Types of roofing slate

[Juswundrin]

Hi

We're going to be needing some re-slating work doing at some point, so I wonder if anyone could give me an idiot's guide to the different types of slate I'm likely to have to select from (Category A and B, French or Spanish or Chinese, fibro, artificial...)

Thanks in advance.

[dragonrouge]

When we lived in Normandie we re-roofed huge amounts of roof space and indeed the gable end against the Atlantic weather. We were faced with real slate or fibrous. The difference in price in our opinion was not huge and we opted from real slate and from Spain.

I am Welsh (and there are people on this site who do not like Wales and its people so please do not rely upon what I say) but we roofed the world!

[Juswundrin]

Sorry, been offline; thanks very much for the info.

[Dave&Olive]

hi ok

              Can i just say if you use " Fibrous slate " you really need to use the clips to hold them down other wise the ends curl up after a few months .. lessons learned  back in Wales .... and I would go for the Spanish or even Chinese  slate

                Dave

[pachapapa]

Ardoise Quebecoise.

http://www.glendyne.com/en/toiture.php

http://www.cembrit.co.uk/roofing.asp

[Pierre ZFP]

[quote user="dragonrouge"]The difference in price in our opinion was not huge and we opted from real slate and from Spain.

I am Welsh (and there are people on this site who do not like Wales and its people so please do not rely upon what I say) but we roofed the world![/quote]

I know nothing about roofing materials and I certainly have nothing against the Welsh but can I ask since you are Welsh and you roofed the world, why you did not get the slate from Wales? (get slate from China?? you gotta be kidding?)

 

[Clair]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]... can I ask since you are Welsh and you roofed the world, why you did not get the slate from Wales? (get slate from China?? you gotta be kidding?)[/quote]

During the several years I worked in a business dealing with natural floor tiles, we never once ordered or fitted Welsh slate. Without exception, all customers would blanch when given a quote for Welsh slate.

However "patriotic" then wanted to be, they all ended up ordering Indian or Chinese slate, which would invariably be cheaper.

I accept it may be different with roof tiles, but somehow I don't think so...

[Dave&Olive]

hi ok

 

                    good old Welsh slate ....4 times the price as the stuff from China ....

     I cannot afford to be that loyal

              Dave

[BIG MAC]

In order

1) Welsh - consistent quality and sizing allows good workability but costly (We repoened a quarry to put a roof onto the Penisula Barracks gatehouse in Winchester a few years ago! Heritage work....costs fierce but the roof is counter battened vented and insulated but looks original)

2) Spanish - There will be some wastage some slates very flaky and inconsistent colour can be an issue, reasonably workable and fairly good value. I remember being told that if you use local materials then things tend to look right....Spain is next door to France s'pose

3) Chinese - You pays your money .....Thickness variations and poor workability in some batches yet others absolutely fine annoying though if you hit a bad batch half way through.

So who'se been slating the Welsh then?

[Juswundrin]

That's perfect Mac, thanks; is French not likely to be offered as an option then?

Regarding fibro-cement (if that's the correct name); am I right in thinking that their main drawback is that they whiten in time? (When we re-slate the back of an outbuilding that won't be a problem as it can't be seen).

Thanks again.

[BIG MAC]

French is indeed an option and is very similar to Welsh ie hard to get and you are going to pay for it! Reclaim is also a possibility if you don't mind batching (Bye bye fingertips)

Fibro are ok if cheap looking in certain applications. I think plastisol coated steel can look better and is easier / cheaper (Looks great in powder blue against newly pointed stone in my opinion but hey! beauty is in the  eye of the beholder)

Fibro will go white but it takes a long time so I wouldn't worry on that score too much,  the main issue with them as far as I am led to believe seems to be that they support moss growth which gets under them and lifts the tiles allowing wind ingress.

All in all fibro is meant as a cheaper option to slate so in theory likely to be used on less worthy structures however if the same logic holds true then steel profile sheet is an alternative that if used imaginatively could create a nice looking roof.

 

[Chancer]

[quote user="BIG MAC"]

All in all fibro is meant as a cheaper option to slate so in theory likely to be used on less worthy structures however if the same logic holds true then steel profile sheet is an alternative that if used imaginatively could create a nice looking roof.

[/quote]

I smiled at that [:D] - most houses in my area are roofed with fibro-cement ardoise quarante, quarante, whereas the bars and cafes (mine included) sport tiled roofs, you have hit the nail on the head!

To try and be a little less bourgois I re-roofed the outbuildings where I now live with tôle bac acier but it is neither imaginative nor nice looking!

[master of none]

If 'the Welsh roofed the world' why did they stop before they got to our French house!!!!

[pachapapa]

[quote user="master of none"]If 'the Welsh roofed the world' why did they stop before they got to our French house!!!![/quote]

Presumably because they preferred to use french slate and in particular the superior quality of the ardoise angevine.

