The beauty and presence of a slate roof cannot be understated, so is the importance of keeping your slate roof in top shape with maintenance to provide you with a lifetime of beauty and longevity.

Slate roofs are tiles of cut stone (very similar to a blackboard you grew up having in your school's classroom) and come in varying in size and shape with overlap to protect the home from rain and inclement weather. These tiles have an incredibly long lifespan (hundreds of years) as they are naturally made if they don’t crack due to their inherent brittleness.

These slates are hung with two nails that must have the same longevity as the tile for the roof system to age without premature failure, they are copper or stainless steel.

When slate roofs start to leak it is usually caused by a crack in a tile due to Canadian winters with their tremendous freeze-thaw cycle (creating ice damming or ice buildup) or impact on the roof (Tree branches, or extreme hail).

Through a lifetime of experience at Dowling General Construction, we have learned and perfected the skills to remove and replace the necessary slates without causes further damage to the roof.

Under no conditions can slate roofs be walked on! This will crack the slates (seen or unseen) and cause huge damage resulting in tremendous repairs in the future. To avoid this damage specialty equipment and tools must be used to work on the roof without causing damage.

When slates roofing is repaired, damaged slates are replaced and the last slate is hung with copper hangers that allow for a single slate to be replaced without pulling up any slates around it. This technique has been used in slate roofing for decades and ensures your roof is left in a condition that keeps its natural beauty and original appearance.

Please feel free to reach out for a free consultation and estimate.