Replacing slates

I am about to replace the fascia & soffit boards boards on my bungalow & have 2 queries:

1. At the eaves (i.e. just above the guttering) - I keep reading installation instructions that tell me to remove the first row of slates (well, the "modern" stuff) and fix new sarking felt (the end 300mm or so).

So, if I remove these slates, which seems to require using a tool to remove or break the nails, how do I re-fix them?

Alternatively, how do I fix the new sarking felt in place if I don't remove the tiles?


2. At the gable ends, there is a wooden fillet (c14mm thick) nailed into the top of the wooden fascia (all the way down, not just the final "kick") - the tiles are then nailed through the fillet and into the top edge of the fascia board.

How do I get the fascia boards off without damaging the tiles, and how should the tiles be fixed once I've replaced the fascia?

Neighbouring properties don't have this wooden fillet, but have a mortar filler (seems to be called a "cement verge"?). Is this the right way to do it? If so, where do the end set of tile nails go?


Any advice much appreciated!

are the "slates" genuine 10"x 20" flat slates or roof tiles?

'cause if they are proper slates then don't remove them, as you wont be able to re-fix them properly without taking all the tiles off from above.

it is possible to remove slates using a slaters rip and replace using a lead cleat. i wouldn't advise you do a whole row though.

Thanks Noseall. That's rather how it looked.

They are more like 12" x 20" and they are artificial. I think some are asbestos & some are a newer material, but they are "slates" - i.e. just a few mm thick - and they are nailed in place.

So:
- how do I fix the new sarking felt if I can't lift the slates?
- what do I do to fix the tile edges by the barge boards when I replace them?

Or should I raise a new post for this (sorry, not fully into the etiquette yet)

Many thanks

PS Great site - & fantastic to see the help that so many people are able & prepared to give!

i guess you have the larger 12"x24" slates.

wether you have eternit artificial or genuine "slate" slates, the problem is still the same.

in order to expose enough of the roof, (probably a metre) to be effective in weathering the eaves, you will have to take the lot off in order to re-fix correctly.

the tiles don't need to be fixed into the top of the fascia. the eaves course should have its own fixing batten

Thanks - what I feared, but at least I now know what I face! I've found some plastic "felt replacement" sheets that the manufacturers say can be slipped up under the old felt & tiles, which will do a good job.


I think I may have caused confusion re the 2nd point re fixing the tiles. It's the gable end where the edges (i.e. not the bottom) are nailed down through a wooden fillet into the top of the current wooden boards.

Could I:
- remove the old barge boards & fillet (by carefully sawing/splitting them), leaving the "end" tile nails hanging but cut shorter to just reach above the top of the new barge boards
- then fit new barge boards with some type of thin plate on top (plastic?) which projects under the first set of tiles at the edge, by say 50mm
- then fill in the gap with cement?

... or do I really still face stripping most, if not all, of the roof?

Thanks

you should be able to free the barge boards by angle grinding through the fixings, with the cutting bias more toward the timber rather than the slate.

do you have a 2" cloak with a sand and cement fillet on the verge tiles above the barge board?

Thanks, I reckon I can now see how I'm going to get the barge boards off - now the question is just how to re-fix the slates.

There is a 1" timber fillet between the top of the barge board & slates.

If the slate are artificial the slates should stay in place and only drop slightly.
But you will need to cut through the fixings that hold the facia boards on and lower them not pull them forward ,You should still be able to slip new felt under the existing felt up to the bottom of the under eave batten about 200mm + the over hang into the gutter .

As for the wooden fillet its because the roofer that slated your roof last did not have the room over the top of the barge boards to fix a under cloak or when he fixed the barge to high this is just to close the gap between the barge board and the slates