Roof Repairs › Cardiff › Slate Roof Repairs
This page is about slate roof repairs here specifically — what the fault looks like on these bay-fronted slate terraces, why it happens in this part of South Wales, and what putting it right actually involves.
Call 07868 857692 to arrange an assessment in Cardiff, or message us on WhatsApp.
Slate Roofs in Cardiff
Welsh slate outlasts almost everything else on a roof, and on a roof sharing its valleys and its stacks the slate itself is very often still perfectly serviceable when the roof starts leaking. What fails first is the nail and after that the batten, which is why on these bay-fronted slate terraces a hundred-year-old roof usually needs re-fixing rather than re-slating.
What This Covers
- Broken slates
- Slipped slates
- Slate roof leaks
- Water ingress connected with the affected detail
- Localised weathering or damage requiring repair
Nail Sickness
The term for it is nail sickness, and on a roof sharing its valleys and its stacks it is the single commonest reason for repair. With driven rain off the Channel the nails corrode from above and the batten softens from below, and slates begin to let go in ones and twos across the whole slope rather than in one place.
Working on a Slate Roof
Slate is brittle and cannot be walked on, so work on these bay-fronted slate terraces is done off ladders, roof ladders or a scaffold rather than from the covering itself. Where access is tight for scaffold, that is the part of a slate job that takes the planning, and it is why a slate repair costs more than the same repair on tile.
Tingles, Re-Fixing and Reclaimed Slate
An individual slipped slate on a roof sharing its valleys and its stacks is re-fixed with a tingle — a copper or lead strip hooked over the batten — because the original nail holes cannot be reached without lifting the courses above. Where a slate is broken, a reclaimed slate of matching size and thickness is used, and on roofs like these the match matters, particularly where a defect here is often shared with next door.
What Our Slate Roof Repairs Service Includes in Cardiff
- Slipped slates re-fixed with copper or lead tingles
- Broken slates replaced with matching reclaimed slate
- Sizes and thicknesses matched to the existing covering
- Battens and nail condition assessed while the roof is open
- Localised re-slating where an area has gone generally
- An honest assessment of how much life is left in the fixings
Related Roof Repairs in Cardiff
Slate Roof Repairs in Cardiff — Common Questions
What are common signs that I may need slate roof repairs in Cardiff?
Welsh slate outlasts almost everything else on a roof, and on these bay-fronted slate terraces the slate itself is very often still perfectly serviceable when the roof starts leaking. With wind enough to find a slipped slate the nails corrode from above and the batten softens from below, and slates begin to let go in ones and twos across the whole slope rather than in one place.
Can a small defect cause an internal leak?
Yes. The kind of defect behind slate roof repairs lets water into the structure on a roof sharing its valleys and its stacks, and it can travel a long way before it shows on a ceiling. That is why the source of a slate roof repairs problem is traced rather than guessed at from the mark inside.
Will the whole roof need replacing?
Usually not. Slate roof repairs is repair work, and on these bay-fronted slate terraces the covering around the defect is generally sound — whether a repair is the right answer depends on how far the deterioration has gone beyond the part you can see.
Can you inspect the problem before recommending work?
Yes, always. Given a defect here is often shared with next door, a slate roof repairs job on a roof sharing its valleys and its stacks is looked at before anything is recommended, and you get told what was actually found rather than a figure guessed from the pavement.
Do you cover other roof repairs in Cardiff?
Yes — slate roof repairs is one of twenty-five roof repairs we carry out on these bay-fronted slate terraces, and across the surrounding area including Roath, Canton, Cathays, Splott and Llanishen.
Do you cover Cardiff and the surrounding area?
Yes — slate roof repairs throughout Cardiff and the places around it, including Roath, Canton, Cathays, Splott and Llanishen.
What does a repair like this cost?
Two things set the figure for slate roof repairs: how far the defect has actually gone, which needs somebody to look at it, and the access. With access here restricted by controlled parking and narrow frontages, that second one moves the price of slate roof repairs more than the materials do, and it is why a figure over the phone is a guess.
Can you look at other things while you are there?
Yes, and it is worth it — given a defect here is often shared with next door, safe access to the roof is most of what a visit costs, so anything else wanting attention is far cheaper dealt with on the same day as the slate roof repairs.
Contact T&T Roofing About Slate Roof Repairs in Cardiff
We carry out slate roof repairs across Cardiff and the area around it including Roath, Canton, Cathays, Splott and Llanishen. For slate roof repairs, a photograph of the affected part of the roof and a short description of what it is doing is the quickest start — given a defect here is often shared with next door, those two are what make a figure accurate rather than provisional.
Tell us what the roof is doing in Cardiff and we will look at it. Call 07868 857692, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.