Sourcing Roofing SlatesTerry Hughes
While the process of identifying and obtaining the appropriate slate or stone for roof repairs is sometimes straightforward, it can turn into a long and interesting journey. Which route you take will depend on whether the required material is still in production and, if not, on whether its source can be identified and production reestablished either temporarily or permanently. It is important to obtain authentic material for historic repairs for both aesthetic and environmental reasons. Ideally, the same slate or stone should be sourced from the same quarry or from a nearby and geologically similar source. If the slates or stone-slates are still in production and the quarry is using traditional methods, little more is required than to specify colour, thickness, size (or size range for random slates) and quantity. It is always wise to agree a delivery date, especially when dealing with small producers who may not be able to cope with a sudden increase in demand. All metamorphic slate quarries have adopted some modern production techniques and as a result the range of products and some of their characteristics may have changed. However, they will all produce traditional sizes and styles on request. The key to success with unusual slate is to agree a specification with the quarry. The roofing companies listed below cover most of the traditional sources. Attempts are being made to re-open slate quarries at Swithland in Leicestershire and, in Scotland, at Ballachulish and at Foundland in Macduff.
Many stone-slates are available but because their production never really moved from vernacular to supplying on a national scale, the operating delphs (or small-scale quarries) are more numerous but much smaller than for slates.
If a slate or stone is no longer produced it may be possible to re-open the original quarry or a new one nearby. This has been done many times in the Cotswolds region, the Welsh Marches and in the Pennines. The first step is to identify the rock type. Most local authority building conservation departments will know what stones have been used in their region in the past but if the identity of the required type of stone is still a mystery, a geologist will be able to help. The Stone Roofing Association or specialist books will also be useful (see the recommended reading section at the bottom of the page).
Once the stone has been identified, the location of the old quarries will need to be researched. This should start with a literature search: the British Geological Survey (BGS) publications, the BGS library and local historical groups will be the best sources. English stone-slate and Scottish slate sources are well researched (see the author’s ‘Stone Roofing in England’ and JA Walsh’s Scottish Slate Quarries in the recommended reading section) and the list of specific sources for the former will be expanded when the English Heritage Strategic Stone Study is complete. There are many books about the old Welsh slate quarries but a good overview is provided in AJ Richards’ A Gazetteer of the Welsh Slate Industry. Once the historic sources have been identified it will be necessary to walk the ground. The amount of work involved will vary enormously. When the nave of Pitchford church was re-roofed in 1999 the fieldwork took only two days, whereas researching the old stone-slate quarries in Derbyshire and the Peak Park covered 196 delphs and took six months. The objective is to shortlist sites which might still have workable rock. Confirming this will involve trial digging or core drilling. The former will usually be suitable for stone-slates, which are typically found in shallow beds. In the case of slate, deeper rock always splits more thinly and lasts longer, so core drilling is appropriate. Whichever method is used, the rock should then be split to see if it produces suitable thicknesses. Besides establishing the existence of suitable rock, the investigation should be designed to define the size of the resource (area and bed thickness) and the depth of the overburden (the unusable rock which will be used later to backfill the quarry). The latter is critically important: it is expensive to remove overburden and can make or break an operation.
It is very likely that the completed research will have identified a fairly small area in which suitable stone is available. Hopefully, it will have an amenable land owner and an entrepreneur will be found willing to risk the cost. The next step is to obtain a technical assessment of the stone from a building stone geologist. Although this will not be an infallible indication of durability, it will almost always identify serious problems with the stone. Once all of these steps have been completed, an application for planning permission can be prepared. It will be critical to be able to demonstrate the need for the products, although this may be unquantifiable. Early discussions between the applicant and the local authority’s building conservation and minerals planning departments will solve many of the issues which could delay the process later on. Two of the most important issues will be environmental protection and controls on production. Common sense should prevail in both cases. Limitations such as the location of the delph, the types of product that it can supply, and the quantities it can produce should be realistic. In some cases, in order to protect a skyline, delving has been restricted to an area where there turned out to be no suitable rock. The main constraint on quarrying is not negotiable: regardless of environmental or planning objectives, slates can only be obtained where there is suitable rock.
If it proves impossible to source a local stone, an alternative source may be suitable. The most appropriate would be one from a very similar geology. Carboniferous Pennant sandstone slates from South Wales or around Bristol are currently unavailable so some carboniferous sandstones from the Pennines have been used in the past few years although, again, a product specification is essential, especially for the edge dressing. Care is also needed to ensure the weathered appearance matches the original stone. If the slates or stone-slates are produced from a new quarry it will be important to check whether they will be durable. Slates should be checked against EN12362-1. This process was described in The Building Conservation Directory article ‘Testing Roofing Slates’ in 2004. Since then further guidance on the level of conformity which is suitable for the UK has been adopted by the National House Builders Council. Similar advice will be published by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors later this year. For stone-slates the situation is not so straightforward because there is no formal quality standard. The best evidence of durability is experience in use. If the source is completely new it would be wise to expose the stone-slates to the weather for a trial period. This testing process was used prior to the re-roofing of Dore Abbey in 2002. The stone-slates were stacked on edge on pallets and left exposed to the elements through one summer and one winter. A few of them cracked and were replaced by the supplier but the remainder were installed and have performed completely satisfactorily. Once a track record has been demonstrated this precaution can be dispensed with. This may seem to be a long and tortuous process but it has been successfully carried out many times over the past ten years and there is plenty of help and advice available. The key to success, however, remains the involvement of a group of committed local people with the willingness to see the project through.
Recommended Reading
|
The Building Conservation Directory, 2009 AuthorTERRY HUGHES BSc FIoR DpMan is the secretary of the Stone Roofing Association and a specialist consultant. His company, Slate & Stone Consultants, based in Caernarfon, advises on slate and stone roofing construction, materials and conservation, and on sourcing new material to match the existing. Further informationRELATED ARTICLES RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES © Cathedral Communications Limited 2010
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
