4 important factors you must consider before buying a property with slate roof

Houses and buildings with a slate roof are in high demand these days. Slate roofs not only enhance the overall beauty of your home but are also durable. However, before deciding to buy a house with a slate roof, you must consider some factors. These factors determine whether the roofing of the house matches your expectations.

• Age of the roof

While it is true that slate roofs are durable and some can even last as long as 200 years, you still need to check the kind of slate used on the roof, if you plan to purchase an old property.

You need to know that there are two varieties of slate, namely soft and hard. Soft slate cannot last over two centuries, and its average life span is between 50 and 125 years. Therefore, if you are purchasing a 45-year old house with soft slate roofing, you may need to invest money on conducting roof repairs in the next 15-20 years.

However, if the house comes with hard slate roofing, you can rest easy knowing that the roof will maintain its integrity for at least 75-80 years, sometimes even longer. Hard slate resists fire and does not corrode with or absorb moisture.

• Checking the roof warranty

Determining the roofing warranty for a house is crucial before you buy the property. Depending on the manufacturer, slate roof warranties can range anywhere between 75 to 100 years. In other cases, the roofing warranty covers the material against damage for decades, but the contractor is held responsible for just a few weeks or months.

Apart from checking the type of warranty policy you get for the roof of your newly purchased home, you must also check whether the warranty transfers with the ownership of the property. Some warranties can be transferred just once, while others allow for multiple transfers. Buying the house without proper warranty can lead you to incur huge losses.

• Cost of replacing shingles on the roof

After years of installation, select slate tiles may undergo cracks or damage. Depending on the type of slate used for the roofing you can either replace the broken tiles or initiate a replacement of the entire roofing.

If the crack appears on hard slate tiles, you can remove the affected tiles and replace them with new shingles. However, this replacement must be conducted as soon as the cracks start to appear, failing which the damage can spread through the entire roof. On the other hand, if it is a soft slate roofing, cracks in one or two tiles will require you to restore the roofing. At such a time, it is better to upgrade to hard slate roofing for increased durability.

• Experienced installation

Before you sign the deed to the property, make sure you check whether professionals installed the slate roofing. Building such a roof requires expertise and knowledge, which only professionals possess. If the slate tiles are not set in the proper manner, the durability of the roof is adversely affected.

The slate roofing can become the star attraction for your house if you manage to conduct thorough research before buying the property. If you want to assess the condition of a roof before purchase please contact The Slate Roofing Company so you have peace of mind that you are making a sound investment and so we can touch base with you regarding any maintenance requirements necessary on your roof.