Do-it-yourself Slate Roofing: Installation Features And Tips

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Advantages and disadvantages of the material
• Main types and sizes
• Calculation of the cost of work
• Roofing systems for slate
• Calculation of the amount of slate
• Preparatory work
• Required tool
• How to raise slate to the roof
• Slate preparation for installation
• Laying slate on the roof with your own hands
• Slate adjoining to the chimney
• Skate device
• Conclusion

For quite a long time, slate has been used as a material for the roof. And over the years, it has not lost its popularity. Most of this is due to its durability and ease of installation. And then we will look at how to cover the roof with slate on our own and give useful tips for laying the litas.

Advantages and disadvantages of the material

Before proceeding directly to the technology of work, it is necessary to understand what kind of material it is, what properties, advantages and disadvantages it has.

Among the advantages:

1. Low cost.
2. Ease of installation as previously mentioned.
3. High level of durability.
4. The material is non-flammable.
5. The service life reaches 50 years.

Along with this, a roof made of asbestos-cement sheets is suitable for any building, while it looks quite beautiful and serves for a long time.

But it is worth considering the disadvantages:

1. First of all, this is a lot of weight, which requires additional roof reinforcement, or the arrangement of powerful truss systems.
2. The second is fragility. The material breaks easily during careless handling or rough transportation.
3. And the third is the harmful effect on humans, since asbestos eventually begins to emit harmful substances.

Main types and sizes

Considering this issue, only 3 types of slate can be noted, which depend on the number of waves. There can be from 6 to 8, respectively, the types are divided into 6, 7, and 8 wave.

The material has a constant length, namely 1.75 m. In turn, the width depends on the number of waves, and can vary from 830 to 1130 millimeters. The wave step, in turn, can be 150 or 200 millimeters, respectively, the dimensions in individual cases can be different.

Calculation of the cost of work

Also, before you finally decide on how to do the work yourself, you should calculate the cost of materials.

The slate sheets themselves are quite cheap, their cost ranges from 150 to 250 rubles per sheet. Which is equal to about 100-120 rubles per square meter. Considering the cost of waterproofing and other auxiliary materials, laying slate will cost about 200 rubles per square meter.

But in case you decide to put the work in the hands of specialists, then you should also know the cost in order to calculate the budget and not be deceived.

On average, the cost of work for specialists is 200-300 rubles. But pay attention that this is the price for laying one meter of slate, I do not take into account additional processes.

If it is necessary to completely erect the roof (to equip the rafter system, waterproofing, heat and vapor barrier, as well as the slate itself, then the cost of such work will be about 900 rubles per square meter.

Roofing systems for slate

The cover is attached to a previously prepared crate. Accordingly, it is necessary to properly prepare it.

To create, bars of 60 * 60 mm are used or rafter boards with a thickness of at least 6 centimeters. Such norms are due to the high load on the system.

In addition, the pitch of the bars becomes an important factor. As much as possible, it should be such that the slate sheets lie on 2 boards at the same time, while having a margin of 15-20 centimeters. And it is best to provide a step of the rafters in a third of the width of the slate, which will determine the position of the slate on three beams at once.

At the same time, the arrangement of the lathing also depends on the angle of inclination of the roof. Thus, the smaller it is, the stronger the crate is needed.

The standard slope for slate roofs is over 22 degrees. But in the case of lean-to, sometimes a smaller angle is provided. In this case, accordingly, additional reinforcement of the rafter system is required.

Further, you can see a schematic representation of the arrangement of the lathing for different angles of inclination:

Important advice! Before you start laying the roof, you must carefully treat the boards with an antiseptic, as well as a fire retardant.

Calculation of the amount of slate

If you plan to lay slate on the roof yourself, you must first calculate the amount of materials. This is important to ensure that everything is enough, and besides, not to buy a lot of excess.

If you are at least a little familiar with the basics of geometry, then calculating the roof will not be difficult. For pitched roofs, measure the width, length and slope.

If the dimensions are already known, then everything is even simpler:

1. We determine the size of the coating (length) along the cornice, after which we divide the resulting distance by the width of the sheet, add 10% to this, and thus we get the number of sheets in one ryazh.
2. The next step is to measure the distance along the slope, from the ridge to the cornice, divide it by the slate height, and add 13%, as a result we get the number of rows.
3. Accordingly, we multiply the obtained figures with each other, and we get the amount of slate that is needed. In the case of a gable roof, in this way we measure one side, after which we double the result.

In the case of complex hipped roofs, it is a little more complicated. Here it is necessary to calculate the area of each slope, divide them by the area of the slate, add 15% to this indicator. Subsequently, add the data obtained from the calculations of each side together.

When buying slate, it is very important to pay attention to its integrity. Usually the sheets should be rewound with film or paper and stored horizontally in a place protected from moisture and sun.

Preparatory work

Before proceeding directly to the laying of slate, it is necessary to perform a number of works, namely:

1. Prepare the required tool.

2. Clear the area where slate will be cut in the future. It is important that it is large. The sheet must be accessible from any side.

