Keeping your roof maintained is a top priority, particularly for century homes. Additionally, there are a number of government rebates and incentives for refurbishing a designated century home.
Please see the below tips for refurbishing or maintaining your slate roof:
1. Identify your slate. To correctly care for your slate roof, find out what type of slate it is. Just as you cannot repair a Chevy with Ford parts, you should never use New York red slate on a Pennsylvania gray slate roof.
2. Understand your roof’s longevity. If your roof only has 100 years of longevity and is 95 years old, it’s not worth sinking money into. But a roof with 200 years of longevity that’s 75 years old is a young roof that should be highly valued and properly maintained.
3. Inspect your roof regularly. At least once a year, walk around your house and look at your roof. If you see missing, broken, or sliding slates, or flashing that looks suspect, call your slater.
4. Shop around for quality. Good slaters are out there, but you have to look for them. It’s worth the effort to have someone who truly knows what they are doing.
5. Educate yourself. There are many slate roofing resource materials available to the public online. Take some time to review, read, watch, and learn. Your best defense against an unscrupulous contractor—and damage to your roof—is knowledge.
