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“When it comes to covering the roof, a lot of people might think that
using real slate might end up be too heavy or too expensive, but we have a very specific
system that we're using here, which is going to be less slate overall, which of course
means less expensive and less heavy. And if you’re thinking ‘ah, it’s not real slate,’
well, you’d be wrong. This is genuine slate and it’s the same thickness as traditional
slate but the field tiles are a little bit shorter because you only need about a two-inch
overlap instead of the typical ten to twelve inches that you do with traditional slate.
And that’s why you end up with less slate on the roof. Now, the key is proper weather
protection. It starts with the adhesive membrane that you always want on the vulnerable parts
of a roof, like the edges, the hips, and the valleys. We also have this breathable underlayment
that’s going to provide extra protection against wind-driven rain for the rest of the
roof deck. It’s thicker than standard felt and it’s going to lay nice and flat under
our slates. Then there’s also this UV and moisture barrier that goes under each slate
as its being installed. It’s made from a high-density polyethylene and it adds a layer
of waterproofing that also allows the shorter overlap between the slates but it doesn’t
sacrifice any moisture protection. They start at the top and work their way down so they
never risk any breakage by walking on finished slate. The first thing they do is nail on
the ridge vent material to get some good ventilation. Then they nail on the trim slates. Those get
nailed in horizontally on each side of the ridge but with this system they are the only
pieces of slate that actually get nailed in. That’s because all the field slate is attached
to the roof with this batten and hook system. “So Tod, you wanna give us a quick rundown
on this board we’re looking at?” “Yeah, what you got is roof decking. We come in with
true slate nailing tape, start from your ridge down to your
eave, and lay the strips that tells us where to put these stainless steel hook systems
that are nailed in with stainless steel nails, also coated, and they all come with the hooks
and they are easy to pop in. Once that is all set, and all hanging through here like
that, then we come in with the TruSlate under-proofing. What we do is we slide it underneath the hooks
and it drops into the lower hooks, and we grab the second one and we do the same thing
where it goes underneath the top hooks into the bottom hooks, and then we’re ready to
start to stone some slate, and slate slides up underneath these hooks and hooks into those
hooks down below just like that.” “Nice.” “Then we come in to make sure this one is
underneath the underlayment and hooks from the ones above.” “So there’s a little
bit of give in those hooks.” “Yup. Then you can do it even with one missing to your
left and right. You drop in, and just like that, you go through and hook them in. Now,
if you ever break one, they’re easy. From above, you just pop them off.” “And replace
it?” “And replace it.” “So how are you handling things up on the roof?” “We’re
taking it in sections and with the material and stuff on this one, going from left to
right and coming back right to left to keep the pattern. There’s three different colors
with the percentage. With the nailing strips, guys are doing that, guys are doing the underlayment,
cutting it, and we just move as an equal team.” “Is it tough working on a roof that’s
pitched like this?” “Yeah, you just gotta be careful with toe holds and stuff. We have
it for safety reasons. You’re up there and you just gotta be aware what’s below you
on the ground.” “I know you’ve got a lot of roof to do so I won’t keep you, so
thanks for showing me your demo.” “No problem. Thank you.” “Since slate is a
product that lasts a lifetime, we don’t want to put some type of metal up on the roof
that’s going to corrode out after thirty or forty years, so we’re using copper. It
lasts forever, it’s moisture-proof, it takes on a gorgeous-looking patina in not too long
a period of time. We’re going to be using it in our valley flashing, step flashing,
any type of rakes, gutters. If there’s metal up on the roof, it’s going to be copper.”
“The beauty of copper is that it’s one of those lifetime materials, totally impervious
to weather and corrosion. That’s very important on a slate roof, because the slate’s going
to last forever. You don’t want to use any metal that’s going to need replacing after
a few years.”