an old house in the Ceriog valley in Wales. It had been the slate mine managers house. He had had the roof redone......

in Spanish slate.


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