How Fragil Is Slate Roofing

Many slate tile manufacturers offer up to 100 year warranty on their products.

How fragil is slate roofing.

Fragile slate is extremely fragile and can cause issues for anyone attempting to walk around on the roof. Deaths caused by falls through fragile surfaces occur mainly to those working in the building maintenance sector when carrying out small short term maintenance and cleaning jobs. All roofs should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed they are not. 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.

Most slate roofs tend to be older so it is safe to assume that any slate roof is fragile and prone to damage. Many others suffer permanent disabling injury. Fractures can occur so rapidly that a worker could easily fall through the roof suffering serious or even fatal injuries. One misstep can cause thousands of dollars of damage in broken tiles.

Any form of weight can crack or break a slate tile so no homeowner or roof cleaning professional should ever walk on the roof. 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. Most other roofing materials last at most just half that amount. While slate is a durable roof material the older the piece of slate the more fragile it is.

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. However that doesn t include the cost of installation which raises the overall cost to the range of 12 to 25 per square foot. 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. You should not walk on slate tiles unless you know what you are doing otherwise you will most likely damage some of them.

Once a slate tile is broken replacing it is a complicated task. Fragile roofing materials may fracture without warning. No sheeted roof should be relied on to bear a person s weight. A slate roof will easily last over 100 years which is at least double of what other roofing materials can offer.

For people who do not plan to ever sell their home the incredible longevity of slate is a highly desirable benefit. Fragile while slate is a very durable material it can break if stepped on.