Slate roof repairs for Glasgow homes and tenements

Natural slate is one of the most durable roof coverings there is. Plenty of sandstone tenements and villas around Glasgow still carry their original slates, and much of that stone has decades of life left in it. What gives up first is almost always the fixing.

Traditional slates were hung on iron nails. Over many wet Scottish winters those nails rust, thin out and finally snap, and the slate they were holding slides down the roof or ends up in the gutter. This is often called nail fatigue or nail sickness, and it explains why a roof can lose a slate here and there for years before anything else seems wrong.

You cannot simply nail a replacement slate back in, because the fixing point sits hidden under the course above. Lifting the surrounding slates to reach it would risk breaking sound ones. Instead, a slipped or replacement slate is secured with a slate hook or a copper tingle.

A hook is fixed between the slates below and holds the bottom edge of the slate in place. A tingle is a narrow strip of copper nailed to the batten through the gap, then folded up over the tail of the slate. Both methods let a single slate be put right without disturbing the rest, which keeps the repair quick and tidy.

Scottish roofs were laid in a wide range of slate sizes and shades, and a new slate that does not match looks out of place for years. Reclaimed slate is sourced to suit the existing roof, so thickness and colour sit comfortably alongside the originals and the repair blends in.

On tenements, where the roof is shared, a consistent finish also matters to neighbours and factors. The aim is that, once the scaffold or ladder has gone, you would struggle to spot where the work was done.

Not every pitched roof in Glasgow is slate. Many post-war and modern homes are covered in concrete or clay tiles, which crack from frost, impact or age. Broken tiles are swapped for matching ones and the roof around them is checked for loose or perished neighbours while access is in place.

Loose ridge tiles along the top of a roof are a separate job with its own methods, explained on the ridge tile repairs page.

There comes a point where calling a roofer back every few months is money poorly spent. If slates are slipping across several slopes at once, battens are rotten, or the sarking boards underneath have been soaked, Richard will tell you plainly. At that stage a partial or full re-roof is often the better long-term choice, and good slates can sometimes be saved for reuse.

If you are weighing up what to put back on, the guide comparing slate vs tile roof coverings sets out the main differences in plain terms.

You do not need to climb onto the roof to spot trouble. Look for slates lying out of line, pale gaps where one is missing, fragments in the gutter or on the path, and stains on upstairs ceilings after rain. Make a note of which slope the problem is on and, if you can, take a photo. Slate work is part of the everyday roof repairs Swift Roofing carries out for homes and businesses, and the price is explained before any work goes ahead.

After a windy night, check the ground around the building as well as the roof. A small dark fragment can be the first sign that a slate has cracked even when the remaining piece still appears to fill the gap. Keep people clear of anything loose above a doorway or pavement, and describe its position when you call rather than trying to move it yourself.