Slate Roofing In Plymouth & East Cornwall

A copper tingle is an effective trade repair for a rogue slate, bent up over the tail to hold the replacement firmly without disturbing neighbouring slates. If you have several slates sliding out across an entire slope in areas like Mutley or Stoke, it usually means the original fixings have corroded right through. At that stage, tingles are only a short-term patch to keep water out while you plan a proper strip and re-nail.

Sound Welsh or Cornish Delabole slates regularly outlast the timber battens and iron nails that hold them in place. When stripping a roof, we carefully take down the slates, ring-test them with a lath hammer to check for hidden fractures, and grade them by thickness. We can usually salvage a good percentage of quality slates to re-lay on the front elevation, topping up the remaining pitches with matching reclaimed slate.

Head lap is the vertical overlap of one slate over the slate two courses below it, and getting the measurement right stops wind-driven Atlantic rain penetrating the joints. For Plymouth and coastal slopes, we work with a head lap between 75mm and 100mm, determined by the roof pitch and the specific slate gauge. Cutting corners on the lap to save slate count will quickly cause capillary draw and leaks during severe south-westerly weather.

Older local properties were laid without underfelt, relying instead on lime mortar torching applied to the underside of the slates to block wind-blown moisture. Decades of vibration, thermal expansion, and salt air turn that old lime mortar into loose dust that drops onto your loft floor. Without that backing, heavy gales force rain up under the lateral laps, letting water track straight onto your ceilings even when the external slates look intact.

Modern fibre cement slates offer a uniform, lightweight alternative that takes considerable dead load off aging ceiling joists and roof timbers. They handle high winds reliably when copper-riveted at the tail and cost less to supply and fit than natural stone. However, if your home is in a Plymouth conservation area or carries a listing, the local planning department will usually require genuine natural slate to maintain the historic character of the roofline.