I would ask some roofers in the area where the house is located. They
would be familiar with the materials and methods used in the area and
could best answer your questions and recommend solutions.
Des

"fred" wrote in message
...
I'm interested in buying an old rambling house in france which is a
bit of a mix of this
and that added to at various times and without any particular
attention to continuity in
the roof surfaces. Including 4 or 5 small gables there must be over
20 different roof
surfaces and correspondingly just as many intersections though the
total surface area
might be no more than an average family house (actually perhaps 50%
more considering there
are also some vertically-hung sections).

It looks to be in good shape generally and was overhauled - indeed
some of it was
possibly new - in 1980. What is a reasonable average life span for
a well built slate
roof? Will it always be the junctions/valleys between sections that
present the greatest
maintenance/repair problem or are the surfaces just as prone?

In general, is a complicated roof structure always going to be a
potential maintenance
nightmare when compared to a straightforward 'V' shape typical of
most terraced houses.

Would appreciate some feedback on this.