Technique for removing slates with minimal damage to them

[robinbanks]

Stripping and re-laying an old slate roof and I'm wondering what the best technique is for getting slates off without too much damage. Coming down from the ridge and the ridge tiles pull off easy enough, but the videos I've seen of people stripping seem to involve using a claw hammer on one side of the slate and prising the slate up so the head of the nail (if it still exists; at least this roof was put in with galv nails that have often rotted) rips through the slate, and then levering the slate up so the other side pulls through..

.. but i couldnt help wonder if there was a less destructive way, that was also fairly time effciient. Maybe hitting the nail head with a grinder if there was still a large head on the nail, clipping/twisting the nail with nail pullers, or trying to split the batten to loosen the nail's grip..

Or do roofers just punch out the nail holes when ripping them up and if the slate survives then great (re-hole it if it's made a real mess) and if the nail head has rotted away then happy days?

 

[Diver Fred]

Stripping and re-laying an old slate roof and I'm wondering what the best technique is for getting slates off without too much damage. Coming down from the ridge and the ridge tiles pull off easy enough, but the videos I've seen of people stripping seem to involve using a claw hammer on one side of the slate and prising the slate up so the head of the nail (if it still exists; at least this roof was put in with galv nails that have often rotted) rips through the slate, and then levering the slate up so the other side pulls through..

.. but i couldnt help wonder if there was a less destructive way, that was also fairly time effciient. Maybe hitting the nail head with a grinder if there was still a large head on the nail, clipping/twisting the nail with nail pullers, or trying to split the batten to loosen the nail's grip..

Or do roofers just punch out the nail holes when ripping them up and if the slate survives then great (re-hole it if it's made a real mess) and if the nail head has rotted away then happy days?

This is what you (should) use.

 

[datarebal]

or this if times on your side
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ROOF-TOOF-...cphy=1006943&hvtargid=pla-1190383885421&psc=1

 

[opps]

or this if times on your side
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ROOF-TOOF-...cphy=1006943&hvtargid=pla-1190383885421&psc=1

I had never seen those before, tnx

 

[lostinthelight]

Ive only used a slate ripper for removing an already damage one, they do too much damage if you want to reuse the slate

 

[datarebal]

Ive only used a slate ripper for removing an already damage one, they do too much damage if you want to reuse the slate

Practice makes perfect , There's a knack

 

[phatboy]

If you're working top down, you should be able to get a flat breaking bar behind the slate to lever it up a couple of mm, then you can get a thin piece of wood, rest the back of the hammer on it, and pry the nails out.

I luckily had copper nails where I stripped some back for a flat roof to join, so could rip the highest row out, then just lift up the next slates and the nails came out, ready to re-use slates and nails.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Ive only used a slate ripper for removing an already damage one, they do too much damage if you want to reuse the slate

I did a temporary job on some damaged slates on our roof last weekend - used the slate ripper on 8 slates, fixed copper tingles in then replaced several broken slates and refixed the rest. Did you drive the ripper with a hammer?

 

[robinbanks]

Thought I'd circle back on this with an update;

As I was stripping top down I didn't need to use the ripper much. The nails in place were galv and often corroded to the point the head was gone, or the shaft had all but disappeared so those slates could be picked up by hand

For the ones that offered a bit of resistance I either:

* used a normal claw hammer between the batten and the underside of the slate immediately adjacent the nail, to just bounce/wriggle the slate. This was usually enough to break the hold the nail had on the wood on the near side, and then wagging the slate up and down was enough to use the slate as a lever to pull the nail out on the far side. If the nails didn't want to move by jiggling the slate with the claw, I banged on the head of the nail with the hammer end to drive it slightly further into the batten then went back to clawing. This seemed to break the grip on the wood meaning it would pull out easier.

Or

* used a battery grinder with a 1.6mm cutting disc, flexing the slate down slightly with a bit of batten (don't put your hand near the grinder wheel..) usually meant that the cutting wheel would fit between slate and nail head and it was a very quick operation to zip the heads off maybe 10 slates around me then just pick them up and stack them. Downside of this is you leave a lot of sharp 15mm spikes sticking up out of the battens you're sat on so expect some ripped clothing and scratched skin

The bouncing technique seemed pivotal to the success with thinner slates; if you just lever the slate up with the claw there's a good chance the head of the nail will rip through the slate, or the claw will punch through from the underside. That said, if that happened in my case it was a good indicator that the slate was knackered anyway

Of the two, zipping the nail heads off was slightly faster, but carried more injury risk and needed more expensive tooling..

 

[robinbanks]

fixed copper tingles in

Stainless hooks look less minging than copper straps btw

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Stainless hooks look less minging than copper straps btw

Traditionally repairs were done with either lead or copper tingles. After a few years they weather in, so why are traditional repairs, as found on many buildings including many listed buildings, "minging"?

 

[datarebal]

Copper tingles can be near invisible in a short time if trimmed neatly .
"Neat tingle "
They don't need to be massive .
And of course one can always use hall hooks

 

[robinbanks]

After a few years they weather in, so why are traditional repairs, as found on many buildings including many listed buildings, "minging"?

Because they're a highly visible eyesore on what could be an otherwise neatly slated roof?

And after a few more years the heat driven expansion/contraction of a lead tingle unrolls the fold retaining the slate, (though in its favour, correctly oiled the lead oxide does blend well colour-wise.. but who oils tingles? Copper weathers green, which may not blend well with the slate, but then again it's more enduring.) All in I'd say lead looks better, copper wears better but neither of them beat a stainless hook for longevity and invisibility. I guess they don't get used so much* because you know how tradition overrides ("I do it like that because my grandad did it like that..")

* and I wasn't talking about modern fibre cement roofs where every slate is hooked..