Find a Slate Roofing Installer
We supply material; we do not install. Here is how to find a slater who can lay reclaimed material properly, and who we know in the regions we ship to most.
Why the installer matters more than the slate
Reclaimed slate laid badly fails fast. The material is not the variable—fastening, headlap, flashing metal and the decision about what to do with pre-existing nail holes are. A crew that has hung reclaimed slate before will ask you about those things in the first phone call. A crew that has not will tell you slate is slate.
How to vet a slater
Ask what they do about existing holes
Good answer: re-punch or hook-hang, depending on thickness and exposure. Bad answer: “we just use the holes.”
Ask about headlap
They should quote a number—3" is standard, 4" on lower pitches—without hesitating.
Ask what metal they flash with
Copper, stainless or lead-coated copper. If they say galvanised, keep calling.
Ask to see a ten-year-old roof
Not a finished photo from last month. A slate roof looks good on day one regardless.
Check they carry a ripper
Anyone who maintains slate roofs owns a slate ripper. It is a quick tell.
Referrals
We ship regularly into Louisiana, Texas, the Gulf South, the Carolinas, the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest, and we know the crews doing good slate work in those markets. Tell us where the job is and we will pass along the names we would use ourselves. We take no fee for referrals and we have no ownership in any roofing company.
Ask for a referral
Tell us the city and the scope. Call 225-954-8393.
