On Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:13:27 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
T i m wrote:
On Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:35:54 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
T i m wrote:
I was interested to see if neighbour was given any discount on the
original slates (she wasn't) and what the new ones were and
'luckily'(?) they were real slate, albeit Spanish .. so at least not
synthetic?

I've got synthetic here.

Did you get the chance to feel any, what are they like?

They're not as cold as real slate. very nice to work with, though - you
can cut them with tinsnips.

Oh, how thick are they?

I got the roofers to leave me a kit of parts
to do the outside loo - nice and low roof.

If they aren't brittle like a real slate that would make them nice to
work with. Can you walk on them (on a roof)?

Replaced those nasty ceramic tiles which I'd
guess were original and sort of fitted where they touched.

Oh, the (typically) red clay jobbies? I thought they were supposed to
be one of the best (certainly VFM) roofing solutions?

Well, on mine you could see daylight between lots of them. Could just have
been poor workmanship - or war damage, of course.

I think if they are fired clay then (at industrial quantities) then I
guess it might be likely they might not all be perfect.

but the slates way a
fraction of them.

I wouldn't have thought it much an issue if you needed a new roof and
already had tiles (retaining tiles) but I guess might be if the house
was built for slate and then you go to concrete tiles? I know some of
the (Victorian) houses in our blocks have gone to cement tile
(probably for cost reasons) ... if they had to have the roofs
reinforced to do so? That said the timbers are pretty large, compared
with the newer houses I've looked in anyway.

snip

They are lasting very well.

How long so far?

?

And what is their 'expected lifespan' (realistically, not the warranty
etc).

Cheers, T i m