A slate roof is recorded as the top version of roof choices in the market. In recent times, slate roofs are delivered to a huge number of houses in Sydney, the South Coast of NSW and the Southern Highlands. People already know that such roofs have an age of more than 100 years. Sometimes, if proper maintenance measures are implemented, they can last for a few centuries as well. But longevity is not the only factor people look forward to. They also search for beautiful slate roofs. Further, slate roofs will never rot and are considered the most fire-resistant roof coverings. But still, it has a few drawbacks that ideally need to be rectified. Those can directly impact the system of your home maintenance.
Limitations of Natural Slate Roofing
Read below to know in detail about the major limitations of natural slate roofing.
- Maintenance Concerns
Slate is made of stone and can expressively stand under various adverse circumstances, but walking on it is very dangerous. In fact, slate roofing is extremely brittle and can break if you walk on it. This simply means that the maintenance of your slate roofing must be done by experienced professionals, otherwise, you cannot stop it from getting destroyed. The biggest concerns here are failing in flashing and broken tiles.
- Slate Roof Weight
Slate roofs are undoubtedly heavier than any asphalt shingle roof. A slate roof generally weighs between 800 and 1500 pounds per hundred square feet. Whereas, asphalt shingle roofs weigh between 230 and 430 pounds. Your house’s roof structure is similar to every other house in terms of potential. Rather a standard roof structure is not built to carry the weight of a slate roof. Therefore, you need to engineer your roofing system to hold 27 to 50 pounds per square foot.
- High Installation Costs
You cannot easily cope with a slate roof once it is installed. In fact, an entire installation process is usually longer and more expensive. A slate roof can cost up to 5 times as much as a regular shingle roof. Alongside, asphalt shingle roofs usually take 2-3 days to get installed at the most, but a slate roof can take months for the entire installation process to end. It is now clear that slate roofs are expensive as well as very time-consuming.
- Installers are Difficult to Locate
You cannot install a slate roof by yourself because the process is complicated and lengthy. Alongside, special tools are essentially required along with proper care in handling the tiles while ensuring that they do not break. Oftentimes, when you look for installers, you come across roofers. But they can also do the job but you need to see if they have verifiable references. Installation needs to be done properly and ideally. If not, a slate roof can cause several problems in your house which will lead you to repair it, and the repairing cost is also high.
A slate roof needs to be maintained twice a year for avoiding all the above-mentioned limitations. Professionals are needed at a certain point in time but not frequently. Resolving these drawbacks gradually can help you avoid the negative impact on your home maintenance by slate roofing, especially because of its weight. For more information, contact the experts at The Slate Roofing Company.
