Scottish Slate Roof Construction

Supplied by siga slate in conjunction with welsh slate a new welsh blue grey slate siga 120 is being quarried to replicate the diminishing courses on the traditional scottish roof.

Scottish slate roof construction.

A sealed roof system is achievable using a vapour permeable underlay such as monarperm 700 if a minimum 2mm gap can be guaranteed between the sarking boards which should be a minimum of 150mm wide. Many slates are in service for 150 years or more. Effective design of a slate roof must take into account a number of inter related factors including site exposure the pitch of the roof the type of slate selected and the slate lap. Scottish slate roofs have a number of characteristics which make them well suited to both the local climate and the nature of the material produced by slate quarries in scotland.

This method was introduced for purely economic reasons. Slate has been used for this purpose for centuries. Overview the roof covering is a building s first line of defence against the weather. The relatively small and thick scottish slates were produced in a variety of lengths and widths and laid with the largest slates at the base of the roof with the smaller ones at the top.

Recent research supports scottish slate s reputation as a long lasting material. It is particularly well known for its use as a roof covering on many traditional scottish buildings. Typically a scottish practice the roofing underlay is laid directly over a series of sarking boards fixed to the roof rafters with the roof slates nailed directly to the sarking boards. Often slate outlasts other elements of a building.

General guidance on the most important points to be considered is given below. 82 2017 the clients are safe in the knowledge this roof will last for decades. It s wise to inspect slate roofs regularly to spot potential problems as soon as they appear. Cwt y bugail quarry is currently producing a range of sizes varying in length from 400mm down to 300mm at 25mm intervals and in random widths.

These include features such as diminishing courses random lengths and widths of slate single nailing and laying onto sarking board rather than battens figure 1. For more information on what is considered a permitted development when adding to your roof read the scottish government s guidance on householder permitted development rights publication and go to section 4 42. Full application and sitework details are given on pages 8 to 22.