As for example ALL the famous castles of the Loire Valley.

Most definitely not inferior Welsh Slate.

[BIG MAC]

I should imagine that there's a fair chance many French houses are roofed in Welsh slate they did  export a fair bit at one point.

[pachapapa]

[quote user="BIG MAC"]I should imagine that there's a fair chance many French houses are roofed in Welsh slate they did  export a fair bit at one point.[/quote]

A supposition based on a fact of opinion...but lead me to a Loire Castle with Welsh Slates.

A thought Welsh slates were exported to North America until the 19th century.

The largest current producer of slate in North America is the Glendyne operation in Quebec and these slates have been used on prestige and restoration products.

Matmut head office, in Rouen, Normandy, France (280 000 slate tiles);
Sorbonne University, in Paris, France;
Canon Building, England;
Memorial Hall of Harvard University, U.S.A.;
Cornell University, U.S.A.;
St. John the Baptist Cathedral, in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.;
St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto (more than 25 000 square feet);
McGill University in Montréal.

I presume that your post "in order" proposed some order of merit.

Strange that slates from North America, South America and even South Africa were omitted from your list.

You seem to have an agenda to ignore quality slates of Devonian Age and promote Ordovician slates.

Serious quantities of angevine slate production are now a thing of the past and the underground operations used for tourist trips; the main source of slates today in france is focussed on Quebec.

As for Welsh slates I note that you are versed in reopening slate quarries and conversant with practices in North Wales, so I await your invitation to visit a serious Welsh Producer with a shipped production of over 20,000 metric tonnes per year.

[Juswundrin]

Thanks again Mac, that's really helpful.

[BIG MAC]

"As for Welsh slates I note that you are versed in reopening slate quarries and conversant with practices in North Wales, so I await your invitation to visit a serious Welsh Producer with a shipped production of over 20,000 metric tonnes per year"

I in turn await your orde for £40,000.00 worth of Welsh slate roofing (It was specified in the tender so no real preference on our part however we got to know and love it s time went on)

Why not import American? because simply my friend it's never been specified on my works and if it had I wouldn't have an issue with using it. I would happily use Marsian slate so long as the quality and price is ok.

[Wilko]

Hi BM

3) Chinese - You pays your money .....Thickness variations and poor workability in some batches yet others absolutely fine annoying though if you hit a bad batch half way through.

How do you know that..........do you have personal experience ??

Wilko

[pachapapa]

[quote user="BIG MAC"]

"As for Welsh slates I note that you are versed in reopening slate quarries and conversant with practices in North Wales, so I await your invitation to visit a serious Welsh Producer with a shipped production of over 20,000 metric tonnes per year"

I in turn await your orde for £40,000.00 worth of Welsh slate roofing (It was specified in the tender so no real preference on our part however we got to know and love it s time went on)

Why not import American? because simply my friend it's never been specified on my works and if it had I wouldn't have an issue with using it. I would happily use Marsian slate so long as the quality and price is ok.

[/quote]

I use traditional "tige de botte" tiles on my house as I live well south of the "charnière ardoise", so an order for YOUR BRAND of slates is unlikely.

However if I was to at some time need slates I would make sure that they were Afnor approved as is the case with two Glendyne products imported into France.

The NF mark certifies that La Canadienne and La Québécoise products as well as the quality control system implemented for their production comply with the NF EN 12326-1 rules and standard.

There are in fact only three slate producers enjoying Afnor approval, one in North America ( Glendyne) and the other two in Europe.

I wont bother to burden you with their identity but neither of them is Welsh.

 

[Chancer]

Oh well if they are N.F. then they must be the best in the world!

Are there N.F. poirreau's grown in France?

Personally I prefer C.E. products, cheaper to make you see, all you need is to gin up one of those little stickers on your P.C and you are away [6]

If only B.S. still meant something these days instead of an acronym for bull****.

[pachapapa]

Oh well if they are N.F. then they must be the best in the world!

Are there N.F. poirreau's grown in France?

Personally I prefer C.E. products, cheaper to make you see, all you need is to gin up one of those little stickers on your P.C and you are away [6]

If only B.S. still meant something these days instead of an acronym for bull****.

 

A check with the 2Cherves Agricultural Control Board reveals that only long green vegetables spelt with ONE r can qualify for NF consideration.

So I guess you will have to "poiroter" together with the Belgian gentleman.

[Chancer]

Whilst I was in Super-U looking at the poireau's with only one r I realised my mistake and I thought of you Pachapapa [:D]

Better still I try to learn at least one new word every day, and henceforth whenever I use poireauter I will think of you.

Still dont know what "poiroter" is though!

[pachapapa]

que vous poirotassiez !

[pachapapa]

que vous poirotassiez !

poiroter /pwa.ʁɔ.te/ intransitif 1er groupe (conjugaison)

Autre orthographe de poireauter.