On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 03:37:43 GMT, (Tom Miller) wrote:

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:30:51 +0000, fred wrote:

| 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.

There are many slate roofs in my neighborhood, still quite functional
after 80-95 years. Some have had repairs, some not. As someone else
mentioned, what generally goes first is the flashing in the valleys.
The slate holds up nearly forever unless tree limbs fall on it.

My own roof is a type of tile made of colored cast concrete, sort of a
poor man's terra cotta. It is now 84 years old. I've had one major
repair and two minor one in the last 25 years, total cost around
$7000. Prior to that there seems to have been little or no maintenance
or repair as far as I can tell.

Of course, tile and slate are not quite the same. The slate roofs seem
to hold up better, last longer. But like tile, when they go it can be
expensive.

My recollection of France is that slate and tile is much more common
than here in the USA, and I presume more people are available to
repair it. Finding someone who can be relied on to do the work
properly is the problem I've run into. It's hard work but it doesn't
seem that complicated to me and I have done a substantial repair
myself on my (detached) garage roof when a tree limb hit it. Many
roofers won't touch it and when they do they don't do a good job. But
there is no way that this old back is going to wander around three
stories up on the house, lugging tiles up and down that steep slope.

yes, I've done small slate repairs myself but as you say there comes a point when it's a
risk not worth taking. Sad to say I am at the age where confidence exceeds ability.