Behind The Scenes Of A Quality Slate Roof Installation

It’s no wonder you’re looking forward to getting your new slate roof installed. In addition to its beauty and distinctive texture, slate is durable – capable of lasting from 75 to 150 years. It’s fireproof, too, which means it’s safe. And the fact that it’s a great insulator means it may even lower your energy costs.

But all this is taking the long view. Until you can take a step back on your front lawn and admire your smart roofing choice, you have questions about what goes on behind the scenes of a quality slate roof installation. To aid your learning curve, the experts at Stevens Roofing Corporation have the answers.

How slate roofing is installed

• Step 1: All construction projects create some degree of mess, so our first priority is to fully safeguard your home and your property while our crews install your new roof. We use tarps to protect your plants and other landscaping from falling dust. And if the ground is wet, we lay plywood to contain dirt and mud.
• Step 2: For many homeowners, watching us remove the old roofing material is the most entertaining step. Whether it’s asphalt, wood, clay or concrete shingles or metal or copper sheeting, the old roofing material usually looks worse up-close than it does from a distance.
• Step 3: Any roof should be inspected at this juncture, but this step is even more crucial when a slate roof is at the center of the action. Your roof surface must be solid, and any soft, wet or rotted wood should be replaced. Slate can add an extra 500 pounds of weight to your home, and your roof must be strong enough to withstand the pressure.
• Step 4: Think of the installation of underlayment as an insurance policy for your new slate roof. Underlayment serves many purposes, including: protecting your home until the slate is installed; providing the crucial first layer of waterproofing; bolstering the slate’s fire-resistance value; and providing a good surface for the chalk lines which are drawn in the next step.
• Step 5: Installation time is often the most intriguing for onlookers. The precision involved in installing a slate roof is critical. It means keeping water and moisture from leaking inside a home. Novices may simply call it “overlap,” but the pros know installing a slate roof properly means achieving just the right amount of sidelap as well as headlap, which refers to the amount of overlap at the top of each slate.
• Step 6: Since we clean up at the end of every work day, it doesn’t take our crews long to leave a home site even cleaner than how we found it. A clean roof is also important to a final inspection.

The pleased look on the faces of our customers makes the entire process worthwhile – even before they begin to experience the benefits of choosing a slate roof or the most skilled crew in town that installs it. You can, too, when you call Stevens Roofing.