I was visiting an old Victorian hospital yesterday and looking out over the
roofs. I noticed that the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It got me wondering if this is for some sort of visual effect or some other
reason.

On Wed, 14 May 2008 09:50:52 +0100, "John"
wrote:

I was visiting an old Victorian hospital yesterday and looking out over the
roofs. I noticed that the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It got me wondering if this is for some sort of visual effect or some other
reason.



Father Ted moment coming up: the small ones are further away!


--
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

mogga wrote:
On Wed, 14 May 2008 09:50:52 +0100, "John"
wrote:

I was visiting an old Victorian hospital yesterday and looking out over the
roofs. I noticed that the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It got me wondering if this is for some sort of visual effect or some other
reason.



Father Ted moment coming up: the small ones are further away!



Just my thoughts:

The larger slates with less joins will have far more water flowing over
them than those at the top.
As one starts at the bottom when slating, some of the broken slates can
be cut down and used as smaller ones as one progresses up the roof .
It looks good .

On Wed, 14 May 2008 09:50:52 +0100, "John"
wrote:

the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It does look terrible otherwise. (all equal is OK)

The message
from "John" contains these words:

I was visiting an old Victorian hospital yesterday and looking out over the
roofs. I noticed that the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and
smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It got me wondering if this is for some sort of visual effect or some other
reason.

ISTM that it would be totally impractical to do it the other way round. :-)

The situation you describe is typically found with sandstone roofing
slates. I don't think I have seen real slate roofs with diminishing
courses. It might be something to do with the type of stone. I imagine
real slate is easier to turn into identical roofing slates than
sandstone. Real slate certainly makes thinner slates.

--
Roger Chapman

"Roger" wrote in message
k...
The message
from "John" contains these words:

I was visiting an old Victorian hospital yesterday and looking out over
the
roofs. I noticed that the slates, although a bit random in sizes had been
graded so that the larger ones were at the eaves end of the roof and
smaller
ones toward the apex of the roof.

It got me wondering if this is for some sort of visual effect or some
other
reason.

ISTM that it would be totally impractical to do it the other way round.
:-)

The situation you describe is typically found with sandstone roofing
slates. I don't think I have seen real slate roofs with diminishing
courses. It might be something to do with the type of stone. I imagine
real slate is easier to turn into identical roofing slates than
sandstone. Real slate certainly makes thinner slates.

--
Roger Chapman
I guess they were some sort of stone as there seemed to be a bit of a
pattern/grain. They were slightly greenish.Edges seemed chiselled.

The situation you describe is typically found with sandstone roofing
slates. I don't think I have seen real slate roofs with diminishing
courses. It might be something to do with the type of stone. I imagine
real slate is easier to turn into identical roofing slates than
sandstone. Real slate certainly makes thinner slates.
The slate roofs here in the Lake District have diminishing courses maybe
not as much as some of the sandstone roofing further south.
A quick look at my Outbuilding (1800) would suggest bottom course slate
dimensions at least 2x top course.
Width doesnt seem to reduce as much as length.

The message
from robert contains these words:



The situation you describe is typically found with sandstone roofing
slates. I don't think I have seen real slate roofs with diminishing
courses. It might be something to do with the type of stone. I imagine
real slate is easier to turn into identical roofing slates than
sandstone. Real slate certainly makes thinner slates.

The slate roofs here in the Lake District have diminishing courses maybe
not as much as some of the sandstone roofing further south.
A quick look at my Outbuilding (1800) would suggest bottom course slate
dimensions at least 2x top course.
Width doesnt seem to reduce as much as length.

Shows how unobservant I am. I do visit the Lake District but not to look
at the buildings :-)

Here in Keighley I have stone slates on my roof. Difficult to get close
enough to measure those in situ but I have some spare stacked round the
back of the barn and they range from 32" depth to 18" depth. Widths vary
greatly. IIRC on the roof there are a few at least 3 feet wide. Almost
impossible to wrestle with when I did some remedial work 25 or more
years ago.

--
Roger Chapman