   

Required tool

To carry out work on the arrangement of the roof (taking into account the fact that the rafter system is already ready) you will need:

1. A hammer and special slate nails or self-tapping screws, a little more about them later.
2. Drill with drills and screw attachment.
3. Bulgarian, or a saw for metal products.
4. Special paint.
5. Rope and hooks.
6. Stairs.

Speaking of fixing the sheets, Asbestos cement is attached to the base with 70-90 mm long galvanized nails or screws, under the caps of which they put washers made of rubber, galvanized steel or gaskets made of two layers of roofing material.

How to raise slate to the roof

Quite often, those who are going to cover the roof with slate independently think about how to lift the sheets up.

It's actually pretty simple. For this, a rope and two hooks are used.

1. The hooks are tied to different ends of the rope.
2. Further, the slate is hooked with hooks from different sides.
3. It is important to hook it with one hook closer to the edge from the outside, and the second closer to the opposite edge from the inside.

You can also feed the sheets by hand when 3-4 people are working.

Slate preparation for installation

Immediately before laying, it is necessary to treat unpainted sheets with a water-repellent compound, as well as paint with paint (dispersion or alkyd)

Thus, microcracks are completely eliminated, which contributes to the sliding of sediments on the roof and their quick elimination from it.

In addition, slate can deform under the influence of temperatures, in this regard, holes for nails must be made in advance, while drilling 2-3 millimeters larger than the diameter of the nails. You can also drill directly during installation.

Laying slate on the roof with your own hands

Roofing made of asbestos-cement sheets is laid in two ways: strictly one above the other or spacing, shifting them to the side in each overlying row.

The simplest and most reliable is the first method, because when the sheets are stacked on top of each other without displacement, one sheet is overlapped at the edges by four adjacent ones.

Before starting work, a drain is installed in advance. Directly the very implementation of roofing works from asbestos-cement sheets begins with the cornice row.

For the convenience of work, before starting them, two anti-wind brackets are attached to each sheet along the eaves board, so that with their bent ends they hold the asbestos-cement sheet firmly by the wave crests. At the end of the laying of the first row, an overlap line is marked on it with a pencil or chalk, after which the second row is laid.

Let's look at the whole process in step-by-step instructions:

1. For the highest quality and even laying, a thread is first pulled at the level of the cornice (at a distance of 15 centimeters from the edge), along which the sheets will be aligned.

2. Sheets are laid in horizontal rows from bottom to top, checking the correctness of their installation with a mooring cord.

   

3. Adjacent sheets should be overlapped by a whole wave or half of it. The sheets of the second row by 100-150 mm are allowed on the sheets of the first row (the amount of the overlap is due to the slope of the roof: the more it is, the less the overlap is).
4. Note that the overlaps must be done in the direction of the wind, so that later it does not blow anything under the slate.
5. If necessary, the sheets are cut with a grinder or saw. In this case, the slices are painted over.
6. The use of a respirator when working with slate becomes a very important factor, since asbestos is very harmful to health, and will enter the body with dust.
7. Slate is nailed with an ordinary hammer. A nail is inserted into the pre-drilled hole, after which it is hammered. It becomes an important factor not to finish it all the way. First, it can lead to cracks in the slate. Secondly, in the future, when deformed under the influence of temperatures, the slate can also crack from the pressure of the nail.

8. Slate is hammered into four nails. In the second and sixth waves in the presence of eight waves, and in the 2nd and 5th in the presence of seven wave slate. Accordingly, 2 nails per wave, bottom and top. An important factor is the distance from the nail to the edge of the slate, which should be at least 15 centimeters.

   

9. It is necessary to hammer nails into the crate from above through the asbestos-cement sheet, otherwise chips and cracks may form on the latter.

   

10. Upon completion of the roofing work, the nail heads and all existing suspicious cracks should be covered with red lead putty.

It is not recommended to bend the nails sticking out of the crate; it is best to simply cut them to the required length.

Slate adjoining to the chimney

In the case when the house has a stove with a chimney on the roof, it is necessary to arrange a bypass for it. It is equipped in several ways, depending on whether waterproofing is provided.

In the case when there is waterproofing, then a steel sheet abutment is provided, which is installed under the slate and film.

If there is no insulation, then a bypass is made so that the upper part of the sheet is under the slate, and the lower part is above it. An example device diagram is shown below.

Skate device

The final stage of the roof arrangement is the ridge device. It ensures tightness and does not allow water to penetrate under the slate. It also provides ventilation for the roof and also serves as a decorative element.

Usually it is made from galvanized steel, or from ready-made elements painted in the color of slate.

In the case when it is made independently from galvanized steel, this is done as follows:

1. A plate of the required size is cut from a sheet of metal.
2. In the next step, it bends (manually or on a machine) to such an extent that the angle is slightly less than the angle of inclination of the slopes itself.

3. Next, the skate is installed. Detailed installation diagram in the figure below:

   

Conclusion

Now you know the technology of roofing from asbestos-cement sheets. And you can do all the work yourself. But it's best to stock up on a few helpers. And remember, the roof will last a long time and reliably only if all work is carried out correctly and carefully. In conclusion, we suggest watching several videos, which clearly show the stages of work.

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