How Fragil Is Slate Roofing

For people who do not plan to ever sell their home the incredible longevity of slate is a highly desirable benefit.

How fragil is slate roofing.

Fragile roofing materials may fracture without warning. Fragile while slate is a very durable material it can break if stepped on. Durability a slate roof is built to last between 100 and 150 years which is a reasonable period as long as it is installed by an expert roofer. While slate is a durable roof material the older the piece of slate the more fragile it is.

However that doesn t include the cost of installation which raises the overall cost to the range of 12 to 25 per square foot. You should not walk on slate tiles unless you know what you are doing otherwise you will most likely damage some of them. No sheeted roof should be relied on to bear a person s weight. These roofing stones are available in different thicknesses and sizes as well as a wide variety of colors such as black red green gray purple and even some types that have a mix of colors.

All roofs should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed they are not. Most slate roofs tend to be older so it is safe to assume that any slate roof is fragile and prone to damage. Other than high end metal roofing slate is one of the most expensive roof options available with the installed cost ranging anywhere between 5 and 12 per square foot. Fractures can occur so rapidly that a worker could easily fall through the roof suffering serious or even fatal injuries.

You will find nothing else in the market that comes close to slate in appearance. Any form of weight can crack or break a slate tile so no homeowner or roof cleaning professional should ever walk on the roof. Many others suffer permanent disabling injury. Fragile slate is extremely fragile and can cause issues for anyone attempting to walk around on the roof.

Weight slate roofing tiles can wiegh over 1 000 pounds per square meaning you ll need to make sure your home or business structure is sound before installing them. Many slate tile manufacturers offer up to 100 year warranty on their products. The way that slate is formed however makes it nearly impossible to use anything except a tile saw either a wet saw or a dry angle grinder with a tile cutting blade. On average 7 people are killed each year after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light.

A slate roof will easily last over 100 years which is at least double of what other roofing materials can offer. Once a slate tile is broken replacing it is a complicated task.